On paper, quarterback Kirk Cousins looked beaten up in the Vikings' 27-20 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday. He might feel that way after taking 12 hits, including three sacks.
But don't let those numbers fool you. The Vikings offensive line continued to play better as maligned guards Ed Ingram and Ezra Cleveland once again kept veteran guard Dalton Risner on the sideline. Risner has played 11 snaps in three games — all on special teams blocking for kicker Greg Joseph — since signing a one-year deal worth up to $4 million after the Week 2 loss in Philadelphia.
"Do I feel like we're doing a lot better things these past couple games than we were earlier on? Sure," right tackle Brian O'Neill said Monday. "But we got to win. Winning is the bottom line, and we have to find that razor-thin margin because it's close. But nobody cares if it's close."
The offensive line was not why Minnesota fell to 1-4. That could be attributed to the six drops among five different players — the second-most drops by a team this season behind the Ravens' seven drops on Sunday, per Pro Football Focus. Many of the hits delivered to Cousins, including one sack, came from unblocked defenders schemed open by Kansas City's pressure designs. The onus was on Cousins to get the ball out of his hands.
Center Garrett Bradbury's return boosted an interior line that was often isolated and attacked by blitz-happy Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Kansas City's star pass rusher, defensive tackle Chris Jones, was credited with three hits including a sack, but he had little impact on the game in which Cousins dropped back to pass 50 times.
The Chiefs moved Jones around, isolating him on just about every Vikings blocker.
But on third downs, Jones often aligned across from Ingram, the second-year guard who has allowed a team-high 17 pressures and had some bad moments. Ingram stood up to the test. He didn't get beaten quickly, unlike Cleveland, and often won those matchups. The sack he allowed came on the final play of the game in a Hail Mary situation.
"[Ingram] has done a really good job," O'Neill said. "He can do some things physically that not a lot of people in the world can do. I think he handled himself really well against Chris Jones [on Sunday], and I think he's only going to continue to get better."
Below is a four-play cutup of Ingram against the Chiefs, including a couple of plays against Jones on third down. Click here for the YouTube link.
Cleveland, the fourth-year starter, wasn't as clean in this game. He had the line's biggest blunder when Jones swatted Cleveland's punch and skated past him for a sack. It was Jones' biggest play in a pass-heavy game, which is a win for Minnesota.
"I thought the pass pro [Sunday], for the most part against a pretty elite group at getting after the quarterback, was pretty good," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "The backs were great, kind of internally helping, and that will help those [receivers] go win when Kirk has time to really see the whole field."
Cleveland is playing for a new contract in 2024 and needs to play with that kind of urgency. He was the team's most inconsistent blocker on Sunday but also had moments where he held up well in tough spots. Below is a four-play cutup of Cleveland against Kansas City, including the sack. Click here for the YouTube link.
O'Connell and Cousins came out firing with quick strikes to neutralize the Chiefs pass rush and zone blitzes. Cousins' 2.58-second average time to throw beat his season average, according to PFF. O'Connell also helped the pass blocking by deploying fullback C.J. Ham, who saw 25% playing time in his normal role and additionally as a protector on key downs. Ham replaced Alexander Mattison on a fourth-down throw to Jordan Addison before Mattison returned and caught a 9-yard touchdown.
Below is one example of Ham picking up a blitzing Chiefs defender in front of Cousins. Click here for the YouTube link.
