The Minnesota Vikings are in the thick of the playoff race after nine game days. And that’s despite the injuries to Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. This has to do with one thing in particular: Kevin O’Connell, one of the best coaches in the NFL.

Minnesota Vikings fans have probably already come to terms with the current season on several occasions.

First, when the Vikings started the season 0-3. They lost to the beatable Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Even the Los Angeles Chargers, who felt they were doing everything they could to lose the game, won at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

After the Vikings won four of the five games that followed, a delicate seed of hope sprouted, which was immediately crushed in the form of Kirk Cousins’ Achilles tendon rupture. “Captain Kirk” had played another outstanding season up to that point.

The fact that the Vikings were missing their two best offensive players in Cousins and Justin Jefferson ahead of the clash with the Atlanta Falcons was a cause for concern for several fans. Some fans would even have been happy to lose in order to possibly get their hands on one of the talented quarterbacks in the 2024 draft

Vikings without Cousins, without Jefferson, without a chance? Not with O’Connell!

However, head coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t want to know anything about it. The head coach and playcaller of the offense put together a game plan against the Falcons for rookie quarterback Jaren Hall in his first start.

And it worked! Hall started the game with five completions out of six throws and a total of 89 yards. Then he had to come out with a concussion.

And who took over? Joshua Dobbs, who had just been traded from the Arizona Cardinals. Dobbs didn’t know the names of his teammates yet. “That’s something for next week,” joked the playmaker after the game.

Logically, Dobbs cannot be praised enough. Nobody would have held it against him if he hadn’t looked good. But his head coach made it easy for him and yet effective. O’Connell, a former quarterback himself, threw his gameplan out the window and improvised – with complete success.

Kevin O’Connell with the Minnesota Vikings: Separating the wheat from the chaff

The NFL is the most exciting and therefore also the most unpredictable league in the world. Accordingly, anything can happen in a game, let alone a season. Including suddenly playing games with a quarterback you didn’t even know a few days before.

This situation separates the wheat from the chaff. When everything is going well, many players and coaches can look good. But how do you perform when everything is going against you? How do you perform when you think the football god has something against you? The term used by the Americans is “adversity”, for which there is really no direct translation.

With this performance at the latest, O’Connell manifested himself as one of the best coaches in the league in his second year

O’Connell with the Vikings: Playoffs in year one

The playcaller showed what he is capable of in his first year. Not only did he reach the playoffs with his Vikings, he also set a record on the way there: In the 39-36 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota was down 33-0 at one point. No team in the long history of the NFL had ever achieved a greater comeback.

Although the Vikings lost their home game against the New York Giants in the first playoff round, one game should not speak for the entire season. Especially not when it was so successful in the case of the Vikings and the former Rams offensive coordinator.

Whoever plays against the Vikings this season, and likely in the future, will definitely not have an easy time of it. No matter who the quarterback is. And no matter how many players are missing due to injury.

As long as Kevin O’Connell is on the sideline, the Vikings will always be competitive.