Vikings

Will the O'Connell Vikings Perform Better In Primetime?

Photo Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

With the Fourth of July behind us, we are inching ever closer to Kevin O’Connell running his first training camp as Minnesota Vikings’ head coach. There have been many strategic moves to improve the starting lineup and bolster the depth behind those starters.

For the most part, though, the Vikings’ roster will look fairly similar to what we’ve seen in the past two seasons. Ownership and fans expect that fresh perspectives at the top will have a positive impact after the previous regime’s message grew stale.

It sounds great and could be the correct approach heading into the 2022 season. But the positivity buzzing around TCO Performance Center won’t last if the team doesn’t stack some wins.

It’s no secret that the Vikings have struggled in primetime games over the past four seasons. So what better way for the Vikings to open the 2022 season than with two marquee games, including a 3:25 pm kickoff in Week 1?

The Purple open the season at home against the rival Green Bay Packers at 3:25 p.m. before heading east to face the Philadelphia Eagles eight days later on Monday Night Football. They return to Minnesota to host the Detroit Lions at noon before traveling overseas to play the New Orleans Saints in London.

While 3:25 p.m. isn’t technically a primetime game, we will treat the Packers game as one. It will be O’Connell’s coaching debut, adding extra stakes to the rivalry. Even with the Packers game, this slate of games may not exactly seem like murderer’s row. However, the Vikings still finished behind three of the four teams — the Packers, Eagles, and Saints — in last season’s NFC playoff race, so chalking up wins at this point is premature.

The numbers from 2021 show that the Vikings were again playing below their standard when placed in primetime slots. In 13 non-primetime games, the offense averaged 387 yards and 26.6 points per game. On defense, Minnesota gave up an average of 375.1 yards and 25.5 points per game in non-primetime matchups. The Vikings were 6-7 in these games.

However, Minnesota’s offensive output completely dropped off in four primetime games. They could only muster 283.7 yards per game and 19.7 points per game. The defense got gutted for 411.2 yards per game, although they allowed a slightly better 23.5 points per game. Minnesota was 2-2 in these games.

It’d be easy to give the Vikings a pass on some of these numbers. For example, Kirk Cousins missed the Week 17 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Packers due to COVID-19. However, that wasn’t even the worst offensive output of the season. Minnesota only mustered 193 yards of offense two weeks earlier in Chicago (on Monday Night Football, naturally).

It’s fitting that these two games were the worst offensive outputs by the Vikings all season. Only two other times all year did the offense fail to eclipse 300 yards. One was the Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns. The other was the Sunday Night Football loss to the Dallas Cowboys at home, following the team’s bye week.

The offense wasn’t the only unit at fault that night, though. The defense was a mess in situational football all season, including in two of the primetime games. Clutching to a 16-13 lead against Cooper Rush and the Cowboys, the Vikings defense collapsed on Dallas’ final drive. Rush drove the Cowboys into the red zone before finding Amari Cooper for the winning touchdown.

Later in the year, the Vikings jumped out to a 29-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football. Then the entire team let their foot off the gas, and the Steelers clawed their way back into the game. A potential game-tying touchdown was dropped by Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth when Harrison Smith hit him in the end zone on the game’s final play. The play prevented overtime, and an all-time Vikings collapse.

Minnesota played not to lose in all four primetime games. That was enough to secure wins over the Steelers and Bears, but it gave them no margin for error against the Cowboys. The Los Angeles Rams all but eliminated them from the playoffs before the Packers showdown, and they played a lifeless game with their season hanging by a thread.

O’Connell could put a stamp on the team immediately in the first month of the season by winning at least one of these big primetime games. Where the Mike Zimmer Vikings played tight and hoped for the ball to bounce their way, O’Connell could endear himself to the fanbase by coaching aggressively.

A contrast in style may not lead the Vikings to a 4-0 start. But it could show glimpses that this regime is willing to embrace the big stage instead of standing in the corner and hoping not to embarrass themselves in front of a massive audience.

For the 2022 Vikings season to be a success, they have to win in primetime. As of right now, their only other scheduled primetime bout is on Thanksgiving against the New England Patriots. Dropping three of their first four games of the season wouldn’t eliminate them from the playoffs, but it’d set them up for an uphill climb for the third consecutive year.

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