2 October 2023
For the first time this season, head coach Kevin O’Connell walked into the Vikings locker room after a win, and delivered a postgame speech surrounded by his players.
He talked about how the feeling was long overdue after the Vikings escaped with a 21-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C. He praised the group for continuing work for each other and ignore the outside noise. He sprinkled in some colorful language toward the end as a way to hammer home the point that there is still a lot of work to be done.
How will the Vikings respond to their first win? That is the real test.
Truthfully, the Vikings beating the Panthers shouldn’t be overly celebrated, because, well, they were supposed to win that game. Then again, the Vikings were supposed to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this season, and they couldn’t do that, so at least they are showing signs of improvement.
There needs to be a continuation of that when the Vikings host to defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Never mind that the Vikings will be massive underdogs despite being the home team. The game will be a good barometer for how seriously they should be taken this season.
If the Vikings are competitive, the present should remain their focus. If the Vikings are overmatched, the future might be something to consider.
There was already a large section of the fan base ready to jump off the bandwagon after the 0-3 start. Those people were calling for the Vikings to trade veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, which, in turn, would make them bad enough to potentially garner the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Edited images of USC quarterback Caleb Williams wearing a Vikings jersey even started to pop up on social media.
Those conversations have been put on hold for the time being. Now it’s on the Vikings to keep things rolling against the Chiefs to make sure that chatter does start back up.
That will start and stop with the Vikings taking care of the ball.
Though they have the firepower to keep up with anybody — led by star receiver Justin Jefferson, who has been a cheat code — it hasn’t mattered since they’ve turned the ball over 11 times to this point.
That has forced the Vikings to chase the game on a weekly basis, and as they have learned all too well this season, it isn’t always a guarantee to win games decided by a single possession.
A perfect example of those struggles came this past weekend when Cousins threw a horrible interception that got returned the length of the field for the touchdown. That was pretty much the only thing the Vikings couldn’t afford to do against the Panthers. It happened on the opening drive of the game, and in the end, they were fortunate to complete the comeback.
If the Vikings follow the same game script against the Chiefs, they will get blown out. After making things extremely hard on themselves over the past month, they will need to be at their absolute best to have any chance at pulling off the upset. Even then, it might not be enough considering they have to defend Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The way opposing teams have been able to move the ball against the Vikings this season doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence as they try to contain the best player in the league. That said, veteran safety Harrison Smith is starting to look the part of a playmaker once again, and that might be enough to provide the Vikings with a spark.
There are still a lot of questions surrounding the Vikings despite the fact they recently notched their first win. There will be answers soon enough.
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