KOC Extension; Let's bring it up again....
O’Connell used his temporary quarterback, Sam Darnold, to embarrass his former quarterback, Kirk Cousins, further justifying the Vikings’ willingness to let Cousins leave.
Darnold threw five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Cousins threw two interceptions and no touchdowns, and has thrown eight interceptions with no touchdowns over his past four games.
KO’s KO began with an effective running game, as Aaron Jones returned to his reliable form and Cam Akers powered forward at 7.4 yards per carry, and in between O’Connell’s two wideouts torched a confused secondary.
Addison and Justin Jefferson combined for 15 catches, 265 yards and five scores, with Jefferson catching all seven of his targets. Twice, the wideouts caught touchdown passes as Falcons defenders turned the wrong way and fell down.
I asked O’Connell if that was the product of his scheme or his receivers’ moves.
O’Connell grinned, which is what he does when he knows he outmaneuvered an opponent but won’t say so publicly.
“There were a few plays there where, you know, how they handled the motions kind of gave us some information that we were able to maybe make some adjustments on some things,” O’Connell said.
He noted that putting Jefferson in motion left him matched up with a “nickel” — or lesser — cornerback, which is the first step in a play on which a professional defensive back winds up looking like he needs an on-field sobriety test.
The Vikings are 11-2 with a journeyman quarterback. The Falcons are 6-7 with a $180 million quarterback they need to bench quickly.
Vikings followers know to never project regular-season successes into the postseason. The Vikings and O’Connell will always have much to prove, until this franchise finally wins a Super Bowl.
But there is no reason to wait to give O’Connell a contract extension. He’s 31-16 as an NFL head coach, and he got the best out of Cousins, and now is getting the best out of Darnold, and he even won three games with Josh Dobbs as his starter.
This is some form of wizardry.
By the end of the game, fans who began the game booing Cousins were chanting “M-V-P” to Darnold, who, in a rare show of emotion, grabbed a towel and waved it while storming around the sideline, as his team improved to 11-2.
Imagine someone describing that scene to you last spring, without laughing.
What this season’s success means is that the Vikings are one of the rare NFL teams that don’t require a savior under center, because they have a quarterback-saver on the sideline.
Maybe the Vikings can bring Darnold back next season. Maybe they turn Daniel Jones into the next Darnold. Maybe J.J. McCarthy, whenever he does play, is set up to become a superstar because of O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wade Phillips and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown.
O’Connell didn’t take any victory laps Sunday afternoon, but he rarely hides his emotions. His expressions tell the story even when his words obfuscate.
At the end of his news conference, he was asked if Sunday’s result was a validation of the Vikings’ quarterback decisions.
O’Connell smiled and said, “No.”
I don’t believe him. Nor do I believe that he wanted to be believed.
Source: Startribune.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
StickierBuns wrote:
If you don't love Kevin O'Connell at this point, you just don't know football. Period. A big key to unlocking the full KOC offensive experience is an elite arm at QB. Then you can be unpredictable and no play is off the board at any point in the game. You have that with Darnold, McCarthy and even Danny Dimes.Good times ahead. A big bag o' cash is waiting for Mr. O'Connell.
On KFAN the other day, Dave Sinykin happened to be on (does the Packer radio show stuff), and they were talking/rating head coaches on their ability to get their teams to play hard for them. Given a choice between Lefluer and O'Connell, Sinykin said he'd go O'Connell. Based on the locker room clips and such, just seems to have a way with speaking to players that gets them to want to run through a wall for him. I didn't catch all of the conversation, so maybe I missed some other tidbits, but that seemed to be the general thought.
LabGeek wrote:
On KFAN the other day, Dave Sinykin happened to be on (does the Packer radio show stuff), and they were talking/rating head coaches on their ability to get their teams to play hard for them. Given a choice between Lefluer and O'Connell, Sinykin said he'd go O'Connell. Based on the locker room clips and such, just seems to have a way with speaking to players that gets them to want to run through a wall for him. I didn't catch all of the conversation, so maybe I missed some other tidbits, but that seemed to be the general thought.
They are both really good coaches imo...Love and Darnold are fortunate to play for them.
Either coach can make lemonade, but when you give em something decent to start with (ala Love or Darnold) then as Sticky says, some special things can happen.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I gotta add this:
Mike Hughes, at Atlanta, was one of our CBs a few seasons back, and one that Zimmer had from "go". Ditto Dantzler, who can't find work in the NFL. Anyone heard from Trae Waynes, lately?
Our one true shutdown corner of the past dozen years was Xavier Rhodes, who was drafted by Frazier. Zimmer was supposed to be the "cornerback whisperer", and maybe he worked wonders with Rhodes...but basically none of "his" drafted CBs have been worth keeping.
Just some perspective of how much better we are now.
KOC, JJM, Flores...make a good plan, or you'll be following Kwesi....
Zanary wrote:
I gotta add this:Mike Hughes, at Atlanta, was one of our CBs a few seasons back, and one that Zimmer had from "go". Ditto Dantzler, who can't find work in the NFL. Anyone heard from Trae Waynes, lately?
Our one true shutdown corner of the past dozen years was Xavier Rhodes, who was drafted by Frazier. Zimmer was supposed to be the "cornerback whisperer", and maybe he worked wonders with Rhodes...but basically none of "his" drafted CBs have been worth keeping.
Just some perspective of how much better we are now.
Saw a picture of Waynes with a nice buck a few weeks ago, apparently he is a hunter.
Why isn't Chuck Foreman in the Hall of Fame?
JimmyinSD wrote:
Saw a picture of Waynes with a nice buck a few weeks ago, apparently he is a hunter.
He's a big bow hunter. Bought a bunch of land around Buffalo County WI and has a YouTube channel and land management company I believe.
MAD GAINZ wrote:
He's a big bow hunter. Bought a bunch of land around Buffalo County WI and has a YouTube channel and land management company I believe.
That's a happy thought, actually; so many of the kids that don't have huge careers end up broke and in various kinds of trouble.
KOC, JJM, Flores...make a good plan, or you'll be following Kwesi....
I can’t imagine they want to introduce a distraction into the mix midseason. I’m certain that they’ll be resigning him at some point though. I’d probably be bringing both him and Flores and give them both fat bumps in their contracts just to try to incentivize Flores staying here.
medaille wrote:
I can’t imagine they want to introduce a distraction into the mix midseason. I’m certain that they’ll be resigning him at some point though. I’d probably be bringing both him and Flores and give them both fat bumps in their contracts just to try to incentivize Flores staying here.
Ive been arguing for asst head coach title and pay bump for Flores...Only if that'll keep him and it doesnt upset the rest of the coaching staff.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
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