Some may have been surprised that the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions 27-24 at Ford Field last Sunday. Not only had the Vikings lost their last five matchups against the Lions, but they were also coming off their worst game of the season, a 37-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers just 10 days prior.
For the first time in his tenure, people were legitimately questioning Kevin O’Connell‘s coaching ability after how he handled Carson Wentz in the second half of the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Wentz had been dealing with a shoulder injury for three games, and with the game already in hand (and the quarterback already taking a beating), people openly wondered why O’Connell didn’t put in Max Brosmer.
The criticism reached a fever pitch when the Vikings announced Wentz would miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Was O’Connell so concerned about J.J. McCarthy’s play that he would rather play an injured veteran? And was O’Connell so concerned about Brosmer potentially playing well in place of Wentz and further complicating the quarterback situation?
Other questions regarding veteran free-agent acquisitions muddied optimism surrounding the Vikings. Sure, injuries along the offensive line played a role in an anemic offense. But why did players like Kenneth Gainwell and Kimani Vidal gouge the run defense after the Vikings signed Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave in the offseason? And why were they not able to pressure the quarterback in passing situations?
So, maybe it wasn’t a surprise that the Vikings entered as 9.5-point underdogs against the Lions. Still, for those who have followed the team since O’Connell arrived in 2022, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the Vikings won.
Under O’Connell, the Vikings seem to thrive under pressure. They rallied from 17 points down to upset the Buffalo Bills in 2022. One month later, the Vikings overcame a 33-point deficit to defeat the Indianapolis Colts in the largest comeback in NFL history to secure the NFC North crown.
The following season, they overcame a 0-3 start to reach 4-4 even after losing Kirk Cousins for the season. One week later, O’Connell helped Josh Dobbs, acquired two days after Cousins’ injury, guide Minnesota to a victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings were in the middle of the playoff race at 6-4 when it would have been easy (and forgivable) to chalk the year up as a lost season. Heck, even going 14-3 last year felt improbable with Sam Darnold at quarterback.
So maybe it’s no surprise that the Vikings lost 31-24 to the New York Giants in the 2022 playoffs as three-point favorites. Or that they fell flat on their faces seven days after hoisting Darnold onto their shoulders after a 27-25 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 last year.
O’Connell spent the entire 2024 season trying to highlight that outsiders always doubted the Vikings. That was easy in September. It became harder as the wins piled up.
He probably didn’t want the Vikings to start 4-4 this year. But O’Connell does believe that the adversity the team has faced this year could help out as the second half of the season approaches.
“We’ve kind of taken a journey up until this point that I think has kind of calcified us as a team to know [it’s] a different kind of vibe in a good way,” O’Connell told Paul Allen in his weekly X’s and O’s segment on KFAN.
“Through that time, we’ve had to really look inward and have a little grit and a different kind of feel to how we go about our business and persevering through some adversity, directly starting the season where it hasn’t really been like that always for us.”
One win doesn’t mean the season has changed. Nor has public perception. The Vikings are 4.5-point underdogs against the 3-5 Ravens, who welcomed back Lamar Jackson last week.
A win against the Ravens, who have made the playoffs six of the last seven seasons, could signal that Minnesota’s win over the Lions wasn’t a fluke. Now that Baltimore is getting healthier, a win over them would look better than it did a few weeks ago when Tyler Huntley filled in for Jackson.
Even then, the Vikings face division matchups against the Chicago Bears and Packers in the two weeks that follow. Although Minnesota is currently 4-4, they are only 1.5 games behind Green Bay. Minnesota could make up ground and be in the thick of the NFC playoff race by Thanksgiving.
Could the Vikings avoid an emotional letdown like they experienced in each of the previous three seasons? They lost as favorites in the playoffs in two of the three seasons. They were 6-4 when they lost Kirk Cousins two years ago, but finished 7-10.
J.J. McCarthy still has to demonstrate he has the tools to become the franchise quarterback the Vikings envisioned when they selected him at No. 10 overall in the 2024 draft. However, his mental makeup appears to be precisely what O’Connell covets in his players.
McCarthy had a modest stat line in Sunday’s win, completing 14 of 25 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns. But how he got to those touchdowns offers a glimpse into his mindset. His first touchdown to Justin Jefferson came one play after McCarthy extended a drive on third-and-10 with a pre-snap “canned” call to Aaron Jones.
The next drive, McCarthy hit Jordan Addison on a 31-yard pass on third-and-nine. One play later, McCarthy hit T.J. Hockenson for a touchdown. His nine-yard rushing touchdown came on third-and-eight. And he sealed the victory with a 16-yard completion to Jalen Nailor on third-and-five.
McCarthy felt he left “some meat on the bone,” but he was truly at his best when his best was required. He did so in his first game in seven weeks, amid speculation about whether he was capable of being a franchise quarterback — or even staying on the field.
McCarthy’s NFL.com scouting report stated that the quarterback “is confident and seems to have the ability to take slights and digest it as competitive fuel.” Jim Harbaugh, who coached him at Michigan, called McCarthy “Ice Man” because of his coolness under pressure.
Perhaps that makes McCarthy a perfect fit for O’Connell and the 2025 Vikings. Not only has the poor start humbled the Vikings, but the Week 2 loss was just McCarthy’s second as a starter since high school. Add in the time spent on the sidelines, and he has plenty to prove as the criticism comes at him.
That puts McCarthy in lockstep with O’Connell. Perhaps the Vikings could be sitting better in the standings right now if they had gone in another direction at quarterback in the offseason. But would the team be “calcified” to compete when it matters in December and January?