If one is a coincidence and two is a trend, what is three in a row?
For the Minnesota Vikings, their win on Sunday was the third consecutive to begin the season, and it was their strongest statement yet that they are a contender.
Here are three reasons to buy the Vikings’ chances of continuing their solid play and getting into position to make noise in the postseason.
1. Kevin O’Connell, Brian Flores Give the Vikings a Coaching Edge
Kevin O’Connell has his team off to a perfect start this year, and he’s done it with a quarterback who was cast off by two franchises who gave up on him — the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers — and by another who is led by the last pick in the NFL Draft (Brock Purdy).
Additionally, O’Connell is doing this with a relatively short-handed offense, with several ordinary starters unavailable. Star tight end T.J. Hockenson is on the physically unable to perform, or PUP, list, and No. 2 wide receiver Jordan Addison has played only two full quarters this season.
Sure, O’Connell is far from the only coach who has dealt with injuries to his roster or who has had to make it work with castoffs. Objectively, though, one must be impressed with O’Connell’s ability to guide the ship through rocky waters that would sink many other efforts.
We are capable of stacking it all together. #Skol pic.twitter.com/4icA1X6V0X
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 22, 2024
A key member of O’Connell’s staff is defensive coordinator Brian Flores. He’s in his second season on the job, and the improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 in Flores’ scheme is obvious. In 2023, there was clear improvement from the year before and even flashes of great play, but the Vikings hadn’t quite established an identity and there was a “smoke and mirrors” feeling to some of the tactics employed.
As an example, the Vikings used six pass rushers more than any other team last season, yet they were in dime (six defensive backs) 24% of the time, which was the second-highest rate.
None of that was surprising given it was the first season for Flores in Minnesota. It takes time for new coordinators to implement their scheme and use their influence in personnel acquisition to attain the right players to execute that scheme.
In 2024, it’s a different and better story. It’s clear Flores has the players to match his scheme. Flores, known to love blitzing, has dialed it back a bit but is still able to generate pressure on the quarterback. The Vikings blitzed 50% of the time in 2023 but have it down to 33% this season. At the same time, the Vikings went into Week 3 leading the NFL in sacks with 11 and ranking second in pressure rate with a four-man rush (45%).
In O’Connell and Flores, the Vikings have a pair of young coaches who are sharp with schemes and skilled in communicating with players.
2. Sam Darnold’s Awakening Is for Real
As for that “castoff quarterback,” an impressive part of what Sam Darnold has done through three weeks is that he’s drawing a delicate balance between operating with the urgency of an athlete playing for his career, which Darnold is, while at the same time playing the quarterback position with the kind of intentionality, intelligence, and poise required in O’Connell’s system.
Darnold’s poise has been on display from the season’s first moments. He was sacked on his first dropback in New York. Then on the next snap, he completed a pass to his fullback, C.J. Ham, only to then watch Ham lose a fumble. From that moment forward, though, it’s been near-perfect execution from the seven-year veteran.
In three games, Darnold is completing 67.9% of his passes and has eight touchdowns compared to just two interceptions.
Vikings QB Sam Darnold posted two games with 2 passing TDs and a 100+ passer rating to the start the season. 🎯
He stays hot 🔥pic.twitter.com/R7bUXdL6o8
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) September 22, 2024
On Sunday, he threw four touchdowns, matching his season total up to that point. While his yardage total (181) wasn’t gaudy, he was efficient with his distribution and limited his mistakes (zero interceptions).
It’s fair to doubt Darnold, for sure. He’s failed to fulfill the expectations that come with a player of his profile. But it’s similarly reasonable to be optimistic about his chances with O’Connell and the Vikings offensive structure. This is the best situation he’s experienced as a starter, and he’s making the most of it.
3. The Talent Is There
The Vikings’ season falling like a house of cards would feel more likely if the fast start was exclusively on the heels of a surprisingly positive start for Darnold or if it was due to Justin Jefferson going on a historically dominant three-game tear.
But that’s simply not the case. Darnold has been sharp, as noted above, and Jefferson is back to his true form after missing nearly half of last season; he has three touchdowns in the first three games.
But many others are contributing and two others — Addison and Hockenson — will be coming back soon.
On offense, running back Aaron Jones has delivered. The Vikings signed him this past offseason to reinvigorate the running game, and that’s precisely what he’s done, rushing for 92 yards and a score in Week 1 and then logging his first 100-yard rushing game as a Viking against Houston plus adding a receiving touchdown.
In Addison’s stead, the Vikings have seen Jalen Nailor emerge. He entered the game for Addison in Week 1 and immediately scored a touchdown. He also scored last week against San Francisco and then scored for a third time this season against Houston on Sunday.
Defensively, the Vikings’ league-best pass rush is anchored by a pair of free agent signings — Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. Greenard had three sacks against Houston alone while Van Ginkel has a pick-six to his credit along with a sack in all three games.
The secondary has been on point, with Stephon Gilmore guiding a group of veteran cornerbacks and Harrison Smith leading youngsters Cam Bynum and Josh Metellus to give Flores a trio of versatile defenders in the back end who can cover, tackle, and blitz.