In the Kevin O’Connell era, the Minnesota Vikings have been known to play in one score games regardless if they win or lose. In fact, in the last two seasons, 27 of the 34 games played finished as a one score contest.
This equivalates to the Minnesota Vikings either winning or losing 79.4% of the games played between 2022 and 2023 by only one score. Despite the Vikings love to play close games under O’Connell, it seems like a new offensive philosophy is finally on the rise within the walls of TCO Performance Center.
Quick Minnesota Vikings History Lesson
The 22-point win against the New York Giants this past Sunday marked only the fourth time in the O’Connell tenure where the Minnesota Vikings won by two scores. The previous wins by more than one score:
- 2022 Week 1: Packers (7) vs. Vikings (23)
- 2022 Week 18: Vikings (29) vs. Bears (13)
- 2023 Week 8: Vikings (24) vs. Packers (10)
It’s also been since week 15 of the 2019 season since the Minnesota Vikings have beaten a team by 17 or more points. Long story short, crushing teams and running up the score is not part of the Vikings DNA under O’Connell or even former head coach Mike Zimmer for that matter.
Offensive Philosophy Change On the Horizon for Vikings
Given how this team hasn’t been able to put teams away in years past, the philosophy seems to be shifting in 2024. In the Vikings vs. Giants game this past Sunday , one Vikings player was caught on microphone telling the Vikings offensive line unit to “run the score up on them” and to “keep going”.
It’s unclear who this exact player is talking to left tackle Christian Darrisaw and guards Blake Brandel and Dalton Risner. It looks to be defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, but that’s beside the point. The point is, this team is preaching the mentality of running up the score this year.
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This is BIG for Minnesota Vikings football. To many times, over the last several seasons, the Vikings get a comfortable lead only to get conservative and allow the other team to battle back.
This past Sunday, the Vikings continued to put their foot on the gas for the first time in quite some time. Players are preaching it to each other, and it all starts and stops under the leadership of head coach Kevin O’Connell.
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