Joseph’s attempted hurdle vs. Colts was not planned by Vikings

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph had everyone scratching their heads last Sunday after he tried to jump over a defender on a field goal attempt.

It is hard to pinpoint just one play to define how bad the Minnesota Vikings played last week against the Indianapolis Colts. But if one absolutely had to name something, it would most likely be the field goal block attempt by defensive tackle Linval Joseph toward the end of the first quarter.

For some strange reason, the 328 pound defensive lineman thought he could jump over the Colts’ blockers to prevent the kick from being made. But instead, he just ended up getting a leverage penalty that led to Indianapolis getting a touchdown instead of a field goal.

Joseph claimed after the game that he was not trying to jump over the Colts’ players, but anyone with decent vision can clearly see from a replay that the defensive tackle did a whole lot more than just jump straight up in the air.

As for whose idea the attempt at a field goal block was, Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer cleared that up when speaking to the media on Wednesday.

"“That wasn’t called. (Linval) was trying to make a play and he made a mistake and that’s going to happen. He’s going to learn from it and he’s going to move on.”"

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Based on the probability of Mike Zimmer screaming at Joseph for thinking he was the second coming of Michael Jordan on Sunday, the defensive tackle should not have any trouble staying grounded the next time he lines up to try and block a field goal.