Throughout quarterback Kirk Cousins' many meaningful games in five Vikings seasons, a theme persists no matter the roster.
Their offensive line, particularly the interior, can be schemed up and attacked.
Of course, the Vikings had little chance when down to their third-string center — a veteran guard, Chris Reed — against a big Packers interior featuring 300-pounders like Kenny Clark and Jarran Reed.
The issues were inflamed due to injury, bad matchups and two afflicted tackles in Brian O'Neill, who also went down with a calf injury, and Christian Darrisaw, who didn't play that well. The offense failed to score from the Packers' 1-yard line after the blocked punt, twice running into a goal-line wall. The Vikings entered the game tied with Jacksonville for the highest percentage of runs stopped at or behind the line.
Cousins faced pressure in key spots, with four of the eight hits he took coming on third down. He was sacked twice. Only the Bears' Justin Fields and the Broncos' Russell Wilson have been sacked more than Cousins (a career-high 46) this season. Even when Cousins had solid protection, other miscues undercut a passing offense that fell dormant on the slippery Lambeau Field.
The Vikings' last playoff team — 2019 — was undone by interior pressure from the Packers in a late regular season defeat, and eventually the 49ers in a postseason loss. With O'Neill's calf injury landing him on injured reserve, they may need center Garrett Bradbury's back to heal quickly to avoid a similar result with tough fronts in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Dallas in the playoff field.
Health has been a consistent problem in the second half of this season. The Vikings' starting five O-line was relatively healthy from training camp all the way through the first 10 games. But Minnesota is expected to start a fourth different combination on Sunday in Chicago — all within their last seven games. This version will include Oli Udoh at right tackle and most likely Chris Reed as the third different center.
"You always take for granted those five guys taking snaps together, both in the run and pass game," O'Connell said Monday. "And just the moving parts of snap counts, especially at the center position. The things you sometimes take advantage to execute and operate at a high level. Even pre-snap, the communication, targeting [blocks], all those things. There's just no margin of error when you're talking about the importance of trying to play a good football team on the road in the crowd environment we were in."
