Vikings HC Deflects Credit for 5-0 Start

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images. The Vikings defeated the New York Jets in London, running their 2024 start-of-season win streak to five games.

It’s all the players, says Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.

Vikings HC Deflects Credit for 5-0 Start

O’Connell’s team unexpectedly sprinted to a flawless 5-0 start in 2024 after an offseason in which NFL pundits and sportsbooks pegged the Vikings for six or seven wins.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images. The Vikings defeated the New York Jets in London, running their 2024 start-of-season win streak to five games.

Of course, O’Connell is largely responsible for the undefeated spurt, but don’t tell him that. He joined ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday during the team’s bye week and shifted all credit to his personnel, not himself.

“You can draw up a bunch of lines on a whiteboard and think you’re scheming it up, but the players are the ones that make it come to life. I just sit myself over there on the sidelines and call the plays. Those guys make it come to life,” O’Connell told McAfee 12 days before his team takes on the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell takes the slime, a tradition for a player winning Nickelodeon’s NVP award for the week. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold won the award in Week 3 and slimed his coaches accordingly on September 25th, 2024.

Through five games, the Vikings showcase the NFL’s top-ranked defense per EPA/Play and 14th-ranked offense, a relatively balanced operation, particularly the first 3.5 games.

O’Connell also made sure to promote his quarterback, Sam Darnold, who is fully effectuating a reclamation season. “I knew all along if we could get some guys open, Sam Darnold’s gonna hit them. He can play quarterback in the NFL. I’ve always believed that. I’m just proud of him. He’s not really worried about anything just than his role on our team,” O’Connell opined.

“He’s one of our captains. He works as hard as anybody each and every day to be ready to go. I’m not surprised when he goes out and has success. The challenge for Sam and our whole team is handling success — being able to reinvent ourselves as a team every single week and staying true to how we want to play.”

Darnold ranks second in the NFL in touchdown passes and 10th per EPA+CPOE.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.

Minnesota has also scripted the pristine start amid a brutally challenging schedule. Four of the five wins occurred against teams ranked in the Top 12 per Super Bowl odds. After an “easy” Week 1 triumph at the New York Giants, the Vikings have slayed the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets in consecutive weeks.

O’Connell ended the McAfee interview in vintage O’Connellian fashion: “I’ll end this the way I started it: I love this team.”