The last time the Vikings played the Lions, the offensive line totally fell apart against that Detroit front-four and allowed Teddy Bridgewater to get sacked 8 times.
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Matt Kalil played particularly bad that day, allowing Ziggy Ansah to do pretty much whatever he wanted firing off the right side of the Lions’ line.
Since that bad day the Vikings’ O-line has only gotten more stressed, losing right tackle Phil Loadholt and starting left guard Charlie Johnson. And Matt Kalil has become even more shaky at left tackle.
With all this in mind, it’s no surprise that a lot of the analysis leading up to Sunday’s game has focused on the Vikings’ O-line and whether they can put together a better effort against Detroit this time around.
Some of this analysis has been of the negative variety, which is understandable given the ups-and-downs of the offensive line this year.
But Teddy Bridgewater clearly doesn’t want to hear any dissing of the men who are played to block for him. This afternoon, Teddy sent a subtle message to the folks who’ve been questioning the O-line and particularly Matt Kalil.
Teddy posted this on Instagram with the caption: Love playing with the men on this team! Never been around a more resilient group of men! #Skol
photo credit: Instagram
That Bridgewater would pick this subtle but telling way to show solidarity with his teammates while putting the critics on notice speaks to how savvy Bridgewater is for a rookie. He knows what the deal is. And he knows how to get the message across to the people who need to hear it.
Kalil and the rest of the big boys up front know that Teddy Bridgewater has their back, at least in public. Behind the scenes, things might get a little raw if Teddy gets sacked 8 more times by Detroit. So let’s hope that doesn’t happen.