The 2016 Vikings had their season undone by a leaky offensive line. That team had a bad plan going in, and it only got worse as injuries stacked up. They started out 5-0 but that quickly disintegrated into an 8-8 finish.
Sunday looked a disturbing amount like the 2016 season, when Sam Bradford set an NFL completion percentage record (71.6 percent) largely because he threw a ton of short passes to avoid pressure.
Kirk Cousins finished Sunday 40-for-55 (72.7 percent) for 296 yards. That's 5.4 yards per attempt.
The sight of a Vikings QB wearing No. 8 and either running for his life, falling to the ground or getting the ball out quickly is all-too-familiar.
The Vikings have about enough cap space left to buy a cup of coffee.
Translation: the offensive line pretty much is what it is, and unless it gets better in a hurry the comparisons to 2016 will unfortunately continue.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
