Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell reacts against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
We saw Kevin O’Connell in a bullish mood following his team’s win over the Tennessee Titans. The 23-13 scoreline saw the Minnesota Vikings complete the sweep of the AFC South division and move to an 8-2 record after 10 games.
During his post-match presser, when asked how good this team could be, O’Connell quipped, “I’m old enough to remember when nobody thought we were very good.”
It was a light-hearted jab at the lack of belief in this team coming into the season. Few — myself included — expected the Vikings to win eight games throughout the whole season. The Vikings are overachieving against the expectations of a team that is supposed to be in transition with a bridge quarterback.
O’Connell expanded his answer with, “So, the same way that I answered that question, I’ll answer it now. We’ve just got to continue to get better, improve. 8-2 means absolutely nothing.”
This Vikings team is growing, and while you never write anything off when there’s still a chance, it’s not expected to be Super Bowl-bound. Minnesota looks somewhat off the dominant force that their division rivals, the Detroit Lions, are.
Detroit scored 52 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, as they did against the Titans earlier in the season. The Vikings made hard work of the Jags game last week, and while this week’s win was comfortable, they never put the game completely out of sight. For that reason, O’Connell’s bullish comment post-game raised a few eyebrows, but he is right to be happy with where his team is against expectations.
The reason Vikings games are always close is that the team has some very obvious weaknesses. Sam Darnold’s clean game will always be a key factor, and other than the botched toss play that caused an early turnover, it was much better from Darnold this week. The OL’s ability to give Darnold a clean pocket to work from is always important. The Vikings made a switch with Dalton Risner coming in for this first start of the season on Sunday.
As great as the Vikings’ defense has been this season, there are a couple of problem areas. The Vikings struggle to get pressure on the quarterback down the middle without blitzing, and if they do blitz and don’t get home, it leaves the secondary vulnerable. This is where the Vikings’ defense sometimes finds itself in trouble and gives up big chunk plays. Veteran quarterbacks like Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford — along with excellent play callers — were able to take advantage in the Vikings’ two losses.
Unlike with the OL, there aren’t veteran options like Risner to turn to with the hope of improvement. O’Connell and his coaching staff have worked well with what they have. How far can they go? The playoffs should be achieved from this point and if O’Connell can add a first playoff win to his resume. To go along with his excellent won-loss record to date (28-16), this should be deemed a very successful season for the Vikings. O’Connell is confident in his team. The next chance for the Vikings to showcase what they are made of comes in the third of three straight road games.
Minnesota travels within the division to take on the Chicago Bears on Sunday.