The Vikings’ 5-1 start has provided them a 2.5-game cushion in the NFC North and an opportunity to win the division for the first time since 2017. That’s good news for the short term, but long term things might be looking up even more for the Vikings.
While Minnesota has managed to win five games despite its flaws, the Green Bay Packers are on a three-game losing streak that’s dropped them to 3-4 and will be facing one of the NFL’s best teams on Sunday night when they play in Buffalo.
Aaron Rodgers, the team’s 38-year-old quarterback, appears to be more prickly than ever and one has to wonder how much longer he intends to continue playing for a team that lacks star talent around him.
In other words, Kevin O’Connell’s timing might be perfect.
The first-year Vikings coach was 7-years-old when Brett Favre made his Packers debut on Sept. 20, 1992 and led a comeback victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. Since that time, Favre or Aaron Rodgers have started at quarterback for the Packers (except for when Rodgers was injured), and Green Bay has won 15 of 30 NFC Central or North titles and two Super Bowls.
The Vikings have won eight division titles, the Bears five, the Lions one and Tampa Bay one (from the NFC Central) in the same time period. Dennis Green, Mike Tice, Brad Childress and Mike Zimmer spent their coaching careers knowing they were scheduled to face a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback twice a season.
O’Connell, now 37, shouldn’t have to spend long worrying about this. This is assuming Jordan Love, the Packers’ first-round pick in 2020, isn’t going to follow in Favre and Rodgers’ footsteps and that Green Bay’s ridiculous fortune at QB is coming to an end.
If the Vikings win the North this season, they will end a three-year run by Green Bay in which the Packers won 13 games each season, going 39-10 and making it the NFC title game twice.
This might be a bit premature, given Rodgers has bounced back from rough stretches and being miserable before, but the fact is the clock is ticking on his NFL career. Tom Brady is 45 and playing in his 23rd NFL season, but he had to move from the Patriots to the Buccaneers to continue his career.
Is Rodgers really going to try to follow that plan and do the Packers want the recalcitrant QB to question everything they are doing for years to come? At some point a dip in play, any dip in play, makes a player who enjoys giving ultimatums too much of a pain to keep around.
The end of the Canton Quarterback Factory in Green Bay will present the Vikings with an opportunity to get a leg up on their division competitors. Kirk Cousins is 34 and has one season left on his contract. While Cousins has had a statistically underwhelming season through six games, he has come through in the clutch when it matters.
But part of the reason the Vikings hired O’Connell was to help find the type of franchise quarterback the team has far too often failed to develop. Yes that can take good fortune — Rodgers fell to the Packers with the 24th pick in 2005 — but the Vikings also have seemed to lack an evaluator with the ability to identify a QB who can make life miserable for opponents for a decade or more.
O’Connell, a college quarterback with an eye for offense, should have that ability. If he does, the Vikings could build around a top quarterback on a rookie contract and finally be in a position to turn the tables on their arch-rival to the East. Suddenly, adding at other positions wouldn’t be as difficult because the quarterback’s salary cap hit would be reasonable.
That’s the best case scenario. But even if that doesn’t happen, the Vikings’ days of having to face a Hall of Fame passer wearing green soon should be in the past.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
