LONDON – About a year ago Norv Turner quit as the Vikings' offensive coordinator, thrusting Pat Shurmur into the job.
Turner's abdication occurred as the team was collapsing. Turner could have complained about Teddy Bridgewater's knee injury, or Adrian Peterson's, or almost the entire offensive line diving headfirst into a virtual wood chipper, and he would have been justified.
Shurmur didn't complain. He modified the offense to help Sam Bradford survive. Even as the team imploded, Bradford set an NFL record for accuracy.
In 2011 and 2012, Shurmur was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Sunday at Twickenham Stadium in London, the Vikings eased to a 33-16 victory over Cleveland. Shurmur won nine games running the Browns. Current Browns coach Hue Jackson, at his current pace, would win his ninth game in a year that provides the setting for a "Blade Runner" sequel.
As in 2016, the current Vikings lost their initial starting quarterback and running back, and have dealt with injuries to the offensive line. Unlike last year, this season the general manager did not make a stunning trade to replace his injured starting quarterback.
In some ways, Shurmur has faced more challenges through the first two months of this season than Turner did before he quit. With Shurmur running the offense, the Vikings are 6-2 and look more diverse and deceptive.
In Week 1, Bradford produced perhaps the best performance of his career, against the Saints. In Week 3, after his first full week of taking first-team snaps in practice, Case Keenum produced one of the best performances of his career, against the Buccaneers.
Watch the Vikings' offense from the press box this season, and you see receivers open constantly. You also see running plays producing against stacked fronts.