Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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It had been a long time since the Vikings hadn't played the entirety of a game without Kyle Rudolph.
The tight end missed Sunday's game at Tampa Bay because of a foot injury, ending his streak of consecutive regular-season starts at 93 games.
True, the 10-year pro had played extremely sparingly in Week 17 of 2019, but this was going to be uncharted water for the Vikings.
Minnesota turned to the combination of tight ends Tyler Conklin and Irv Smith, Jr., as well as bringing in extra tackle Rashod Hill as a sixth offensive lineman, and even had receiver Adam Thielen put his hand in the dirt at tight end.
Conklin started, lining up at receiver on the opening play of the game. Smith worked his way back from a back injury that had caused him to miss the previous two games.
The Vikings moved the ball well despite so many moving parts but were only able to score six points in the first half and just eight more in the second.
Dan Bailey's rough day has been well-documented, but Minnesota's offense also missed opportunities in the red zone (the Vikings went 2-for-4 inside the Buccaneers 20-yard line).
Here's a recap to the two touchdowns by the Vikings and two key negative plays.
Q2, 14:22 remaining — Second-and-goal at the Tampa Bay 1
The Vikings go heavy with a goal line formation that has Conklin at tight end on the left of left tackle Riley Reiff. Hill comes in as an extra lineman to the right of right tackle Brian O'Neill, and Thielen moseys up to the line of scrimmage at tight end on the outside of Hill.