Brian O’Neill – RT
This could pretty much be anyone from the Vikings offensive line as they were atrocious versus the Jaguars. This was a Jacksonville team that, coming into the game, had just 11 sacks on the season. One wouldn’t have guessed that though after seeing how much pressure the Jaguars put on Kirk Cousins throughout the game.
Jacksonville finished the matchup with four sacks and they were all over Cousins for the majority of the afternoon. The Vikings also found it tough to make room for Dalvin Cook to run. Cook ended up rushing for 120 yards, but he needed an eye-popping 32 carries to gain it all.
One player from the Minnesota offensive line that really struggled in Week 13 was right tackle, Brian O’Neill. He is usually very solid and steady in his play, but he had a rare bad game against the Jaguars.
O’Neill wasn’t even going against a starter, but Jaguars defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot owned the Vikings right tackle as he was able to register two sacks during the contest. O’Neill was overpowered and he couldn’t handle Smoot’s speed and tenacity, which resulted in him getting pushed into the backfield or right into the lap of Cousins.
4 Vikings players that we can now safely call busts
After the way this year has gone, it's now clear we can label some of the Minnesota Vikings recent draft selections as busts.
O’Neill also drew a couple of flags and he just seemed off all day long. Sometimes that happens and even great players have bad games. But when O’Neill is the strength of the offensive line and running the football is the focal point of Minnesota’s offense, his bad games hit harder and hurt the team more.