by Cian Fahey

"The appropriate question is no longer if the Vikings season is over. The appropriate question now is if the Vikings are the best team in the NFL."

That was the key statement from a Film Room column at the end of September. The Vikings were undefeated at that point of the season. They had beaten the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers, and Green Bay Packers. Mike Zimmer's team would continue to win until their bye week. A 5-0 record put them atop the NFL, but then four consecutive losses from Week 7 onwards brought them back to earth. A win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11 offered a reprieve, but two more consecutive losses essentially ended the Vikings season. At 6-6, the Vikings know how it all went wrong. It's just so unprecedented that it's difficult to truly comprehend.

Everyone in the NFL is hurt once December comes. The inhumane scheduling and brutal nature of the sport itself combine to make it impossible for anyone to be close to 100 percent at this time of the year. The Vikings were hurt in September. Even when they were at 5-0, they were missing key pieces, including quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, left tackle Matt Kalil and running back Adrian Peterson. The outstanding play of Sam Bradford behind an offensive line built out of backups allowed the offense to do enough to get by while the defense acted as the protagonist for the team's success.

Norv Turner had played a key role in allowing Bradford to have success. He didn't force his preferred style of offense onto the available personnel. Instead he adjusted and ran an offense that allowed the Vikings to get the most out of what they had. At least, he did until the bye week. After that, Turner's play calling went away from packaged plays and short drops. The offense regressed, and Turner abruptly resigned.

Turner's scheme and its relationship with his personnel was a hot topic entering the season. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! suggested that was one of a few reasons leading to the offensive coordinator's resignation. Pat Shurmur took over and made necessary adjustments to set the offense up for success once again. Alas, timing is everything, and Shurmur's impact would be drowned out by another wave of injuries that would decimate the team's offensive line.

At its peak of health way back in the offseason, the Vikings projected to have a below-average offensive line at best. That line would have started Matt Kalil at left tackle, Alex Boone at left guard, Joe Berger or John Sullivan at center, Mike Harris at right guard, and Andre Smith or Phil Loadholt at right tackle. Brandon Fusco would provide decent depth, along with whoever lost out in the competitions at center and right tackle.

Harris and Loadholt were lost immediately. Loadholt decided to retire instead of returning from the injury he suffered the previous season. Harris was diagnosed with an unknown illness and lost for the year. Sullivan couldn't win his job back from Berger and was subsequently released rather than kept as a backup. Berger suffered a concussion on Thanksgiving day and was absent for the Vikings against the Dallas Cowboys last week. That meant that Alex Boone was the only original starter remaining on the interior.

It's the offensive tackle spots that have turned a bad offensive line into probably the worst unit in the league. Loadholt's retirement wasn't a big deal at the time, but it became a big deal when Smith landed on IR. Smith started four games before being lost for the year, two more than left tackle Matt Kalil. T.J. Clemmings was left to play right tackle, Jake Long was signed to start at left tackle. Long subsequently tore his Achilles, so Clemmings was then forced to move from the right side to the left. The Vikings were left without their preferred starter at left tackle, preferred backup at left tackle, preferred starter at right tackle, and preferred backup at right tackle, and their preferred third-string right tackle was now their starting left tackle.

Expecting to run a functional passing game with this offensive line is simply irrational.

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Clemmings isn't the only reason why the Vikings can't throw the ball downfield but he is by far the biggest weakness in the attack. The above GIF shows the Vikings' second dropback of the game against Dallas. The GIF initially focuses solely on Clemmings. In that sequence you can see how Clemmings lunges and reaches for Demarcus Lawrence instead of establishing his base beneath him and dropping back into a position where he can react to repel the defensive end. By lunging forward and striking out for Lawrence, Clemmings makes it easy for the defender to slip past his outside shoulder. Lawrence is immediately closing on Bradford in the pocket at that point. Because Clemmings isn't even in position to recover, Bradford can't hold the ball and look to extend the play with his movement. The ball has to come out at this point.

The second angle in the above GIF is a freeze frame of the coverage at the point when Bradford releases the ball. His outside receivers are both blanketed. His running back in the flat to the left is also covered and not an option because of where Lawrence is coming from. That leaves his two tight ends. Bradford diagnoses this coverage very quickly to give himself a chance to release the ball.

Kyle Rudolph had drawn single coverage against Sean Lee. Lee stumbles slightly in coverage, but he is right there on Rudolph's back shoulder through the route. Bradford would have preferred to hold the ball for a moment longer to let the route develop further across the field, but Clemmings' failure forces him to rush the pass, and he can't fit the ball into a tiny window before absorbing the huge hit from Lawrence.

