With the return of Adrian Peterson, Minnesota fans had high hopes of winning versus the Indianapolis Colts. The complete opposite happened actually. Instead, the Vikings were blown out.
The Colts beat them 36 - 3 at the U.S. Bank Stadium. This had now made Minnesota fans wonder how was a team that was 5-0 dominating the league at the time to a 7-7 team that has no chance at the playoffs. The Lions are now leading the division with the Green Bay Packers catching up quick.
The bench
Minnesota has suffered so many injuries this year. First, it was Teddy Bridgewater at the start of the year, then it continued: Matt Khalil, Adrain Peterson, Jake Long, Tom Johnson.
I will put a full list of the IR down below. It has been a gruesome year for the NFL in general with injuries.
Rhett Ellison - IR
Teddy Bridgewater - IR
Phil Loadholdt - Retired
John Sullivan - Released
Sean Hickey - Released
And how could we forget the beloved Blair Walsh - released.
As one can see, the IR is full of an offensive lineman which has impacted the Minnesota Vikings team tremendously. Even after picking up Sam Bradford, who saved the franchise at the time, he couldn't carry the team on his back.
So what's next for the Minnesota Vikings?
It's very hard for the Minnesota Vikings to get into the playoffs, after losing to the Colts. It's time for them to look into the future already. With the draft coming up, Minnesota did give away their 1st round pick up for Sam Bradford to the Eagles.
But the real question is: what does the team need?
An offensive line, that's what. The defense is one of the top tier defenses in the league and that showed while playing against Dallas. The Vikings had multiple chances on offense to score, but the offensive line couldn't hold the defense long enough for any plays to happen.
It got rid of Blair Walsh, who was having a bad year, so no one can blame him anymore.
So if you look into the 2017 draft class, who do we go for as far as an offensive lineman?
If no one takes Cam Robinson out of Alabama in the 1st round, he by far is a no brainer. He's one of the best college tackles out there and that's right down the alley Minnesota needs help in.
Well, guess we could do the good ole Minnesota saying: there's always next year.
