Vikings' offensive line, quarterback Case Keenum both crumbled under Eagles' pressure

On Friday, about 48 hours before the kickoff of the NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Eagles, I spent entirely too much time fixated on one particular worry when it came to the Vikings' chances: their offensive line — and subsequently Case Keenum's ability to handle any pressure given up — against the Eagles' defensive front four.

According to Pro Football Focus — a good tool, though not a perfect one — Keenum faced pressure on 39.3 percent of his regular-season dropbacks, the third-most of any NFL quarterback. But he was sacked on just 10.4 percent of those pressures, the second-lowest rate. And his passer rating under pressure of 78.5 was eighth in the league.

In the playoffs against the Saints and a strong front four, that deteriorated. Keenum was still pressured at a relatively high rate (32.6 percent of his dropbacks), but his passer rating under duress was a paltry 5.1.

He threw a key interception under pressure that could have been the narrative had the Vikings not produced the Minneapolis Miracle.

After studying those contrasting statistics, and considering that the Vikings had made the decision to start Rashod Hill at tackle against the Eagles while playing Mike Remmers — by far their highest-graded tackle during the regular season, per Pro Football Focus — at guard just as they had against the Saints, I worried how the Vikings would fare.

I quickly shushed those worries, though, and looked for any statistic that would more closely align with my bold prediction: Vikings 27, Eagles 10. But in the end, the offensive line and Keenum's poor play under duress told much of the story of the day — at least the part we could reasonably predict, unlike the totally out-of-nowhere collapse of a typically stout defense.

Per PFF, the offensive line ended up yielding pressure on 24 of Keenum's 50 dropbacks, 48 percent — including the play that changed the entire game, when Chris Long beat Hill on an outside move and hit Keenum as he threw, resulting in a pick-six.

Still, all games are graded using the same tools. Hill and Reiff were marked by PFF as having allowed a combined 14 pressures against the Eagles. The other six tackles playing in the conference championship games (two each for the Patriots, Jaguars and Eagles) allowed just 13 combined. Overall the Vikings had a dismal pass blocking efficiency (again, per PFF) of 59.5.

To put that further in perspective: The 2016 Vikings had a pass blocking efficiency of 75.1, ranking 23rd in the NFL. This year's Vikings were much improved with a pass blocking efficiency mark of 79.3, good for 13th in the NFL during the regular season.

But an offensive line that both from the eye test and from statistical measures was improved from 2016 to 2017 struggled at the worst time. Making matters worse, Keenum had just a 60.4 passer rating under pressure against the Eagles — far better than his showing against the Saints but nowhere near his solid 78.5 regular-season mark.

It's not all a blame game. There's at least an equal amount (if not more) to be doled out as credit to an Eagles defense that has been doing this all year. Expecting Keenum to keep avoiding sacks while avoiding turnovers … while also expecting an improved but vulnerable offensive line to keep the Eagles at bay one week after struggling against the Saints was probably too much to ask.