Minnesota Vikings have a great offensive line and it's time they get the credit they deserve

The Minnesota Vikings are the talk of the National Football League after two week, especially after their 23-17 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Sam Darnold is getting most of the praise for the success of the offense, which is understandable. Darnold is having a renaissance season with the Vikings after six journeyman […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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The Minnesota Vikings are the talk of the National Football League after two week, especially after their 23-17 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Sam Darnold is getting most of the praise for the success of the offense, which is understandable. Darnold is having a renaissance season with the Vikings after six journeyman seasons after being the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

There is one aspect of the team that has been criticized incessantly for the last decade plus and it appears that the Vikings have figured it out.

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Minnesota Vikings offensive line is great

The interior of the Vikings offensive line has been maligned for the better part of a decade. Once Steve Hutchinson left the franchise after the 2011 season, it was a turnstile on the interior. Offensive tackle wasn't much better for the better part of that time, but they have those positions solidified with Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill.

The interior isn't great, but they are performing well considering the circumstances. They got pulverized by Dexter Lawrence in week one, but he is arguably the best defensive tackle in the National Football League. In week two against a really good defensive line in the 49ers, they stepped up and played incredibly well.

The offensive line only allowed six pressures on the day. Yes, just six on 31 dropbacks.(19.3%). Darrisaw allowed three of them but he went up against Nick Bosa for a good portion of the day. Ed Ingram, Garrett Bradbury and O'Neill all allowed just one pressure each. So far this season, left guard Blake Brandel has yet to allow a single pressure.

The lack of pressure allowed by the Vikings' offensive line was a major portion of their success. Darnold was perfect against the blitz, going 4-4 for 133 yards and the 97-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson. He was fantastic with a clean pocket as well, going 16-21 for 263 yards, two touchdowns and the bonkers interception by Fred Warner.

When are we going to give this unit credit for being as good as they are? The Giants game was somewhat of an aberration due to Lawrence being an outlier game wrecker. This game against the 49ers didn't just have really good pass blocking, the run blocking was bonkers. They were moving the 49ers with ease across the board and opening up huge holes for both Ty Chandler and Aaron Jones. Their run blocking grades were excellent on Sunday.

  • Bradbury: 85.3
  • Darrisaw: 83.7
  • Brandel: 81.0
  • O'Neill: 60.5
  • Ingram: 51.6

It's not flawless if you want to base things solely on the grades from Pro Football Focus and the film will tell you the same. However, it's significantly better than what we saw last year, mainly due to the upgrade in personnel. Brandel is a significantly better player than Dalton Risner at left guard and it allows them to be more impactful in both power and zone runs.

The success of the Vikings season this year is due in part to the offensive line being in its best form since the Brad Childress era and we can thank the front office and offensive line coach Chris Kuper for that.

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