Success in the modern NFL is founded on passing the ball well. It’s a passing league and the rules have changed over the years and decades to favor passing. And over the years the use of 11 personnel (3 wide receivers) has become the most used offensive personnel group. Most teams use it at least half of all offensive snaps and some use it as often as 90%, but the average this season is 60.9%. For the Minnesota Vikings, they’ve used 11 personnel on a nearly average 56.9% of their offensive snaps.
The longstanding counter to 11 personnel usage offensively has been the use of nickel personnel defensively, where a defensive back replaces a linebacker, giving the defense three cornerbacks to counter the three wide receivers on offense.