The Minnesota Vikings’ front office responded to their early-round playoff exits by creating a team that’s difficult to define.
Most leaders of NFL teams, whether they are coaches or front office personnel, have a vision for their team. They’re going to run the ball on opponents, have a stout defense, or run up the score with explosive plays.
Most people associate Kevin O’Connell and his innovative offense with the Vikings. He’s the quarterback whisperer who has maximized whoever Minnesota has under center.
However, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah defines the Vikings differently.
“It’s the type of team that can show up to a fight, not knowing what the fight is going to be, and be the last one standing,” he said before training camp in July. “The different types of games you can play obviously in an NFL season, but in a single-elimination playoff situation, you might have to play a certain type of game. And so, we just want to build the type of team that is versatile, could win in different ways.”
Adofo-Mensah included the regular season in his comments, but he’s likely focused on the playoffs. Aside from the Joshua Dobbs season, when Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles in Week 8 and the Vikings had to start their backups, they have had success in the regular season.
Minnesota’s issue is that it has won 13 and 14 games, respectively, in two of the past three years and lost as 2.5-point favorites in the playoffs. The repetitive nature of their losses, more than the individual results, is what stings the most.
Still, it’s difficult to account for playoff matchups in July and August. January is far away, and a lot will happen between now and then. Injuries and player progression will shape the roster. The Vikings will have played in Dublin and London, and New York and Los Angeles.
We’ll know more about J.J. McCarthy’s readiness and whether Minnesota did enough to fortify the roster around him. We’ll know if the Vikings are capable of replicating their regular-season success with a third separate quarterback since Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell took over in 2022.
Most of all, we’ll learn whether the Vikings can take the next step with a first-year quarterback.
“We feel like we’ve built a team with leadership on both sides of the ball, with experience on both sides of the ball, all designed to help [McCarthy] be comfortable in his role,” said O’Connell. “[We’re] also challenging him to attack what that’s going to look like from a production, leadership, performance standpoint.”
The Vikings have always had an innovative defense under Brian Flores. Still, the Cincinnati Bengals figured it out two years ago. With better personnel, Flores created a more sophisticated version last year. It held up until the offense fell apart on the road against the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams at the end of the season.
Flores’ defense is less of a system and more of an amoeba. He’s at the center of it, creating an environment where players feel they can offer suggestions in team meetings during the week. Instead of trying to find players who fit his philosophy, he molds his defense around the players. In doing so, he maximizes the talent on the roster and creates a versatile unit.
O’Connell’s offense should work similarly. However, Kirk Cousins didn’t challenge defenses downfield as much as he should have, and Sam Darnold relied too much on the deep ball.
After Darnold lost Fred Warner in Minnesota’s Week 2 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, O’Connell moved away from intermediate in-breaking routes and allowed Darnold to challenge defenses with shot plays.
In doing so, O’Connell was playing to Darnold’s strengths. However, teams cannot rely solely on the long ball. Detroit showed the Rams how to beat the Vikings by creating interior pressure and max protecting Jared Goff. Christian Darrisaw went down five days later, and the Lions and Rams repeated the process at the end of Minnesota’s season.
McCarthy doesn’t have Darnold’s downfield accuracy, but he should be a better three-level passer. With an improved offensive line and better run game, Minnesota should be able to attack opposing teams’ weaknesses, regardless of who they’re playing. It’s hard to know what the Vikings will be this year. However, that appears to be by design.