Response team: Vikings go to work on bouncing back from woeful loss to Lions
Kevin O'Connell's team started preparations for next Monday's playoff game against the Rams by correcting the many mistakes made against Detroit and then moving on from them.
We’ve seen plenty of Kevin O’Connell during the good times this season.
All 14 of his locker room speeches after Vikings’ victories this season have been posted on social media, often going viral because of the genuine passion displayed by the coach.
But what about O’Connell’s speeches that haven’t been posted? Those came after the Vikings’ three defeats and are likely far more interesting than anything we have witnessed. They are also where O’Connell earns his money.
This is especially true given what happened in the Vikings’ embarrassing 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night in Ford Field. Their nationally televised loss cost the Vikings a chance to win the NFC North and, more importantly, grab the conference’s top seed and the first round bye that goes along with it.
Instead of having a bye week that would have been followed by a home playoff game in the divisional round, O’Connell is faced with having to prepare for a Monday night playoff game against the Rams in Los Angeles. His most important task in the aftermath of the Detroit debacle was to figure out how to get quarterback Sam Darnold back on track.
You can make any excuse you want for Darnold’s play; the reality is he was brutal. Darnold went 18 of 41 for 166 yards with a 55.5 passer rating. It was worse than that. Passes sailed over receivers as Darnold reverted to the form that made him one of the NFL’s biggest draft busts.
O’Connell’s first objective was getting his team to flush the performance. That began immediately after Sunday’s game.