There's been a lot going on with the Minnesota Vikings since the game against the Packers kicked off Sunday afternoon at 12:00pm. Ya know, all the stuff about an amazing comeback, missed kicks, tie game, cut kicker, signed kicker and now the re-signing of Tom Johnson.
For the third week of the NFL season, it's been a bit nuts.
With that, I ask for your forgiveness. Forgive me for taking two days to get to this take, but after starting right tackle Rashod Hill went out with an injury in the second half of Sunday's game, rookie Brian O'Neill came off the bench for his first career action and did a pretty good job.
So far this season, the right side of the offensive line has been its downfall. Failing to keep the pressure out of the backfield on run plays has been their worst crime, but it's been a struggle all around.
But O'Neill played 32 snaps on Sunday at right tackle and was on the field as Kirk led the offense for a 22-point fourth quarter and 2-minute drive down the field to tie the game at 29-29. He remained out there for the overtime session in which the Vikings were able to move the ball relatively easily.
Even Mike Zimmer, though not one for many words, thought O'Neill did well.
"Yeah, he did pretty good," Zimmer said Monday. "I thought he played well."
The injury to Rashod Hill is not thought to be a serious one, but the progress shown by O'Neill in real-game action has to be encouraging. From the day that they drafted him he was viewed as a project who needed to gain weight and learn the position better.
If this was the team's progress report, I think they'll give him relatively good grades!