Kevin O’Connell Says the Magic Words for Week 18
Most Minnesota Vikings fans will watch this Sunday’s game for two reasons. First, it may be Harrison Smith’s final game. Second, Justin Jefferson needs 53 yards to keep his 1,000-yard streak alive. And according to head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings will give Jefferson all the necessary opportunities to accommodate the latter.
O’Connell’s message is clear: feed Jefferson, treat the game like real work, and let the quarterbacks generate usable tape.
Some coaches — like Mike Zimmer, for example — do not care about players’ individual goals and feats in Week 18, but O’Connell is not one of those.
O’Connell Opens the Door for Jefferson’s Streak
Jefferson to get targets in the Vikings offense to hit the 1,000-yard mark.
O’Connell Acknowledges Jefferson’s Week 18 Goal
The Vikings skipper made it crystal clear, short and sweet, regarding Jefferson’s pursuit of 1,000 receiving yards this season.
“This is our last opportunity, so we want to try to get him involved as much as we can,” O’Connell told reporters on Wednesday.
That won’t help fantasy football managers, as almost all fantasy seasons concluded last weekend, but it does help Jefferson, who undoubtedly has his eye on 1,000 yards, even if he won’t outwardly admit it.
The J.J. McCarthy Stakes
Normally in this situation, Vikings fans would not care if the team shut down the starting quarterback for the rest of the season. They cannot make the playoffs, and Sunday’s game has zero playoff implications.
But J.J. McCarthy is a different story.
The 22-year-old has encountered a rollercoaster season, marked by amazingly clutch moments, absolutely bottom-of-the-barrel dreadful games, injuries, and recent consistency in his seventh, eighth, and ninth starts.
Because McCarthy has missed 73% of all games due to injury as a pro, Minnesota desperately needs him to see the field if only to log developmental snaps. Ending the season on the injury report would cap McCarthy’s bizarre season on a low note. He needs to finish with a bang.
And while Max Brosmer in theory could pop off for 53 passing yards — yes, popping off for 53 yards sounds ridiculous, but it is true — McCarthy offers Jefferson his best chance to keep the 1,000-yard streak alive. McCarthy and Jefferson haven’t built much rapport, but at least McCarthy can complete passes at a normal clip. Brosmer struggled with that basic task.
Keep an eye on the Vikings’ injury report. McCarthy might be required to keep Jefferson’s streak alive.
Getting Jefferson Targets Should Boost Chances of Winning, Too
Jefferson is chasing a number that usually doesn’t require any ceremony. Fifty-three receiving yards. In most seasons, that’s background noise for him. A handful of targets, a drive or two, and problem solved. This season turned it into an event.
Minnesota’s passing game has spent months fighting itself, and Jefferson has felt every inch of it. Quarterback instability and poor performances are the culprits. What once felt automatic now requires cooperation across an offense that hasn’t consistently provided it.
The Christmas game said everything. Minnesota finished with three net passing yards and still won by 13. That’s not a typo. It’s also the context Jefferson faces in Week 18.
The streak matters. Only Randy Moss and Mike Evans opened their careers with six straight 1,000-yard seasons. Jefferson sits 53 yards short of joining them. That’s why Week 18 is worth your attention. Not for the standings, but for whether a generational receiver gets the help he needs to protect a record that will be referenced when Hall of Fame consideration arrives in 15 years.
SI.com‘s Will Ragatz noted on Jefferson’s resume, “Previously, Jefferson has set the NFL records for receiving yards in a player’s first two seasons, a player’s first three seasons, a player’s first four seasons, and a player’s first five seasons.”
“If he stays healthy, he’ll almost certainly surpass Torry Holt at some point next season for the most yards in a player’s first seven seasons (9,487). It’s an annual tradition for Jefferson.”
Will the QB Play Be Good Enough?
It all comes down to the quarterback for Jefferson. It really does.
Former Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens, for example, could get Jefferson 53 yards with his eyes closed. Vikings quarterbacks this season, while targeting Jefferson, have often looked like they don’t have eyes whatsoever.
Some fans have even mentioned putting QB3 John Wolford into the lineup, because he could perhaps feed Jefferson. That probably won’t happen, but what we know from O’Connell is that the offensive gameplan will target Jefferson to keep his streak alive.
He said it out loud.
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