The Minnesota Vikings showed the qualities of a playoff team on Sunday night. Their 21-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts wasn’t glamorous, but it was good enough for a team that had reshaped its expectations over the first half of the season.
Minnesota began the season looking to lay the foundation for J.J. McCarthy. But through eight weeks, the concrete has settled faster than expected, and the Vikings are in the middle of a playoff race. Moving forward, Minnesota’s motives should be based on what it takes to win now, and they could be an inside job away from being a contender.
Let’s be clear. We’re not advocating that Brian Flores sneaks something into Kevin O’Connell’s coffee so he can become a head coach again. Nor are we suggesting that Jordan Addison give Justin Jefferson some concrete cleats so he can see more targets.
This is about addressing a fundamental flaw that has existed for multiple decades and was on full display on Sunday night.
The biggest example came with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Facing a first-and-10 at midfield, Sam Darnold dropped back to pass. After a few steps, Grover Stewart greeted him and forced a fumble into Kenny Moore II’s arms for a 52-yard touchdown return.
Vikings fans were fuming over Stewart’s clothesline on Darnold, resulting in the second blown call in the past two weeks that involved illegal contact to the QB’s helmet. Still, they were also angry about what happened on the interior of the offensive line, particularly Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram.
Bradbury was the main culprit on the play after setting too wide of a base and stepping on Ingram’s foot. With his momentum already going the wrong direction, Stewart sent Bradbury tumbling like an orange traffic cone before delivering the hit that caused Darnold to fumble.
Plays like this happen throughout the NFL weekly, but it seems to happen in Minnesota more often than elsewhere. Entering the 2019 draft, Bradbury was the consensus top center coming off a standout career at North Carolina State. Scouts and draft analysts gushed about his potential. After swinging and missing at Pat Elflein, general manager Rick Spielman selected Bradbury with the 18th-overall pick.
Taking an interior offensive lineman early can work in some cases; Quenton Nelson was standing on the opposite sideline for the Colts on Sunday night. However, in most instances, the expectations are too great for a lineman to achieve.
Bradbury has the intelligence to read opposing defenses and the athleticism to get out and block in the running game. However, pass blocking has been his kryptonite, dating back to his first professional game when he posted a Pro Football pass-blocking grade of 0.0 against Grady Jarrett and the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite this, the Vikings have desperately tried to make good on their investment. Bradbury ranked fourth in quarterback pressures allowed in his rookie season and fifth with 29 more in 2020. In six seasons, Bradbury has ranked outside of the top five in pressures allowed by centers just once (2023), and that was a year where he missed three games with a back injury.
Meanwhile, the Vikings haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. They signed him to a three-year, $15.75 million extension after Bradbury became a free agent following the 2022 season.
This pales in comparison to the meme-like status of Vikings offensive guards since Steve Hutchinson left town. If you’re a Vikings fan, you know that many have tried and failed to fill the void Randall McDaniel once occupied. Ingram is just the latest challenger left on the ropes.
One of the pieces of the infamous trade-down in the 2022 draft, Ingram has been a starter since the day he set foot in Minnesota. But it’s been more out of desperation than achievement. Ingram led all guards with 63 quarterback pressures during his rookie season in 2022 and was sixth with 42 pressures after missing two games in 2023.
Cutting quarterback pressures by one-third creates some optimism that Ingram is making progress. Still, if Ingram had played the entire 2023 season, he likely would have been toward the top of the list with Cody Mauch (57 pressures) and Laken Tomlinson (51 pressures).
Ingram has continued his struggles this season, ranking fifth among guards with 21 pressures after Sunday’s win over the Colts. But with Blake Brandel allowing five pressures on the other side, Minnesota’s interior offensive line continues to struggle.
This highlighted one of Minnesota’s deficiencies on the other side of the ball. With Stewart, DeForest Buckner, and Kwity Paye dominating to the point Cris Collinsworth dubbed them “The Triangle of Terror” during Sunday’s broadcast, it may have taken the Vikings down another path of interior defensive linemen.
Unlike the guard position, the interior defensive line has a strong place in Vikings history. John Randle terrorized quarterbacks throughout the 1990s. Pat and Kevin Williams were dubbed “The Williams Wall” in the 2000s. Linval Joseph was a beast in the late 2010s. Alan Page was so dominant that he was the last defensive player to win an MVP award in 1971.
But in recent years, the interior of the defensive line has been quiet. Andre Patterson dubbed Shamar Stephen “The Real Deal.” However, his primary job was to fill gaps and let the guys behind him make plays. Even now, the role of the interior lineman has changed, going from a traditional 4-3 to whatever Flores has cooked up in the game plan the following week.
Still, the Vikings would probably like a little more from this group. Harrison Phillips is a solid run-stuffer, but interior defensive linemen accounted for just four pressures, and Jihad Ward collected three against the Colts on Sunday night.
Again, having a three-time All-Pro guard like Nelson helps. But this problem has persisted throughout the year. Primary linemen Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bullard, and Phillips have only 26 pressures on 496 pass-rushing snaps — a 5.2% pressure rate.
At the beginning of the season, people would meet these questions with a shrug and mention the $75 million in cap space and draft capital to fix the problems next offseason. However, Minnesota’s expectations have shifted from a team whose Super Bowl window might open in 2025 or 2026 to having a shot in a wide-open NFC.
It may be the unexpected splash that Vikings fans hope for ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline. But it may also be the inside job the Vikings need to go from a plucky playoff team to a championship contender.