Once Again, the Vikings' Offensive Line Was Dominated By a Great Defensive Front

The common theme in the Vikings' bleakest losses of the past few seasons is their offensive line getting thoroughly outclassed by teams with great defensive lines. The running game gets shut down, they're forced to pass, and the line doesn't give Kirk Cousins any time to make things happen. Before he can go through even a couple progressions, the pocket has collapsed. The offense looks hopeless.

It happened on Sunday against the Browns. Before that, a bunch of games come to mind. The divisional round playoff loss to the 49ers two years ago is probably the best example, because of the stakes of that game. Losses to the Buccaneers and Colts last season fit in the category, too. The 16-6 loss to the Bears in Chicago in 2019 stands out, as does the loss to the Packers that December at home. The Vikings were a good team in 2019, but their ceiling was repeatedly capped by an inability to keep Cousins upright against top defenses.

Despite all the draft capital the Vikings have invested in upgrading the offensive line over the past four years, that recurring issue doesn't seem to have gone away.

Sunday against the Browns — after a great opening drive — was one of those offensive performances by the Vikings where it felt like they could've played another full half of football and been stuck at seven points. They couldn't get any push in the run game, averaging just 2.75 yards on carries by running backs. Cousins was pressured on 54 percent of his dropbacks, despite the Browns mostly rushing with four. Targets not named Justin Jefferson struggled to get separation, and pass rush-beaters like screens and quick throws weren't working either for OC Klint Kubiak.

It was a perfect storm, really. And it resulted in the Vikings punting six times (including five three-and-outs), turning the ball over on downs twice, and Cousins forcing a deep ball that was intercepted because he felt like he had to try to get something going.

It's a fundamental problem that keeps limiting what the Vikings can do against great teams: if your offensive line is dominated at the line of scrimmage, there's not much the quarterback or offensive coordinator or anyone else can do.

So how do the Vikings fix this before the next time they play a great defensive line? I'm not sure there's a simple answer.

Christian Darrisaw taking over for Rashod Hill at left tackle should help eventually, although rookie tackles tend to struggle even when they don't miss the entire offseason recovering from surgery. Maybe Wyatt Davis takes over for Oli Udoh at some point if Udoh can't bounce back from a disastrous performance against the Browns. But at some point, the highly-drafted guys have to pan out. That means getting meaningful improvement from Ezra Cleveland and Garrett Bradbury on the interior. Even Brian O'Neill, who has been great this year, struggled against the Browns.

From a big-picture perspective, the Vikings may also have to take a long look at their quarterback situation and offensive philosophy as well. If the offensive line isn't going to become a top unit, maybe the Vikings should try to get a quarterback who can make things happen even when he's pressured. Cousins' splits when kept clean versus when pressured are among the more drastic in the NFL. When the pass rush gets to him, it seems to start getting in his head and significantly affecting his play. And he's still not a guy who's going to escape the pocket and make off-platform throws or create outside of structure at a high level.

Scheme-wise, it says a lot that the Vikings' offense seems to be unable to get going at all when the run game is shut down. If teams know that they can stop the entire offense by stopping the run, perhaps that suggests that the scheme and philosophy need to be re-evaluated.

Cousins and the offense had been great this season prior to this week, and improving the offensive line should continue to be the priority. The Browns also might have the best defensive line in the entire NFL, which could be making this seem like a more drastic issue than it is. But the trend of the Vikings being utterly outmatched at the line of scrimmage in big games isn't a new one. Until the O-line improves or more drastic changes are made to the QB or scheme, there's no reason to think this problem won't continue to put a ceiling on what the Vikings can do against great defenses.

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