Clemmings does everything you don't want your offensive tackles to do in pass protection. His inability to move his feet and keep his weight back leads him to thrust forward and make some wayward attempts at punching defensive ends to the ground. He is essentially a boxer who has to knock his opponent out with one perfectly timed, perfectly placed punch without ever being touched. In this game, he was repeatedly beaten around his outside shoulder because of his poor technique.

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On a couple of occasions the Cowboys attempted to aggressively chase Bradford with disguised and heavier blitzes. Bradford instantly found his outlet on those plays. The Cowboys quickly realized that the optimal strategy was to continuously rush five defenders to force the offense into keeping one of its five eligible receivers in to block, or risk Clemmings holding up in a one-on-one matchup. Clemmings was relatively recently converted from being a defensive lineman, and it's hard to point to any areas where he has developed since being drafted. One notable draft analyst and offensive line expert, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, suggests that Clemmings has actually regressed since he entered the league.

Clemmings hugs the line of scrimmage at the start of the above GIF. He is actually further upfield than his left guard. For a lineman who is repeatedly beaten around the edge, this doesn't make much sense. He again fails to match Lawrence's first action as the defensive end pushes upfield before Clemmings leans forward and offers a meager arm as an attempt at stopping the defensive end. Lawrence beats his teammate in the race to the quarterback and hits Bradford as he releases the ball.



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If Clemmings was the only liability on the offensive line, the Vikings would have a chance to scheme their offense around his flaws. The problem is that Clemmings is just the worst of the bunch.

The time a quarterback should hold the ball in the pocket isn't the same on every play. In the era we live in, average time in the pocket is a common measurement. Average time in the pocket or average time to throw is useless, though, without understanding the design of the offense and the play call from the defense. A quarterback such as Cam Newton or Carson Palmer holds the ball in the pocket longer than a quarterback such as Russell Wilson or Tom Brady because the designs of their offenses are all different. It's easy to talk about the schemes and how things are supposed to work with hypothetical players. When matchups between actual players have to be taken into account, you have to treat everything case-by-case.

When Bradford played with the St. Louis Rams early in his career, his numbers were never impressive because he played behind an offensive line that couldn't hold up against four-man rushes. Counting the number of rushers against the number of blockers on a given play is a crucial aspect of evaluation. It's how you determine how long the quarterback should hold the ball and how long you should expect his pass protection to hold up. Like when he was in St. Louis, Bradford is once again in an offense where matchups against his linemen prevent the offense from functioning as designed.

The below play is the quintessential example of a broken offense.

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Long before the ball is snapped, the Cowboys make it known that they are only rushing three players. They have three down linemen and nobody in position to blitz from the second level. It's third-and-4. Against a three-man rush, your quarterback should get time to get to the top of his drop, hold his position, survey the coverage from sideline-to-sideline, and then hold the ball to allow his receivers to extend their routes if he has to. Bradford doesn't get any of that. Both of Bradford's offensive tackles fail to play the pass rush. Neither sets wide enough to take away the speed rush around the edge. That means neither can get help from their guards. When the above GIF freezes midway through, you can see that both guards are standing in space with nothing to do while the tackles futilely turn with the edge rushers who have already beaten them.

Stefon Diggs catches a 7-yard pass on this play. He gets a first down. Bradford managed to throw an accurate pass because of his acumen to immediately diagnose the defense, his lightning-quick release, and his poise to stand in and take a hit.

Bradford got hit a lot in this game. He left for a couple of plays at the end of the first half but never reacted negatively to the pressure. He couldn't always make plays, but there were rarely plays to be made that he missed.

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Take this play for example. It's third-and-long. The Vikings keep two backs in next to the quarterback to offer chip options to help their offensive tackles. Both tackles hold up in protection because of the help they get, but the Vikings only have three receivers running routes downfield as a trade-off. Bradford has three vertical routes. His interior blocking collapses instantly as a simple stunt sends a defensive tackle running free at him in the pocket. Bradford's process hastens. He correctly diagnoses the coverage by locating the deep safety and attacking the wider side of the field. He needs to drop the ball into the area highlighted in green deep down the left sideline. Doing that gives his receiver a chance. His receiver has to win his route to get to the ball for the big play.

Bradford's throw isn't perfect, but it's good considering the hit he was confronted with and the time he had to let the route develop. He gives Laquon Treadwell a chance at getting to the ball. Treadwell doesn't get close to making the play because Brandon Carr is easily able to stay on top of his route and shield him off towards the sideline.

Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman received a lot of criticism at the time and will receive even more retrospectively for the Bradford trade. It's easy to jump on him now because the Vikings' season has fallen apart, but Bradford hasn't been the reason why. When the offensive line was simply problematic and not disastrous before the bye, Bradford was a legitimate MVP candidate. His ability to negate pressure and throw receivers open so consistently was spectacular. His play as an individual has suffered the more of a beating he has taken as the season has gone on, but he is still elevating his teammates and making the situation better than it realistically should be. You could see that against the Cowboys.

