Pro soccer focus delivered a shock of perspective this week to the Minnesota Vikings’ long-standing offensive line right. The eye test for years highlighted shortcomings over the Vikings offensive, but PFF confirmed the ridge in addition.
Vikings team passes block rank and rank since 2014:
2014: 72.4 (23rd)
2015: 67.9 (28th)
2016: 64.7 (30th)
2017: 71.9 (17th)
2018: 63.6 (27th)
2019: 63.0 (27th)
2020: 55.5 (29th)😬 # School pic.twitter.com/gKykFADIAJ
– PFF MIN Vikings (@PFF_Vikings) 14 January 2021
If one has searched through all the statistics of Minnesota since the hiring of Mike Zimmer in 2014, no statistical parameter is constantly under water, just like the pass rate (with the possible exception of extra-point kick). The defense usually causes fear. The offensive came out at Zimmer’s gate in 2014 and 2015, but has experienced an explosive boom since the arrival of Dalvin Cook and Kirk Cousins.
However, this crime is difficult – it simply does not go away. It’s an annual phenomenon to speculate about the prospects of ‘ditches’ this year. Did Rick Spielman fix it this time? Will Mike Remmers be the solution? Every season a new, half-measured tactic is carried out to correct the offensive line – in vain. This is evident from the tweet from PFF. Consider the tweet as a smoking gun.
PFF’s points here are particularly informative – for better or for worse – because offensive line statistics are not readily available. Bag-allowed does not tell the whole story, nor do hasty sites. Together – these statistics can take the pulse of an offensive line, but a complete verdict is not the result.
That’s why the PFF tweet is so damning.
7 years of suffering
On average under Zimmer, the Vikings offensive is 26th per PFF in pass rate since 2014. That’s not good. It’s not even ‘up and down’. The pass rate of the Zimmer Vikings was consistently poor. Luckily for Zimmer’s sake, his defense is usually just as good as the attacking line is weak. Call this grid deodorant.
In 2020, none of the departments were serviceable. According to the allowed points and offensive line passes, the Vikings were the fourth worst in the industry for both criteria. Sections cannot be won, post-season games cannot be played and Super Bowls victories are not realized if both sides of the trenches are smelly. Stinky trenches hit the Vikings in 2020.
If the offense as a whole was this problematic, or if the entire defense would fall to the bottom of the NFL in the rating – like the pass blockade in the PFF tweet – the head coach would be determined through year three. Fortunately, it is “just” a segment of the offense that is sad. Playmakers hide the vulnerability of the offensive line. Think how prosperous the franchise could be if the Vikings could score a 17th best offensive line every season? It was not asked too much.
An average season = NFC Championship
Do you need proof? In 2017, Minnesota’s pass blocker occupies the 17th league per PFF. This is one level below average. Guess what? The Vikings experienced a storybook season and visited the NFC Championship. This suggests that Zimmer’s team, even with a slight pass rate, could strike at the Super Bowl door more often. This is what they did in 2017. Why not set the league’s 18th best pass rate for 2021 on fire and see what happens?
All that may be needed is slightly below average offensive play if 2017 is any indication.
2020 as the worst yet
The terrible implication of the PFF nugget is that the worst grade is the most recent. The 55.5 PFF grade is the worst under a purple Zimmer regime. The Vikings in 2016 did indeed generate a lower NFL position, but the raw score was about nine points higher than the Vikings in 2020.
It could possibly be considered ‘bottom’. Will it get worse than a score of 55.5? Perhaps it is the galvanizing moment that illuminates years of offensive line-related failure. Brian O’Neill, Garrett Bradbury, Ezra Cleveland are all relatively young. The world is on the verge of maturity. If Riley Reiff stays in the left tackle, Minnesota should need no more than one left guard for 2021. Last season, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, Dakota Dozier and Dru Samia swapped left-back spots – a double that can be fitted as completely stuffy.
The successful nightmare ends in one of two ways: the Vikings find a guard worth his salt while the others develop four pieces. Or the team finishes south of the 20th in the NFL – again – and tries to figure out why 2021 went wrong at this junction next year. You know, the annual January-March routine for Vikings analysts.
The bittersweet part is that PFF finally exposed it in a simple tweet. The problem has been identified – one that has already been widely acknowledged by Vikings loyalists. Now the Vikings must act to get closer to the state of 2017 rather than that of 2020.
