Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell gave an emotional locker room speech to his team last week after their win at Seattle. His message was interrupted by veteran right tackle Brian O’Neill, who broke tradition by throwing the game ball to O’Connell in recognition of his second 13-win season in three years.
The Vikings have exceeded even the most hopeful predictions for this season, carrying an impressive 13-2 record into their matchup with the Green Bay Packers. This has put O’Connell in the spotlight as the current favorite for the NFL Coach of the Year award.
“It’s a credit to who he is as a person, as a coach and as a leader,” said tight end T.J. Hockenson. “We’re very fortunate to be able to play under him.”
The Vikings have the chance to win the NFC North for the second time in three years. If they beat the Packers at home on Sunday and the Detroit Lions on the road next week, they can also earn the No. 1 seed, a first-round bye, and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
However, the Vikings are not focusing on that right now, even though it’s an exciting possibility.
“It can be a very tired cliché to talk about going 1-0 until you’ve systematically built your entire operation daily of just trying to do that every single day,” O’Connell said after Minnesota’s eighth consecutive victory.
“These guys, it’s not a cliché at that point. It becomes part of your football foundation and the makeup of your locker room, of your leadership, your coaching staff.”
The Packers might not be too impressed with O’Connell’s impact, not just because he coaches their biggest rival. Green Bay had an even more successful start under coach Matt LaFleur, who was hired in 2019 and led the team to 13 regular-season wins in each of his first three years.
At 11-4, the Packers are in third place, two games behind the Lions and Vikings. But they’ve already secured a spot in the playoffs, even if they can’t win their tough division. They will likely play on the road for the duration of the postseason.
“I think that just all of us going against one another, it’s forced you to be at your best every week,” LaFleur said. “You can’t afford a slip-up, just to keep up with everybody.”
The road team has won the last three matchups between these two teams. The Packers are 0-4 against the top three teams in the NFC: Detroit, Minnesota, and Philadelphia.
“We’ve got to be able to go win these games against the really good teams in the league and set ourselves up for the situation we’ll be in for the playoffs,” said quarterback Jordan Love.
