Vikings should be concerned about Sam Bradford

The Minnesota Vikings are a good team. With San Bradford playing at his best, they have the chance of being a great team. Unfortunately, that never seems to be the case.

Bradford has been out since Week 1 when he threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a lopsided win over the New Orleans Saints. Everything seemed fine after the game until bradded cropped up on the injury report with a knee ailment. Despite no diagnosis of the problem, Bradford has remained on the sideline for the past two games and will be there again on Sunday when the Detroit Lions come to town.

Detroit, 2-1, is one of the biggest challengers to the Vikings for a wild card spot in the ultra-competitive NFC. The Lions have already beaten the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals, two teams many believed would be in the mix come January. This is a big test for Minnesota and its vaunted defense, along with backup quarterback Case Keenum.

Keenum is a veteran journeyman, playing for three teams over the past four years. To his credit, he was sublime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, throwing for 369 yards and a trio of scores in a 34-17 win. The 29-year-old will need to continue surpassing expectations — although maybe not quite to that extent — if Minnesota is going to stay afloat.

The Vikings’ biggest problem, though, is what is going on with Bradford. While Keenum may hold down the proverbial fort for a few weeks, he’s not getting the Vikings where they want to go. If Bradford can’t come back, the only other hope would be Teddy Bridgewater coming off the Physically Unable to Perform List and starting. That said, Bridgewater has been out since last summer when he gruesomely broke his leg. The idea that he could practice for a few weeks and then play at a high level is a massive stretch.

It would be nice to see the Vikings play at full strength. This is a team with ample talent on both sides of the ball, including receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. The defense is absolutely loaded with Xavier Rhodes, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph and Eric Kendricks, to name a few.

It seems fairly apparent that the Green Bay Packers are the best team in the NFC North, but the Vikings have a real shot to finish second and make noise in the NFC … if Bradford returns. Until then, Minnesota needs Keenum to play well on Sunday and beat the Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium, earning a key divisional victory and, as importantly, buying some much-needed time for its ailing star.