Recently, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line has struggled immensely over the last several weeks. In fact, over the last 3 weeks prior to Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay, the team had allowed their quarterback to be sacked 19 times. That is completely unacceptable for a team.
Sep 14, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Matt Asiata (44) celebrates his touchdown against the New England Patriots with tackle Phil Loadholt (71) in the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
However, the Vikings offensive line had a complete turnaround against the Buccaneers on Sunday. A patchwork offensive line with third string guard Joe Berger held their own against Tampa Bay’s pass rush, allowing rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to be brought down just once in the game.
To be fair, the Buccaneers aren’t known for their prowess in the pass rush this year. In fact, they only had 9 sacks as a team in their six games prior to the game against Minnesota. Despite that, the porous Vikings offensive line was expected to struggle mightily as they have in the past.
Next week, the Vikings will take on a Washington Redskins team that is much better when it comes to getting to the quarterback. They have accumulated 21 sacks in their 8 games this year, which ties them for ninth in the NFL as a squad. Headlining Washington in sacks is Ryan Kerrigan. Kerrigan has taken down the quarterback 7.5 times so far this year.
Can the Minnesota Vikings protect their quarterback against the Washington Redskins as well as they did against the Buccaneers? Or was this just a Minnesota team that was taking on a weak pass rush last week with things returning to normal next week? Discuss it in the comments below.