The Minnesota Vikings were going to lose a football game soon enough. They weren't going to flirt with going unbeaten much longer. At some point they were going to have a bad day and lose to an opponent -- maybe even a struggling opponent -- and there is no great shame in that.

So it isn't the fact that the Vikings lost on the road to the Eagles on Sunday that stands out. It's the manner in which the loss occurred, and some of the underlining problems it exposed. The Vikings don't have an offensive line, the left tackle position remains a turnstile most of the time (it's a speed bump at best in terms of impediments to oncoming pass rushers) and lest we forget, Sam Bradford is still Sam Bradford, and quite prone to injury.

The suffocating defeat in Philadelphia heightened the various ways in which Minnesota's 5-0 start might still be compromised, and you can't expect that defense to be infallible each week.

"They didn't block anybody," Mike Zimmer said of his offensive line after the game. "They were soft. Got overpowered. Their safety beat the tackle one time. The safety beat the back a couple of times. It was a little bit of man-on-man. And we got whipped."

It's going to take better complementary football if the Vikings are going to walk this tightrope, and if I were them, I would start auditioning new potential left tackles this week. Jake Long is not the answer. He is, in fact, the problem -- and putting him in this situation as a starting left tackle isn't going to go well for him, Bradford or the Vikings.

sam-bradford.jpg
Gambling on Sam Bradford to hold up under constant pressure is a huge risk. USATSI

Zimmer was asked if Long was "rusty" after not playing this season before he was signed by the Vikings, and he responded in the affirmative, seemingly choking back saying anything more accurate and damning about this performance. Long should be enjoying life out deep sea fishing somewhere, not trying to keep the Vikings season from imploding due to a kill shot on the quarterback they gave up so much to land in a blockbuster trade. The situation is dire. Bradford looked like the limited, meek passer we've seen far too often in the past, and if this level of pass protection continues, I would anticipate similar results in the foreseeable future. If not worse.

An Eagles defense that seemed to be regressing absolutely had its way with the Vikings offensive line from the first snap to the last. Bradford was beaten and hurried and -- coupled with the limitations in the run game -- that presents a real issue for the Vikings. An Eagles defense under Jim Schwartz that doesn't normally bring a lot of numbers with the pass rush sure had a good book on the former Eagles quarterback this week, sending an array of blitzes that overwhelmed, confounded and flattened Bradford and seemingly anyone tasked with the chore of trying to assist in pass protection.

"They were blitzing a lot. I would, too," Zimmer said. "We didn't pick anybody up."

And it would be beyond hopeful to expect that Bradford, given his long and complicated injury history, is going to hold up physically under this type of pounding. It was always the biggest risk inherent in parting with a first-round pick and more to acquire the former No. 1 pick in the aftermath of losing Teddy Bridgewater to a serious knee injury.

The Bradford we saw Sunday was much more like the Bradford who played for the Eagles last season than the efficient passer who put up some nice games playing in Minnesota's new dome. If there isn't a modicum of better protection in his future, I'm not sure you can expect much more than that. Would it be too ambitious for the Vikings to even consider making a deal for Browns stud left tackle Joe Thomas? Certainly after giving up all they did for Bradford, the Vikings might not want to double down and part with more big assets to acquire Thomas. And even with Thomas, I don't believe this is a Super Bowl team.

But then again, without doing something drastic to try to improve the offensive line, that trade for Bradford might not yield what you had hoped, anyway, if he is on injured reserve and Shaun Hill is back under center.