In first game back, Christian Darrisaw's value to Vikings was unmistakable

It's hard to overstate how important Christian Darrisaw is to the Vikings' offense. When you compare the way they played without him over the first two weeks of this season to how they looked on Sunday with their star left tackle back on the field, a case can be made that he's the most valuable player on the entire roster.

The Vikings desperately missed Darrisaw, who was sidelined for the final 11 games of the 2024 season and this year's first two due to a significant knee injury suffered last October in Los Angeles. They stayed somewhat afloat last season by trading for Cam Robinson, but Robinson completely fell apart when it mattered most against the Lions and Rams. To start out this year, Justin Skule was a disaster at that spot.

By all accounts, Darrisaw worked incredibly hard this offseason to put himself in position to make his return 11 months after the injury, which was slightly ahead of schedule. And in his 38 snaps against the Bengals on Sunday, he showed exactly what kind of difference he makes when he's on the field.

On the first play of the day, Darrisaw got outside of first-team All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and easily removed him from the play on a 10-yard run for Jordan Mason. That set the tone for the kind of day it was going to be. One false start and one pressure allowed were the only blemishes of the afternoon for Darrisaw in his return to action.

"332 days since my last game," he said. "Just being able to go out there, play against the rushers I was playing against. Trey, I've got a lot of respect for him, he's one of the best in the game. But just to go out there and get that result that we had as a team felt amazing."

Since the start of the 2023 season, Hendrickson's 37 sacks are 4.5 more than the next-closest player. He came into this game leading the NFL with 14 pressures through two weeks, per PFF. Against most teams and most tackles, he's a game-wrecker. Darrisaw just happens to be a different animal. He made Cincinnati's best defensive player largely a non-factor in Minnesota's 48-10 win.

"I felt like myself," Darrisaw said.