Bradford: Vikings' offense needs more 'explosive plays'

Since offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigned and was replaced by Pat Shurmur in early November, the Minnesota Vikings' attack has been forced to become more conservative due to the team's leaky offensive line.

While this dink-and-dunk approach has somewhat eased the onslaught of sacks quarterback Sam Bradford has taken, it's also stripped the Vikings of nearly all their explosive passing plays.

After completing 31-of-37 passes for just 223 yards in Thursday's 16-13 loss to the Detroit Lions, Bradford wants Minnesota to be more aggressive.

"We've probably got to try and find a way to create some explosive plays,'' Bradford said following the 16-13 loss, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. "It's hard when you're only picking up 5, 6, 7 (yards) at a time. There's things that we can do to try and figure out how we can create some more explosive plays.''

According to Pro Football Focus, Bradford's 3.5 yards per pass against the Lions are tied for the shortest yards per pass of any quarterback this season.

Minnesota's over-reliance on the short passing game allowed Lions cornerback Darius Slay to be aggressive on the Vikings' last drive and pick off Bradford, setting up the game-winning kick for Detroit.

"The corner made a good play,'' Bradford said. "That was the first time he had trapped it (Thursday).''