{"id":870412,"date":"2026-04-20T03:09:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870412\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:09:37","slug":"a-vikings-update-that-could-give-fans-heartburn-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870412\/","title":{"rendered":"A Vikings Update that Could Give Fans Heartburn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Well, some folks won\u2019t be pleased by this one even if it\u2019s just some meaningless coach talk. <\/p>\n

An odd Vikings update emerged when skipper Kevin O\u2019Connell did an interview with Mike Florio and Chris Simms of Pro Football Talk a few weeks ago. The conversation covered a variety of topics, but the detour into a revelatory strategy adjustment may have caused listeners to perk up. Per O\u2019Connell, the Vikings rediscovered how important it is to rally around a strong run game and dominant defense, an approach that fuelled the five-game winning streak to end the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

A Vikings Update Some May Not Love<\/p>\n

For good reason, the conversation around the Minnesota Vikings rests on the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Minnesota sits atop nine draft picks and roughly thirty open roster spots. Adding a pile of young talent is needed to reinforce a top-heavy roster that\u2019s getting older. Most think that a young defender is going to arrive at No. 18<\/a>, but not everyone agrees. Few, if any, expect a trade up, but moving down has its merit for a team that\u2019s aiming for quiet competence rather than flashy, high-upside risk. <\/p>\n

\"VikingsDec 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) slaps hands with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell after a made field goal against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Part of the reason why things feel so tense right now is because of the draft whiffs in recent years. Goodness, the main reason why Rob Brzezinski is the fill-in GM is since the former GM, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, got canned for bungling the quarterback plan<\/a>. <\/p>\n

J.J. McCarthy was chosen at No. 10 in the 2024 NFL Draft. He did so after proving to be a very good college quarterback even as many insisted he got boosted by operating from within a loaded Michigan program. After all, Jim Harbaugh\u2019s team had a fantastic ground game and defense, meaning McCarthy didn\u2019t need to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

Kevin O\u2019Connell may have missed the memo. Or, at least, he didn\u2019t fully give credence to the approach until late in the season. <\/p>\n

Check out what he had to say about that late-season winning streak and the strategic tweak that fuelled the victories<\/a>. \u201cWe were able to apply some things to our overall toolbox of how we\u2019re going to win games,\u201d O\u2019Connell said to Mike Florio and Chris Simms in late March<\/a>. He goes on: \u201cMaybe I don\u2019t get invited to the smart guy table by playing a certain kind of style where we ran the football, we were not going to turn it over, and we\u2019re going to play great defense. And we won five games in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what I told our team at the end of the year is,\u201d O\u2019Connell further explained, \u201clet\u2019s not forget the fact that we just learned maybe some new ways to win.\u201d Speaking prophetically, O\u2019Connell then said that \u201cmaybe we\u2019ll need to really call upon that [\u2026] late in December in a bad weather game\u201d before saying that \u201cthose types of games still win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VikingsOct 5, 2025; Tottenham, United Kingdom; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell during warmups before an NFL International Series game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Folks, that\u2019s a less-than-perfect answer. <\/p>\n

In fairness, Kevin O\u2019Connell is probably just doing Kevin O\u2019Connell things: saying a ton of words within his relentlessly positive outlook. Still, though, that\u2019s not a great response. Just tally up some of the hurdles that J.J. McCarthy was trying to clear last season:<\/p>\n

He was 22<\/p>\n

He was coming off a missed rookie season, robbing him of reps<\/p>\n

He battled early injury as a sophomore, too<\/p>\n

He was adjusting his mechanics during the season<\/p>\n

He was playing behind an injured o-line<\/p>\n

Given all of these factors, shouldn\u2019t the Vikings have been looking to play small ball all along? Why drop to 4-8 before arriving at the humbling truth that grinding out wins via the running game and defense is what this team needed?<\/p>\n

Also befuddling is that the Vikings have publicly discussed the issue in the past. A much loved tradition in the Twin Cities is to arrive at the offseason, jump into press conferences, and then detail how more balance and physicality is upcoming. The team has even put its money where its mouth is, signing blocking\/ground game specialists such as TE Josh Oliver, RG Will Fries, WR Trent Sherfield, and RB Jordan Mason. <\/p>\n

Far too often, Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s old habit of passing close to 60% of the time comes roaring back. <\/p>\n

\"\"Jan 4, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) hands the ball off to Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason (27) against the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Vikings need to crush the event that\u2019s going to take place this week. From Thursday, April 23rd until Saturday, April 25th, the NFL will work through its annual draft. Every team needs to do well, but Minnesota is feeling a particular urgency given the lacklustre efforts of recent years. Yet another disappointing season could result in Kevin O\u2019Connell looking for work. <\/p>\n

Somehow building out a roster that encourages a healthy balance between the run and the pass, the offense and the defense would go a long way in restoring the Minnesota Vikings. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell looks on during the first quarter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-870412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116434841107859299","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}