At 1-4, the Vikings are an Incoherent Mess, but O’Connell Says He Does “Feel Like” they Can “Compete”
The season, officially on life support following a 27-20 loss to Kansas City, is still salvageable, at least per Kevin O’Connell.
After the game, O’Connell adhered to his trademark optimism, even though he did look frustrated and discouraged. The coach thinks the Vikings are capable of overcoming long odds: “We’ve had four tough results, but I do feel like this team is able to compete and we’re going to do that every single week. And I believe in the end, we’re going to find out exactly what we are through writing our story for this whole season. I look forward to the challenge of continuing to seek becoming that team.”
The Vikings Are 1-4; The Head Coach Remains Optimistic
A cliché, to be sure, and yet one that carries a ton of truth: you are what your record says you are (a tip of the cap to Parcells). At 1-4, the record says the Vikings are a bad football team and it’s tough to disagree. No amount of head coach optimism can change the barebones reality of what’s occurred.
Coming into the season, the Vikings were going to be competitive for one main reason: the offense was going to elite. Justin Jefferson now had more support in the form of Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, a twosome capable of punishing defenses for overloading on #18. The terrific tackle tandem remained and continuity was supposed to make the offense line a more formidable fivesome.
Bringing it all together was a veteran Kirk Cousins who had the rare opportunity to continue working with the same voice in his ear.
Instead, Minnesota is averaging just 22.0 points per game, good for 16th overall in the NFL. So, far from disastrous, but nowhere near la crème de la crème. Instead, they’re the definition of average when it comes to scoring points. Yards gained is more impressive but the turnovers have been the undoing of the team’s ability to pile on points (while, crucially, doing the Flores defense no favors when it comes to keeping points off the board).
Consider the perfectly predictable outcomes that bracketed the game for Minnesota. The first offensive play was a fumble from Josh Oliver (who, overall, has been a nice add). The last offensive play was a sack from the player Ed Ingram was trying to block. Does a fumble and a sack sound at all familiar? Have those been ongoing issues that have plagued Minnesota all season? Seeing them begin and end the day for Minnesota is both cruel and fitting.
So far, these Vikings have fumbled in 2023:
- Kirk Cousins (5)
- Justin Jefferson (1)
- Alexander Mattison (1)
- T.J. Hockenson (1)
- Josh Oliver (1)
- Brandon Powell (1)
Basically anyone who tried to predict a Vikings victory came away with the some conclusion: Minnesota needed to win the turnover battle and possess the ball for longer than Kansas City. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Vikings failed on both fronts. They lost the game in due course.
Stepping back, it’s hard to come away with a conclusion other than Kevin O’Connell being outcoached by Andy Reid. In a tilt against the kings of the NFL, Justin Jefferson only had 3 catches for 28 yards. How does the team’s best player and most lethal threat end up with such modest totals? Yes, the injury didn’t help, but he was available for most of the game.
What about rushing the ball? Minnesota ran the ball 18 times while throwing the football 46 times. The discrepancy exists in a game that was tied 13-13 at halftime. And, let’s not forget, 3 of the rushing attempts were credited to Cousins and one to Ty Chandler on the spiffy punt fake.
Burning through all of the timeouts with more than 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the delay of game penalty on a crucial 4th down from Kansas City’s 19-yard line, and T.J. Hockenson’s modest usage all point back to a fairly incoherent operation in Minnesota.
Has there been a point in 2023 when the team’s offense has been in full control of a game? Has the rhythm extended beyond just short periods of time?
Yes, there are moments of brilliance, plays that cause one to step back and marvel. But for all of the talk about continuity and being more multiple, the Vikings have become stubbornly reliant on a passing attack that hasn’t been strong enough to overcome protection issues (Cousins is still getting walloped), terrible turnovers, and an offense that often looks rushed and disoriented at the line of scrimmage (let’s not forget the Cousins/Hockenson interception that emanated from the refusal to spike the football).
Truth be told, the Vikings are better than 1-4. The roster talent is too abundant to continue being so awful. What’s also clear, though, is that they’re very far from 13-4. A loss to the lowly Bears, especially if the team continues its disjointed, clunky approach, would fully signal that the 2023 season is done.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
