Thanks to Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson, the Minnesota Vikings are on a high this season. It all started with a video of their new head coach Kevin O’Connell.

The Minnesota Vikings have already done incredible things this season.

Their successful comeback from a 0:33 deficit (!) at the Indianapolis Colts went down in the history books.

Never before had a team in the NFL managed to turn such a large deficit into a victory.

That they still won 39:36 in the end says a lot about the Vikings this year.

Believing in victory, no matter how hopeless the situation, has become the team’s trademark.

Head coach O’Connell praises Cousins in first meeting

This again has a lot to do with the new head coach. Kevin O’Connell came to the Vikings from the Los Angeles Rams before the season. He had won the Super Bowl with the Rams just a few days before his change as offensive coordinator.

It would be presumptuous to set the same goal in Minneapolis. First of all, they have to get through the Wild Card Round against the New York Giants.

But there is no doubt that O’Connell has sparked a new euphoria in the Vikings and instilled new confidence in the team, especially quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“He encouraged me in front of the whole team,” Cousins is quoted as saying by “ESPN”. “I was sitting there and I was just like, ‘Wow, he just compliments me like that.’ That was cool.”

But it wasn’t just him who was praised, the new coach also gave encouragement to other players in front of the assembled team, Cousins added.

Pass from Cousins to Jefferson as motivation

The 34-year-old, currently in his 11th NFL season, referred to O’Connell’s (37) first-ever team meeting with his new players. He showed a video of a pass from Cousins to wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

In the video, Cousins threw the ball under extreme pressure to Jefferson, who capped the play with a catch.

The video showed a Vikings play from the preseason against the Los Angeles Chargers. But it could also be from this season. The duo Cousins/Jefferson has lost none of its congeniality.

Both – quarterback and receiver – not only put up fantastic numbers. They also thrill the fans with spectacular plays. An example of this is Jefferson’s incredible catch in the game against the Buffalo Bills, when he caught the ball in extreme distress, falling backwards and with only one hand.

It was – and this also stands for the new Vikings – the catch that brought them back into the game at the Bills in the fourth quarter. With the drive they made up a deficit in the final phase and took the lead. In the end, it was a 33:30 victory after overtime.

No team has managed to hold their nerve in the decisive moments as well as the Vikings so far this season.

Vikings turn up the heat in crunch time

Eight times (!) Cousins and his team turned the game around in the last quarter, winning eleven times by just one score. With 1,139 yards in the last quarters, Cousins is second among quarterbacks. His eleven touchdowns in that period are unmatched.

Overall, the 4,547 yards represent his second-best season in the NFL. This season, he ranks fourth in the quarterback rankings in that category.

Jefferson’s numbers are even more impressive. With 1,809 receiving yards, he not only leads that statistic in the NFL. He also ranks first with ten games over 100 yards.

So offensively, there should be few teams that can hold a candle to the Vikings in the postseason as well.

Defensive the sore spot of the Vikings

Defensively it looks different. With the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals, only two teams have conceded more points in the regular season than the Vikings (427).

Only three times could they hold their opponents – the Bears, the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders – to less than 20 points.

That’s actually too bad to make a real claim to the Super Bowl. However, one should not commit oneself to that.

It wouldn’t be the first time these Vikings have made the seemingly impossible possible.