Without Christian Darrisaw again, Vikings offensive line earns praise from its coach

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The Vikings ruled out Christian Darrisaw before Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys and played without their regular left tackle for the fourth time this season.

Darrisaw had been listed as questionable after missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of ongoing issues after his torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered last October. He was a limited participant on Friday. He was not on the field for pregame warmups Sunday and sat out for the second time in three weeks.

In addition to missing four games, Darrisaw played only nine snaps against the Chargers in October and left early in the Vikings’ victories over the Bengals and Browns. The Vikings have typically held him out of practice on Thursdays after a full practice day on Wednesdays, and they took him out early in their 31-0 victory over the Commanders last week.

Justin Skule started in Darrisaw’s place against the Cowboys, and then right tackle Brian O’Neill left in the fourth quarter because of a foot injury. O’Neill will have a magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday.

When O’Neill departed, Blake Brandel stepped in at right tackle, after playing left guard, center and left tackle already this season.

“He’s on his way to completing the Bingo card,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell joked.

The coach gave all of the Vikings offensive linemen game balls, after they rolled out yet another offensive line combination and allowed the Cowboys to hit J.J. McCarthy just once.

O’Connell said that edge rusher Jonathan Greenard aggravated a shoulder injury, forcing him out of the game in the fourth quarter. Greenard seemed to be wearing a sling under his shirt when he left the locker room.

O’Connell said Javon Hargrave, who also exited early, had a thigh injury and would also need an MRI. Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers hurt his elbow late in the game as well.

Though he surpassed his yardage total from each of his previous two games, Justin Jefferson had another quiet night on Sunday, catching only two passes for the third consecutive game. It was far from an uneventful night for Jefferson, though.

The wide receiver was targeted eight times, and caught what would have been only his third touchdown pass of the year, only to have it called back because of an illegal formation penalty. Jefferson crumpled to the ground out of frustration when he saw the flag after starting to do the Griddy. He had two more passes, including one that could have been another touchdown, go off his hands on the same drive in the third quarter.

J.J. McCarthy absorbed a hit from Kenny Clark as he targeted Jefferson on a crossing route that could have gone for a big play. Then, on a first-down throw at the goal line, McCarthy targeted an open Jefferson in the back corner of the end zone, but the quarterback’s throw came in quicker than Jefferson expected, and the receiver couldn’t secure it.

Jefferson’s route made space for Jalen Nailor’s fourth-quarter touchdown, though, creating a moving pick for Nailor to drift into an open corner of the end zone. And Jefferson’s fierce block on a 7-yard run by Aaron Jones Sr. drew an unnecessary roughness penalty from Caelen Carson when the Cowboys cornerback threw a punch at Jefferson and shoved his helmet back during a brief altercation after the play.

“I’m just blocking [on the play]. That’s all I’m doing,” Jefferson said. “I’m always being that type of player, always into the run game, always trying to spring my guys free for a touchdown. I guess he got a little giddy because I was aggressive.”

Vikings kicker Will Reichard’s two field goals and four point-after kicks Sunday brought him to 209 career points. With 204 points at halftime, he had the third-most points by a Vikings player in his first 27 games.

Reichard finished last season with 110 points and is currently at 99 this season. He has made 48 of his 56 career field-goal attempts — including 24 of 26 this season — and all 65 of his point-after attempts.

The kicking game was a focal point on Sunday night, as expected.

But Aubrey missed a 51-yard field goal wide right in the second quarter and then another from 59 yards in the fourth quarter, doubling his miss total for the season. While he made four other field goals in the game from 37, 26 and 41 yards (twice), Aubrey’s pair of misses gave the Vikings some wiggle room in a tight offensive contest.

After Aubrey’s second miss, the Vikings executed a five-play, 51-yard scoring drive to go up eight points.

Aubrey also attempted an onside kick in the game’s closing 30 seconds, as Dallas tried to mount a last-minute comeback. Vikings tight end Josh Oliver smothered the kick to end the game.

The Vikings were eliminated from the playoff race when the Bears beat the Browns on Sunday afternoon, meaning they would play their final four games without any postseason hopes. It’s the earliest the Vikings have been eliminated from the playoff race since 2011.

They were knocked out of the playoffs in Week 14 of the 2013 season, when they blew their fifth fourth-quarter lead of that season in their famous snow globe game at Baltimore. But the Vikings played only three games that season with no playoff chances.