Give Kevin O’Connell a Pile of Credit
The post-game press conference was subdued. Just reading his body language and listening to his tone would have led one to believe that Minnesota lost.
By his own admission, Kevin O’Connell was exhausted.
The Vikings climbed to 2-0 behind their 23-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, an eerily similar score to last year’s 22-17 victory. Matt Daniels and Brian Flores did some excellent work with their groups, but the head coach deserves a pile of credit for what he accomplished on Sunday.
Kevin O’Connell Deserves a Ton of Credit
To finish off the game, Minnesota was operating without Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. There was even an instance when Aaron Jones came off the field after getting crunched in a tackle.
O’Connell still found a way to overcome.
Folks, don’t miss the importance of that achievement. The offense is built around those players, as O’Connell will readily acknowledge. O’Connell had this to say following the game: “We’re already down Jordan [Addison], we’re already down T.J. [Hockenson], plays are built with #18 as a focal point […] but then when he goes down, there’s so many moving it’s musical chairs.”
Note that O’Connell was describing that situation while deflecting praise, lifting up receiver coach Keenan McCardell. But while the assistant does deserve credit — McCardell is one of the best in the business — O’Connell shouldn’t be overlooked.
Just think back to how the game changed following Aaron Jones’ fumble.
Prior to the veteran running back losing his grip, Minnesota was sitting on a 20-7 lead. Comfortable, but not ironclad. Pushing things to 27-7 as the 3rd was expiring would have likely been the final nail in the coffin. Look at the play call that O’Connell chose:
The end result was bad. Minnesota turned the ball over, leading to a long San Francisco score and an all-too-close score of 20-14. Quite the swing, eh?
Don’t miss the simple fact, though, that it was the perfect play call. Go ahead an re-watch the play again. What do you notice? Sam Darnold is under duress almost immediately. The QB remains calm, getting the ball into the hands of his playmaker with Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram out in front to create a purple convoy. Calling a screen on a blitz is a chef’s kiss.
Brilliant play call and perfect execution … except for the fumble.
But, to be sure, O’Connell only bears so much responsibility for the turnover. Yes, he’s the head coach, so the turnover problem — 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles so far — do reflect poorly on him, to a certain extent. The player, though, needs to understand the situation and do a better job of securing the ball.
Had Jones been tackled at the 2-yard line, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. Running one, two, or three more plays would have led to precious seconds ticking off the clock. Scoring a touchdown would have sealed it and there would have been less time for SF to come back. Even kicking a field goal would have resulted in a 23-7 lead, a 16-point mountain that would have required the 49ers to do a ton to steal away the win. Fumbling took away that possibility.
The response from the Vikings was magnificent. The 49ers brought the game to within six points and were coming off of a 99-yard drive that took 4:52 off the clock. Minnesota answered the challenge perfectly, orchestrating a 14-play drive that took 6:46 off the clock. Will Reichard nailed a 27-yarder to push things up to a two-score lead (9 points).
The cherry on top is that San Francisco had to burn their timeouts just to keep things somewhat manageable.
Kevin O’Connell isn’t the perfect head coach. The man has made his mistakes and I’ve been critical of him at various point. His Week 2 effort, though, was sensational. The Vikings will need their young HC to continue shining if they’re going to keep overcoming the odds.
The Week 3 game will be taking place on Sunday, September 22nd and will occur inside U.S. Bank Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT as the Vikings look to take down the 2-0 Texans.
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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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.