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On this play he converts a third-and-long with pressure coming in his face by perfectly flighting, perfectly timing, and perfectly placing a pass into the soft spot of the Cowboys' zone coverage.

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The Vikings commit eight players to the initial play-fake here, meaning there are only two receivers running into a flood of coverage downfield. Bradford leads Charles Johnson into space for the big gain.

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He created two big plays out of nothing on the final drive of the game.

If the Vikings had more talented receivers, ball-winners, or even just receivers who could get consistently open at different levels of the field, Bradford would be capable of masking the offensive line issues to be more productive. This game showcased the limitations of his pass catchers on a number of occasions. Besides Diggs, and Adam Thielen to a degree, the Vikings have receivers who need to be thrown open. And even when they are thrown open, they can't be relied upon to catch the ball.

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Cordarrelle Patterson has provided more value this year than in previous seasons, but he's still just a gadget player who shows off technical incompetence too often. In the above GIF Bradford recognizes the safety rotation immediately and gets rid of the ball quickly because of that. He neutralizes the pass rush with his process in the pocket and throws a perfect pass for Patterson to win. Patterson extends his arm to push off because he wants to body catch the ball instead of winning it strongly against a defensive back who isn't in position to locate it as it arrives. He makes the catch, but it's negated for the obvious penalty.

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Thielen is a talented receiver, but not a ball-winner against tight coverage. Thielen would thrive in an offense that wasn't constantly facing eight- and nine-man coverages where the receivers don't get time to extend their routes. He and Bradford have developed a great rapport this year on back-shoulder throws and timing routes, but Thielen couldn't win a well-placed ball in the above GIF when Bradford again made the smart, accurate throw.

Patterson and Thielen have their flaws, but they do at least help the offense in other ways. The same can't be said for Charles Johnson, and it's hard to argue at this point that Kyle Rudolph's good outweighs his bad.

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Johnson had an opportunity to score a touchdown in this game, but he tried to body-catch the ball against contact when he needed to be aggressive attacking it in the air. That was an egregious error, but not as big of a miss as the above play. Again, Bradford's process in the pocket is impressive. He quickly manipulates the outside cornerback with a pump fake to free Johnson down the right sideline. The quarterback's pass leads Johnson away from the safety and hits him in the hands. Maybe it was slightly overthrown, but it would not have been a fingertip grab for the receiver -- it literally hit the top of his hands. Regardless, it was a huge play that the receiver left on the field at a pivotal point of the game.

When you have limited talent on offense, it's harder to overcome inconsistency. Leaving big plays on the field isn't something that can be overcome. It's especially bad when those inconsistencies show up when your better players create big-play opportunities.

Hello, Kyle Rudolph.

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Comfortably Bradford's best play in this game came late in the third quarter. The Vikings were trailing the Cowboys 7-3. It was third-and-4 in field goal range. Rudolph doesn't get open on this play, but Bradford throws him open with a precise pass over Byron Jones. Bradford fits the ball into a window that is barely bigger than the ball. He does so while being hit even though the Cowboys rushed three against the five pass blockers the Vikings had.

Rudolph is a physically gifted tight end who fails at the catch point too often. His career has never come close to what it was expected to be because he has never been able to eradicate his inconsistency.

You'll again notice that Bradford recognized the rotation of the safeties to give his tight end a chance to score. Though, ironically, he might have had a chance if he checked down into the flat quickly. It wouldn't have been an easy first down either way.

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This isn't a play your average NFL quarterback makes. Of course it counts for nothing because, as has often been the case throughout his career, Bradford's intended receiver dropped the ball. More often than not when Bradford has made these types of plays over the course of his career they have been ruined by the Brian Quicks, Austin Pettis', Jordan Matthews, Riley Coopers, Charles Johnsons, and Kyle Rudolphs with whom he has played.



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Bradford's play and the defense's dominance justify Spielman's decision to aggressively pursue the quarterback. This team was built to win this year, they just suffered an abnormal amount of injuries. Even Mike Zimmer is out now.

If you want to criticize the general manager for not being able to predict the injuries, you are being irrational. If you want to criticize him for not being better prepared for those injuries, you're still being irrational. Spielman built this team so that it was strong on the defensive side and just good enough on the offensive side. He had limited equity to invest and decided to create a dominant defense before focusing on the offense. That plan worked. The defense is dominant. The franchise is now in position to focus on building on the offensive side as its young, dominant defense continues to grow together. Losing next year's first-round pick won't derail the direction of the franchise. It hurts, but the risk quite clearly outweighed the reward.