MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Stefanski didn't have time to overhaul the Minnesota Vikings' playbook when handed the keys to the offense on Dec. 11. He didn't necessarily need or want to do that, either.
Players echoed similar messages after Stefanski schemed his group closer to getting back on track in a 41-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. His game plan was simplified. The way the players carried out those plays was different, too.
"I go back to that it's not the plays so much as the players and the execution," quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "I'll go back to game after game this year where the plays are there, they're good plays, but we've got to execute. We've got to make the coaches right."
The way Stefanski put his players in position for success, from his very first install last Wednesday to the way things were carried out on Sunday, played a large part in Minnesota's season-best 41 points.
It was clear from the first series that Stefanski would prioritize a run game that has struggled in recent weeks. In Weeks 1-14, Minnesota dropped back on 69 percent of its plays. In Week 15, the Vikings ran the ball on nearly 66 percent of drives, much more in line with 2017, when they finished seventh in rushing despite being without Dalvin Cook for much of the season.
But the change at offensive coordinator may end up being a bandage on a bigger issue. The pressure on Cousins to live up to expectations is almost at its boiling point.
Stefanski's game plan for the future may end up saving the Vikings' season. Simplifying how much Cousins has to do alleviates the weight on his shoulders to carry Minnesota to the playoffs. Making Cook the focal point of the offense shifts the identity of the team to its best playmaker.
On Sunday, that boiled down to zone blocking and the use of multiple-tight end sets. Establishing an explosive rushing attack took pressure off Cousins and set him up for success with the use of play-action. It also helped the offense re-establish what it wants to be down the stretch of the season.
"Before the game in the days leading up, he was talking about kind of the identity we wanted to be and be physical and run the ball really well and set up how we used to run it," tight end David Morgan said. "It was just good to see the offense buy in and all get after it together."
On all but one of the Vikings' touchdowns (Cousins' 40-yard pass to Aldrick Robinson in the fourth quarter), Minnesota opted for heavier personnel packages, staying in 22 (2 TE, 2 RB, 1 WR) or 12 personnel (2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE) on each drive.
The whole notion that the Dolphins "didn't know if it was a run or pass," as receiver Adam Thielen pointed out, starts here.
"We pared some things down, but we ran like one play 10 times but with 10 different variations, so sometimes that's what it is too," coach Mike Zimmer said. "You format it differently and you get them in different looks so they can't key on one thing, but you're basically running the same play."
That strategy could continue to help the Vikings' offense turn things around as the postseason nears. It paid dividends in Week 15, but there were moments when the same issues arose at inopportune moments.
Cousins' pick-six in the second quarter was his third of the season. Once the Vikings got backed up deep in their own territory, they went three-and-out on the next two drives. The Vikings' defense and special teams twice in the second half handed the offense great field position only to have it go to waste.
"You look at Marcus Sherels' punt return gave us three points, we didn't do anything as an offense, we were terrible," Cousins said. "We went three plays and out. I walked off the field, undoing my chin strap, and I'm ticked off and we get three points out of it. That's not our offense. Then, [Dolphins] go for it on fourth-and-11 and our defense gets a sack. It gives us the ball on the 20- or 15-yard line, that's not our offense. That's our defense and that's the whole team putting the Dolphins in a position where they have to go for it on fourth-and-11, backed up in their own territory."
Running different plays out of the same personnel groupings puts more pressure on the defense. All of those things rely on the playcaller. But what rests on Cousins' shoulders is what he and so many others echoed.
The Vikings' execution against the Dolphins has to continue if they are going to win on the road in the playoffs. That starts with Cousins, who did just that against the Detroit Lions in their first meeting. Against the Chicago Bears, whom the Vikings host in Week 17, Cousins' execution was well below where it needed to be.
There is no time to waste for the Vikings with two games left and a playoff berth still on the line. Stefanski’s game plan in his debut was one that best serves Cousins. Now it’s up to the quarterback to fulfill his end of the bargain.