The Minnesota Vikings are 5-0 and off this week, and Kevin O’Connell spent part of the bye in a film room. In the team’s latest “Film with Kevin O’Connell” session, the head coach walked through plays from the wins over Tampa Bay, Miami and New Orleans — and made clear he would rather be playing on Sunday. “I’m in my game day fit right here, because I’d like to still play one this week with the way our football team’s playing right now,” he said.
He opened with the numbers he says the building talks about every day. “We lead the league right now at plus six,” O’Connell said of the turnover margin. “We’re talking about things like possessing the football on offense, running it even though sometimes the defense may know we’re gonna run the football. We want to be able to control the game, control the clock, limit the snaps on our defense because they’ve proven to be the best in football when they’re fresh.”
“Boring stats that matter”
The first clip was Myles Price’s punt return touchdown in Tampa. O’Connell called the Vikings’ special teams “right up there with the best in football right now” and pushed back on the analytics conversation. “There’s still boring stats that matter,” he said. “Turnover margin, field position, and ultimately the ability to affect the game in the kicking game like our group has.”
He credited the blocks that got the return started, including Jay Ward at the point of attack, and praised Price as “a very instinctive runner” whose subtle cuts drew a string of diving tackle attempts. The return ended a drought the session put at 162 games, and O’Connell admitted the celebration cost the Vikings a sideline penalty that pushed Will Reichard’s extra point back to about midfield. Reichard made it anyway. “That was one where the head coach was willing to look away on that penalty because I might have been part of it myself, running on the field losing my mind,” O’Connell said.
Addison beats Winfield’s illusion
From the same game, O’Connell broke down a third-and-8 touchdown to Jordan Addison with Justin Jefferson out of the lineup. Addison had moved into the spot Jefferson usually plays, and Antoine Winfield Jr. tried to disguise his rotation before working to the three-receiver side. Kyler Murray read it at the top of his drop and threw to the one-on-one. “Kyler with a precision read off of an all-pro caliber player trying to play the game with him,” O’Connell said, adding that Addison had worked his release to “stick that left foot in the ground,” get inside the corner and stack him.
He also pointed to Addison’s growth since his rookie year, when pressing him could throw off the timing of a play. “He’s gotten stronger over the last few years. He’s really worked his craft,” O’Connell said.
Ivan Pace Jr.’s sack in “dad mode”
The defensive clip from Tampa came with a backstory. Ivan Pace Jr. did not travel with the team because he stayed in Minnesota for the birth of his first son. “As soon as he knew, he immediately jumped on a Delta flight down to Tampa,” O’Connell said. “We met him at the stadium. And here he is, sacking the quarterback.” O’Connell credited Brian Flores and the defensive staff for an in-game adjustment that put Pace on a one-on-one with a tight end once the Buccaneers began releasing their back, and he noted the linebacker celebrated by rocking a baby. He also highlighted a spin move from newcomer Kyle Van Noy on the same snap.
From the home win over Miami, O’Connell showed T.J. Hockenson setting up a double move off a simple stick route the Vikings had already completed earlier in that game, with quick cadence and good protection giving Murray a clean pocket.
Byron Murphy Jr.’s two picks in New Orleans
The Saints game got the longest look, built around cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.’s two interceptions. O’Connell said the defense leads the league on third down and in the red zone, and tied that to the offense keeping it fresh. “They barely have 80 snaps in the last two games, which is a great formula to keep these guys fresh, dominant, so that they can make plays just like that,” he said.
On the first pick, the Vikings showed six players up at the line of scrimmage before dropping into what O’Connell described as a non-conventional, Tampa 2-style two-deep shell, with Murphy as a flat defender and full coverage behind the threat of all-out pressure. Eric Wilson drew a holding penalty on the same snap. “That’s what putting stress and pressure on a quarterback will do,” O’Connell said. The second came on a sluggo double move against single coverage, with Dallas Turner coming free. “Murph’s visual on it the whole way,” O’Connell said. “That’s just being smart, watching film, being a veteran.”
He framed the whole start against the mobile quarterbacks the Vikings have faced, a list the session ran through as Tyler Shough, Baker Mayfield, Malik Willis, Caleb Williams and Jordan Love. “It’s great to pressure, but it’s about the discipline of how you do it that keeps those big plays from showing up when they are able to get out,” he said.
Aaron Jones, Joe Huber and the players coming back
O’Connell closed with Aaron Jones’ power touchdown from the 9-yard line, which capped a 100-yard day. He pointed to the double team by Will Fries and Brian O’Neill and a block by Joe Huber, who was stepping in for Donovan Jackson and earned a game ball. “It leaves nothing but the post safety one-on-one for Aaron. And he ends up running through that tackle,” he said.
O’Connell said young players had kept the offense moving while regulars such as Jordan Mason, Josh Oliver, Christian Darrisaw and Jackson were off the field, and that some of them should return “fresh, healthy, ready to go” after the bye. He was not satisfied, though. The Vikings still punted three times in New Orleans, and he said two red-zone turnovers kept the score from looking “quite a bit different.” Asked whether a 5-0 team was just getting started, he answered: “Just getting started.”
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