Pat Shurmur

No Sam Bradford.

No Teddy Bridgewater.

No Dalvin Cook.

An entirely new offensive line.

9-2.

We’ve expected the Vikings to come crashing down after injuries to quarterback and the backfield, but that hasn’t happen.

When Aaron Rodgers went down with a broken collar bone, it was expected that the Vikings would have a chance to sneak into being the NFC North leader solely because of that. That hasn’t been the case.

With games against the Rams and Lions in the last two weeks, it was expected that the Vikings would drop at least one loss. They won against both teams.

This is a team that looks less like a fluke and more of the real deal.

With seven straight wins, the Vikings are in a comfortable position up top the NFC North, putting themselves on a pedestal of great football teams in 2017. You can expect insane quality from the players of Mike Zimmer’s defense, but it’s the offense that is the biggest surprise.

If Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs aren’t the best WR duo in the league, something is wrong. Thielen himself has arguably been the best receiver in the league this year. Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon help bring different styles of running, and have made the Vikings backfield an above average unit. The offensive line is no longer one of the worst in the NFL. In fact, it just might be good. Finally, Case Keenum is actually giving, not taking, away chances for his receivers to make plays.

These all have given the Vikings one of the most explosive offenses in football, but there’s one puppeteer controlling the strings, and that’s offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.

Coming in as the OC in the middle of the 2016 season after the resignation of Norv Turner, it’s become obvious that 2017 was when Shurmur truly begun to mold the Vikings offense into his very own. In the previous season, he ran the same offense Turner did, but with an awful OL, the offense was pretty predictable.

This season, with the increased development of Thielen and Diggs, new back Latavius Murray complimenting Jerick McKinnon, and a completely new, improved unit of blockers, there’s more options to use, and Shurmur has taken complete advantage. Unlike teams like the Cowboys, Shurmur isn’t relying on the pass protection and skill players to carry him, but rather he’s enhanced them.

When Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford played under Turner, they were expected to make vertical passes behind bad pass protection, and they were expected to throw receivers open in tight windows in order to move the chains.

With Shurmur, the quarterback no longer has to rely on throwing his receivers open. Instead, the newfound diversity of this Vikings offense allows the receivers to get open and create easier throws for Keenum.

Pat Shurmur has become the anti Jeff Fisher. Where Fisher’s offense with the Rams and Keenum under center ran the exact same few plays without any variation or an ounce of creativity, Shurmur’s offense is of a different breed. Shurmur understands the weapons in Minnesota can succeed in short or vertical passing situations, and also understands the style of play that comes from Murray and McKinnon as backs.

It’s clear that the offensive coordinator has used the athleticism of the new offensive line, backfield, and receivers to create game plans that keep defenses on their toes. That doesn’t mean Shurmur will abandon anything if it isn’t broken. To open the second half on Thanksgiving, he stuck with the run four times on four plays as it led to an impressive touchdown drive.

But more importantly, Pat Shurmur has consistently brought diversity to the play calling. Just when you think you have the Vikings offense figured out, they’ll throw something at you that throws you off your guard. That’s what separates the smartest offensive coordinators from the rest, and it can’t be denied that Shurmur has done great work with the Vikings.

With Pat Shurmur calling the shots, the Vikings finally have an offense that can match the level of quality from Mike Zimmer’s defense, making them one of the NFL’s most dominant teams.