Unsurprisingly, the offensive line was a problem for the Minnesota Vikings in their Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Consistently bad performances from the offensive line is a problem that currently feels like it will never be solved by the current regime in charge of the Minnesota Vikings.
Every offseason, we’re told by the Vikings coaches, players, and front office that this is the year that they have finally found the right group of offensive linemen to make up a successful unit. And then almost immediately every season, those statements are proven to be completely false.
This was the case again on Sunday when Minnesota’s offensive line struggled during the majority of the team’s Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Awareness missing from recent comments by Mike Zimmer about Minnesota Vikings offensive line
Against the Bengals, the Vikings only gave up three sacks, which doesn’t seem like much for a below-average offensive line. But on Monday, we found out that Minnesota’s blockers also gave up a pressure on 30.8 percent of Kirk Cousins‘ dropbacks on Sunday.
It’s more of the same for the Vikings offensive line, but it doesn’t sound like the guys in charge of the team are too worried about the unit just yet.
On Monday, Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer spoke with the local Twin Cities media and he shared what he believes contributed to the struggles of the offensive line in Cincinnati.
"“When you’re throwing 49 times, you’re going to have some issues in [pass] protection.”"
Or maybe the Vikings’ offensive line struggled because they’re not good? Maybe starting career backups (Rashod Hill) and guys that are playing out of their natural positions (Ezra Cleveland and Oli Udoh) isn’t as great of an idea as it seems in the coaches’ meeting room?
Zimmer is right in the sense that there are going to be more opportunities to struggle in pass protection when a team throws as much as Minnesota did on Sunday.
But it’s not like the Vikings’ offensive line ran out of gas and only struggled in the fourth quarter and overtime. Two of the three sacks Minnesota allowed on Sunday came in the first quarter. So what was the offensive line’s excuse for those?
Zimmer isn’t really that delusional about the Vikings’ blockers that he thinks they struggled because the team passed too much is he? He can’t be, right?
At this point though, Vikings fans should just be expecting the absolute worst from the team’s offensive line each week, and any performance that is even slightly encouraging will just be viewed as a pleasant surprise.