After the Vikings’ short-pass offense failed to bring a win against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, Sam Bradford will look for more “explosive” plays against the Cowboys.
Although Bradford’s accuracy was good, the Vikings’ low-risk offensive display against the Lions didn’t put enough points on the board, with Detroit securing a 16-13 win thanks to a last-gasp field goal after Bradford was intercepted.
Speaking to the media on Sunday ahead of Thursday’s visit of the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys, Bradford said he’ll be looking longer with some of his passes as the Vikings try to regain momentum in the tussle for the NFC North.
Sam Bradford: "Obviously, I think everybody's a little frustrated right now.''
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) November 27, 2016
“We’ve got to find a way to create more explosive plays,” he said, “whether’s that’s mixing in more of our play-action game we’ve kind of got away from, and trying to create some of those plays with some deeper route concepts, that’s one way.”
“However we do it, we’ve got to make sure it happens,” adding that he’ll have to have confidence in the offensive line to protect him.
Injury problems affecting the Vikings O-Line has seen Bradford throwing shorter, quicker passes, with having been on the receiving end of numerous sacks and hits this season.
On Thanksgiving, just one of Bradford’s 31 completed passes was thrown more than 10 yards.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said they will be trying to give Bradford more time to make a pass, but didn’t put the poor offense in the Lions game solely down to a lack of faith in the protection.
“Some of it is the design of the play, some of it’s trust, some of it is guys getting open,” he said.
