The Vikings vowed to focus on improving their offensive line over the offseason, and the emphasis on the unit has thus far paid off.
Each week, NFL.com analyst Shaun O'Hara puts together a list of the top five offensive line performances, and this week he included the **Vikings in his lineup at No. 3**. O'Hara wrote:
Minnesota showed off some quality depth in Sunday's 24-16 win over Baltimore. The Vikings lost left tackle Riley Reiff and left guard Jeremiah Sirles to injuries during the game, but second-year man Rashod Hill and rookie Danny Isidora did a fine job in relief. Minnesota was able to rack up 357 yards of offense, including 169 yards on the ground. Pretty remarkable, considering the Vikings lost rookie sensation Dalvin Cook just a few weeks ago. Free-agent acquisition Latavius Murray enjoyed a breakthrough performance with the Vikings, exploding for 113 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
And while Baltimore may be struggling of late on defense, it's pretty extraordinary that this reshuffled O-line didn't allow a single sack or QB hit all game.
O'Hara ranked the Cowboys offensive line at No. 1 after Dallas defeated San Francisco 40-10 and racked up 501 yards of total offense.
The Steelers were second, and coming in at fourth on O'Hara's list were the Rams. He called the No. 5 spot a tie between the Bills and the Jaguars.
Vikings game-day program featured by Sports Business Chronicle
The Vikings have had a home-game-heavy first half of the 2017 schedule, having already played five regular-season matchups at U.S. Bank Stadium (in addition to two preseason games).
Recently, the *Sports Business Chronicle *highlighted an aspect of the **Vikings in-stadium entertainment**. Mark J. Burns wrote:
Some sports teams traditionally place game day programs on fans' seats, one of which is the Minnesota Vikings, but no one to our knowledge has created an augmented reality experience via thousands of in-stadium programs … until now.
On the Vikings game day [Playbook], a call to action prompts fans to download the Vikings team app. Fans are then asked to scan a circular bar code on the playbook, which ultimately triggers the experience. Whichever Vikings player is on the cover that particular week then delivers a 'Welcome' message to fans.
Burns quoted Scott Kegley, Executive Director of Digital Media and Innovation, who explained the motivation to create "really unique content" for fans that was specific to the Vikings App.
"It's also a good way to increase engagement on your app on game days. There's so many other things in the app that we want people to find and explore," Kegley told Burns. "Whether that's wayfinding, ticketing or replays, we want people to see that that content is there. It's also served as a really good advertisement for the app overall and giving people an additional reason to download it on game days."
Remmers highlighted for performance against Ravens
The Vikings in Week 7 did not allow a sack of Keenum for his third consecutive game.
Analytics site Pro Football Focus praised right tackle Mike Remmers, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent in the spring, for his performance against the Ravens. PFF gave Remmers a grade of 86.6, making him the third-highest graded offensive tackle for the week.
Carolina's Daryl Williams topped the list at 87.9, followed by Atlanta's Ryan Schraeder with 87.1. New England tackle Marcus Cannon was fourth with a grade of 85.8.
