Inside The Vikings

Max Brosmer makes disastrous rookie mistake on Seahawks pick-six

Brosmer looked like an undrafted rookie on an unfortunate lowlight, but Kevin O'Connell's play call also warrants questioning.
Will Ragatz|
Max Brosmer makes a rookie mistake.
Max Brosmer makes a rookie mistake. | NFL on FOX

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Minnesota Vikings

Max Brosmer made quite the rookie mistake, and disaster ensued for the Minnesota Vikings.

Facing a 4th and 1 from the Seahawks' 4 yard-line late in the second quarter of Sunday's game, Brosmer took the snap and immediately had DeMarcus Lawrence in his face as he rolled out to the right. With the play basically dead before it had a chance, Brosmer tried to make something happen and instead made a catastrophic error.

As he was being taken down by Lawrence, he blindly underhand tossed the ball in the direction of Seattle's end zone. It never had a chance to get there. Where it did land was in the waiting arms of linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who went 85 yards the other way for a touchdown. Instead of the Vikings tying the game at 3-3 or taking a 7-3 lead, they found themselves down 10-0.

"Oh no!" exclaimed FOX play-by-play announcer Joe Davis (and presumably, countless Vikings fans across the world).

"Some lessons in the NFL have to come the hard way," color commentator Greg Olsen said. "The play is over. Just take the sack. I know it feels tough to just accept defeat on fourth down. Just a young quarterback that's just not used to these situations."

Brosmer obviously cannot make that mistake in that moment and risk a bad play becoming even worse. But he's not alone in deserving blame. There clearly was a major issue with the execution of the play, with Lawrence having a direct, unimpeded path to Brosmer as soon as the play began.

Some on social media have questioned Kevin O'Connell's decision to call a pass play in the first place on 4th and 1. O'Connell's run/pass ratio in short-yardage situations has been a topic of discussion all year. Could the Vikings not have run the ball with Jordan Mason and picked up a yard in that situation?

In O'Connell's defense, the run game hadn't exactly been working up to that point. Mason and Aaron Jones had a combined 11 yards on six carries in the first half, with the Vikings missing both of their offensive line starters on the left side (Christian Darrisaw and Donovan Jackson).

Another option would've been a tush push with Brosmer. Another option was to simply kick the short field goal and tie the game at 3, knowing how well the Vikings' defense had been playing.

O'Connell went with the pass play, it got blown up, and Brosmer made a mistake of epic proportions.

The Vikings trailed 13-0 at halftime in Seattle.

Published
Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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