4 underrated reasons why the Vikings are in the 2019 playoffs

Dennison’s transformation of the offensive line

Back in January, the Vikings were looking to improve their offensive coaching staff and ended up hiring former Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak to be an offensive advisor/assistant head coach.

During Kubiak’s tenure as a coach in the NFL, he’s worked with a specific group of guys at pretty much every stop he’s made. So once he was hired by Minnesota, he brought his trusted group of assistants along with him.

One of these assistants was Rick Dennison, who took over as the Vikings’ offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Tasked with working with a line that gave up 40 sacks in 2018 and a rushing attack that finished last season with the third-fewest yards in the league, Dennison certainly wasn’t being handed an easy coaching job.

But given the circumstances he was presented with, Minnesota has to be happy with what he has been able to do this year.

Heading into Week 17, the Vikings have rushed for the seventh-most yards in the NFL and the offensive line has allowed less than 30 sacks. Minnesota’s offensive line still has its flaws, but Dennison deserves a bunch of credit for putting the unit back in the right direction and helping them adapt quickly to a new running scheme.