Sep 29, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images.
The Minnesota Vikings will defend their undefeated streak in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions. In the meantime, the club has enjoyed a bye week.
Kevin O’Connell’s team has a 5-0 record to begin the 2024 campaign, in the driver’s seat to reach the postseason and perhaps do some damage in the tournament.
And with the bye expiring in a couple of days, these are the three big questions facing Minnesota, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most important).
The Vikings rank 29th in the NFL in most giveaways through five weeks, a stat usually unbecoming of a 5-0 team. Thankfully, they rank second in takeaways, so it’s balancing — for now.
However, a time could arrive when the defensive or special teams takeaways cease or diminish, and if Minnesota continued to turn the ball over at an alarming clip, well, losses, not wins, would result on Sundays.
The Vikings don’t feel like they have a turnover problem right now, but they do. It needs repair. Can they fix it? Or at least keep forcing turnovers to compensate?
The Vikings’ ground game started marvelously — but began to break bad in the last two games.
Therefore, the question is twofold: 1) Will Jones’ hip heal quickly or bleed into a multi-game absence? 2) Can Kevin O’Connell resuscitate the sweet rushing attack from the season’s first three games?
In the last 21 years, Vikings fans have lived through two start-of-season meltdowns, including 2003, when the club started 6-0 and missed the dance, and 2016, when the 5-0 beginning ended up at 8-8.
With those examples easy to recall, folks want to know if this rendition of Vikings is closer to a Super Bowl contender like 1998 and 2009 — or a pretender that will tumble in the next 12 weeks.
The numbers suggest Minnesota is the really dominant force. The offense and defense numbers show balance, and one side is not carrying the other. So, everyone would like to know if this Vikings team can actually win a Super Bowl.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.