As Heads Roll in NFL Airwaves, The Vikings Seek to Put Out Fires
At the very least, the Vikings are currently trying to mend whatever is off between J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson. So, too, is there a need to rectify the “embarrassing” false start issue, the head-scratching refusal to run the football, and an injury situation continually intent on being a mixed bag (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C, Exhibit D, Exhibit E, and so on).
Orbiting around the Minnesota problems is the reality of heads rolling within NFL airwaves.
More specifically, there’s the news of coaches getting canned. In what feels like a longtime ago, Brian Callahan was shown the door in Tennessee (it has only been a couple weeks). Brian Daboll then got fired earlier in the week. Goodness, there’s even some chatter about Matt LaFleur — the skipper over in Green Bay — being evicted from Wisconsin. Does that broader context have any bearing on the Minnesota Vikings?
NFL Airwaves Are Alive With the Sound of Music with Coaches Getting Fired
Start off with the eyebrow-raising claim from Minnesota’s neighbor: Packers coach Matt LaFleur could be sent packing.
The word (speculation?) arrives courtesy of Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. Some of the thoughts to get the ball rolling on the topic: “It’s not far-fetched to think Matt LaFleur is coaching for his job as the Green Bay Packers head coach for the rest of this season. Has the seventh-year man in charge proven to be an above-average offensive mind? Yes. Has he enjoyed resounding success in Green Bay? Yes. Can he still be an above-average head coach in the NFL, here or elsewhere? Yes.”
But then the upper-cut punch for Green Bay.
“But this is Green Bay, Wisconsin,” the article goes on to explain, “Titletown. The No. 7 seed and premature playoff exits might be good enough elsewhere, but not here. There are eight regular-season games left plus playoffs and that’s plenty of football for LaFleur to convince first-year team president Ed Policy that extending him is undoubtedly the right move.”
To my eye, LaFleur is a good coach. The brutal truth, though, is that the NFL seldom exhibits patience, an idea that even applies to stable franchises such as Green Bay.
With Kevin O’Connell, there’s very little that could happen in 2025 that will cost him his job. He’s coming off a Coach of the Year award and was recently extended. Plus, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah earned an extension, as well. As a result, Minnesota’s ownership has signalled its desire to see the current leadership group remain in place for a little while.
The key word in that above sentence? Desire. Sometimes, what’s desired never arrives.
One could pretty easily connect the purple dots on Minnesota cleaning house (again, something I don’t foresee anytime soon and nor is it something I cheer for at all).
Kevin O’Connell never figures out how to the run. Worse yet, he never fully heeds the eminently reasonable critique that he needs to actually try to run. That alone won’t lead to Coach O’Connell’s downfall, but a situation where J.J. McCarthy never figures out how to get the ball to Justin Jefferson would be catastrophic.
Kevin O’Connell has earned a .633 winning percentage since becoming Minnesota’s top coach. He has done so by getting strong play out of his passers. If that falls by the wayside, then things will get tense in the Twin Cities.
Meanwhile, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has had his own foibles.
The drafting has been poor. Very poor, in fact. The 2022 draft crew isn’t alone within the GM’s mistakes even if it’s the shining example of how not to draft. There’s then the 2023 collection of talent that has just two of the six drafted players still employed in Minnesota. The 2024 draft class is looking better — a tip of the cap to late-round selections Will Reichard and Levi Drake Rodriguez — but the group is going to be judged by Mr. J.J. McCarthy and Mr. Dallas Turner.
Add on poor trading recently alongside some veteran contracts that aren’t aging well. Doing so will lead to some reasonable criticism for Adofo-Mensah, who is a good general manager.
As you peruse the NFL airwaves, do so with the understanding that there’s no hot seat in Minnesota. Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah still have quite a bit of runway ahead of them. Do know, though, that there are some issues bubbling to the surface that could shift from “concern” to “catastrophe” if no solutions get found.
The Vikings host the Bears in Week 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Winning means getting back to .500.
