Notable Colts injury creates massive advantage for Vikings in Week 9

When the Minnesota Vikings take the field inside U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, their opponent will be down an offensive lineman, as the Indianapolis Colts announced on Friday that starting left tackle Bernhard Raimann will not play in this weekend's matchup.

Raimann suffered a concussion in the Colts' loss to the Houston Texans last week, and it's clearly significant enough to keep him out of action against the Vikings on Sunday.

In his place, Indianapolis is expected to start rookie Matt Goncalves at left tackle, who was selected by the Colts in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. According to PFF, Goncalves led all Indianapolis players during this year's preseason with six pressures allowed in 73 pass-blocking snaps.

Minnesota Vikings should be able to take advantage of Indianapolis Colts offensive line injury

During last week's loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Vikings failed to come up with a single sack. So, with Indianapolis being without its starting left tackle, one can assume Minnesota will be looking to use this to its advantage on Sunday.

Even without one last week, the Vikings still rank fifth in the NFL in sacks this season with 24 and first in the league in pressure rate at 30.2 percent. They'll be taking on an Indianapolis offense that has allowed the fourth-fewest sacks in the NFL this year.

Minnesota only blitzed Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on 38.2 percent of his dropbacks last week, which was the first time the Vikings have blitzed an opposing signal-caller on less than 51 percent of their dropbacks since Week 1.

It proved not to be the best strategy, so expect Minnesota to get back to a blitz rate closer to 50 percent when they face the Colts on Sunday, especially with Indianapolis starting 39-year-old Joe Flacco at quarterback, who isn't exactly known for his scrambling ability.

How much of a disadvantage will Indianapolis be at by starting a rookie at left tackle this weekend? We'll have to wait to find out, but one can imagine Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is going to have guys testing the left side of the Colts offensive line early and often on Sunday.

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