The Vikings are assured of nothing because of a hot start.
The 2003 team started 6-0 but were knocked out of the playoffs after losing seven of their final 10 games under Mike Tice. A more recent example occurred in 2016, when the Vikings won their first five games under Mike Zimmer before losing eight of their final 11 and missing the postseason.
That was the year Zimmer welcomed his team back from its bye week — still without a loss — with a message that “Fat Cats Get Slaughtered.” Zimmer denied reports that he had slaughtered stuffed animals for the players to see, but if his message was meant to be a constructive warning it didn’t work. The Vikings lost their first game out of its bye at Philadelphia and Zimmer’s postgame meltdown in which he called his offensive line “soft” only made matters worse.
Why bring this up? Because it’s highly unlikely Zimmer’s replacement, Kevin O’Connell, will be prone to any sort of outburst regarding his team. O’Connell’s emphasis on the positive, and remaining even keel, have been on display since training camp opened.
There are many things that are keys to the success of an NFL team in a season. The most important, obviously, is not losing key players to injury and having enough depth to make up for any potential losses. The Vikings’ 2017 season became magical only because they had the good fortune that backup quarterback Case Keenum had a career year after Sam Bradford was injured in Week 1.
The ability to have things go smoothly is underrated. One reason why coaches and players say they aren’t bothered by adversity is because they are trying to fool themselves into believing that is true. It’s nonsense. There is a certain amount of adversity teams can take, but when that line is crossed it’s usually over. Show me a team that has issues early in training camp, and I’ll show you a team that’s destined for a miserable year. (The 2010 Vikings are a perfect example.)
The last one is good old-fashioned luck. Avoiding injuries and adversity, obviously, involve luck but I’m talking about when things just start to go your way. The Vikings appear to have gotten some of that good fortune this week with rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson set to make his first career start for Miami on Sunday against the visiting Vikings.
Starter Tua Tagovailoa and backup Teddy Bridgewater both remain in concussion protocol. Thompson, a seventh-round pick from Kansas State, completed 16 of 33 passes for 166 yards after Bridgewater was forced out of the Dolphins’ 40-17 loss last Sunday against the Jets. Thompson also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter to set up a Jets touchdown.
Many had this as a Minnesota loss on an early run through the schedule, but the Vikings are now favored to win and are looking at being 5-1 entering their bye week. Minnesota already leads the NFC North by a game over Green Bay, and it’s really two if you include the Vikings’ victory in their regular-season opener over the Packers. A division title would be the Vikings first since 2017.
The decision by ownership and new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to hire O’Connell was done in part because the 37-year-old’s football background was the opposite of the defensive-minded Zimmer. O’Connell’s expertise comes on the offensive side of the ball.
But their thinking went well beyond that. Zimmer ruled with an iron fist, which was fine when the Vikings were winning. But the last two years, the team missed the playoffs and far too many at TCO Performance Center seemed miserable with the environment created by Zimmer and former general manager Rick Spielman.
Where Zimmer was prickly, O’Connell is quick with a smile and seems to embrace players and staff alike. A small thing? Perhaps. But it also creates a quality environment and snuffs out the potential for distractions and issues before they start. Justin Jefferson doesn’t like that he didn’t get the ball more often? O’Connell not only meets with him to discuss it, but agrees that he needs to find ways to get the star receiver more involved.
This thinking is especially important when it comes to a guy like quarterback Kirk Cousins, who according to accounts never had any real relationship with Zimmer in part because the coach didn’t want one. O’Connell’s goal from day one has been to embrace Cousins’ presence and make him successful. That doesn’t mean pump up his stats, but rather figure out a way to put him in the best position to win games.
The past three weeks, Cousins has led the Vikings on game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. The victories might be too close for comfort, but they also are an indication that many of the things that didn’t go the Vikings’ way the last few years, are now falling in their favor and that O’Connell and his players are responsible for much of that.
Will that keep up?
It’s far too early to predict, and O’Connell hasn’t even coached half a season yet, but if the lack of angst around the Vikings continues and is combined with more luck and good fortune, this season could be far more interesting than many thought possible.
