Scoggins: Vikings' roster has a core in place and a challenge surrounding it

The ending was so abrupt, the collapse so stunning that 14 wins felt like something that happened in an alternate universe.

What just happened?

Good vibes haven’t skidded to a halt this fast since Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.

The Vikings didn’t expect to be saying their goodbyes this soon, in this fashion, but here they are. A pair of flops in the two most important games of the season commenced the unpleasant task of starting over in constructing the roster for a new season.

One of my favorite lines from the movie “Apollo 13″ comes during the scene after an explosion rocked the spacecraft. Chaos has taken over the command center. Flight director Gene Kranz, played by actor Ed Harris, tries to project calm by pragmatically assessing the situation.

“Let’s look at this thing from a standpoint of status,” he says, puffing on a cigarette. “What do we got on this spacecraft that’s good?”

Different situation obviously, but an instructive exercise for Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell to conduct in examining the roster, the painful finish and the future.

What do they have as building blocks to be a legitimate contender?

Receivers? Yes, definitely. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson. That’s a strength.

Edge rushers? Great shape there, too. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are Pro Bowl starters and a dynamic duo.

Offensive tackles? Very good, with the tandem of Brian O’Neill and a healthy Christian Darrisaw.

Salary cap space? Yes, finally. The team is expected to have around $70 million to spend, depending on decisions yet to come.

There are individual pieces who belong in the building-block category. Josh Metellus’ versatility makes him valuable. Blake Cashman was a revelation in his first season in Brian Flores’ scheme. Kicker Will Reichard, when healthy, is a weapon. The internal belief is that J.J. McCarthy will carry the torch as franchise quarterback, but that remains a hypothetical for the moment.

The build-out beyond that core will be extensive. Adofo-Mensah hit the jackpot on his free-agent class last offseason, but one trap in that quick-fix approach is now the Vikings have an older roster and a ton of unrestricted free agents.

Adofo-Mensah uses the term “champagne problems” to describe decisions that originate from favorable dilemmas.

Three weeks ago, Sam Darnold’s future qualified as a champagne problem. His career renaissance was so successful that folks debated whether the Vikings should sign Darnold to a contract extension or place the franchise tag on him to keep him.

That situation isn’t a champagne problem anymore. Or maybe even a problem at all. Darnold’s unraveling in the two most pressure-packed games makes it impossible to justify committing a sizable chunk of the cap to re-sign or franchise-tag him.

There is not enough money to sign a quarterback to a big-money deal and fix other problem areas.

Darnold felt the brunt of criticism the past two weeks, but those games reminded everyone that football is decided in the trenches. The Detroit Lions have provided a playbook to emulate: Devote every resource possible to building big, mean, nasty, forceful offensive and defensive lines.

That the Vikings won 14 games with a substandard interior offensive line is not a formula to be tested every year. They need a minimum of two new starters — and ideally three — across the interior of the line.

Give McCarthy, their young quarterback, every advantage possible to thrive and succeed. The worst thing for a quarterback’s development is to stick him behind an overmatched line and expect him to overcome it. Same idea with running backs in short-yardage and red-zone situations.

On the opposite side, the Vikings have premier edge rushers, but bolstering the interior, preferably with human tanks who collapse the pocket, is the next step.

The secondary is unsettled too. Between free agents and veterans who might retire, Adofo-Mensah needs to find at least one safety and two cornerbacks, at a minimum. Re-signing Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. would be a good start.

Adofo-Mensah doesn’t hold many draft picks, meaning he can’t afford to whiff. He cleared cap space to make a splash in free agency. The roster is guaranteed to look different and needs to look different when the team reconvenes, just looking at things from a standpoint of status.