Kevin O’Connell wanted to highlight something after the Minnesota Vikings escaped Soldier Field with a 27-24 win to start the season.
“I’m proud of days like this,” O’Connell said. “[They] kind of affirm a lot of the things that we really feel are important with our organization.”
It looked like the Chicago Bears had put the game out of reach when Nahshon Wright picked J.J. McCarthy and took it 74 yards to put Chicago up 17-6. McCarthy could barely get out of the huddle, let alone move the chains. Blake Cashman got hurt, and they didn’t have Christian Darrisaw or Harrison Smith. Jordan Addison was still suspended.
“Just keep trying to find a way,” O’Connell continued. “There’s been some games over these last few years that have demonstrated that. But tonight felt like there was something. New quarterback on the road, some new players throughout our team, really trying to figure it out together.
“The way that we were able to do that, I’m very, very proud of our team.”
The Vikings had battled through adversity to win in Chicago. Little did the Vikings know that the Week 1 game at Soldier Field would encapsulate the early part of their season. McCarthy only had 143 yards passing in Chicago. However, he played worse in Week 2, throwing for 158 yards and two picks in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain, forcing Carson Wentz into action. Wentz, 32, signed with the Vikings in late August and started their Week 3 game. Minnesota beat the Cincinnati Bengals 48-10 behind the efforts of Isaiah Rodgers and the defense. However, injuries decimated the offensive line in Dublin, and they scrambled to beat the Cleveland Browns in London.
“Our guys are just as connected a team as I’ve been around, as far as a trip like this, 10 days,” O’Connell said after the London game. “Just relentless in their pursuit of trying to win a football game today.”
Minnesota enters the bye at 3-2. Before the season started, the conventional wisdom was that the Vikings would have to pick up wins early because they faced a gauntlet after the bye.
Playing four nationally televised games outside the typical noon slot was hard enough. Minnesota also became the first NFL team to play games in two different countries in one season. However, they’d have to play the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens after the bye.
The Eagles are 4-2, and the Vikings play the 3-2 Chargers on the road four days later. After a 10-day break, they play the 4-1 Lions on the road, then return home for 1-4 Baltimore.
Already, the back end of the “gauntlet” doesn’t look as difficult. The Ravens are considering everything after their worst start since 2015. However, even though the Eagles, Chargers, and Lions lead their division, they don’t look as formidable as they did at the beginning of the season.
The Eagles started 4-0, but some people openly wondered if they were the worst 4-0 team ever. That’s an incredible qualifier, but Philadelphia lost 21-17 to the Denver Broncos last week, and the New York Giants 34-17 on Thursday. Jalen Hurts has only thrown for over 200 yards twice this season, and A.J. Brown doesn’t seem happy. They may be more vulnerable than we thought at the beginning of the season.
Meanwhile, the Chargers won their first three games but have since lost to the Giants and the Washington Commanders. Jaxson Dart beat them 21-18 in his debut, New York’s first win of the season, and the 3-2 Commanders haven’t been as good as people projected them to be at the beginning of the season.
Los Angeles is also dealing with a long list of injuries, headlined by star tackle Joe Alt. Justin Herbert threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns against the Vikings two years ago. However, LA’s injuries may limit him in their matchup this season.
Finally, the Lions appeared to be missing their former coordinators, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, when the Green Bay Packers defeated them 27-13 in the season opener. However, they’ve won every game since. They look like the class of the NFC North after Green Bay lost to Cleveland and tied the Dallas Cowboys before their bye.
Detroit’s 52-21 victory over the Bears mostly signaled how big a gap there was between Minnesota and Lions early this season, given the point differential in the scores. However, Detroit’s wins have come over the Bears, Ravens, Browns, and Bengals. Chicago is 2-2, but Baltimore has fallen apart, Cleveland only has a defense, and Cincinnati is a lousy team without Burrow.
We’ll know more about the Lions after they play the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before their bye.
Still, most of Minnesota’s discovery will be about itself. How many players will return from injury for the Eagles game? Is McCarthy healthy and ready to operate the offense? Is a team with championship aspirations prepared for a higher level of competition?
Before the season started, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said he wanted to build a versatile warrior. It’s challenging to judge Minnesota’s roster because of how many injuries it has sustained. However, this team should be healthier coming out of the bye.
Ultimately, Minnesota’s next three games will test whether it can handle better competition. Still, to win, the Vikings will need to handle adversity and avoid beating themselves, like they did against Atlanta and Pittsburgh.
Therein lies the challenge. Minnesota’s gauntlet may have softened enough to be a baseline test. Picking up wins after the bye may be more about how they handle themselves on gameday and less about who’s staring at them from across the line of scrimmage.