Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell explains questionable decision to move away from the running game after early success

One area of controversy with the Minnesota Vikings has been the running game. Throughout his time as head coach and play caller for the Vikings, head coach Kevin O’Connell hasn’t been the most patient with the running game. With 14 points in their first two drives, the Vikings got off to a fast start. With quarterback Sam Darnold confidently throwing the ball down the field, the offense was balanced and clicking. The rushing game had a significant role in the opening two drives, but as the game progressed, it disappeared, and the Vikings lost 30–20.

Kevin O’Connell discusses why the run game isn’t there. After the first two drives, the Vikings appeared to give up on the running game, which was strange, and O’Connell gave an explanation for the move.

“They seemed to start giving us scrimmage-related problems, like whether we could get a couple and perhaps pop one or two longer ones, which kind of resets the entire day,” I said. Sam was able to sort of check the ball down to some people and put it in play while they were trying to keep a roof on and prevent the huge plays from happening. In the second half, we managed to get the screen game going a little bit, but after that, we simply weren’t on the field enough or sustained enough. Again, fifty plays. When a game like this is played, their offense

Some of the stuff that O’Connell mentioned is intriguing. The Rams first modified their strategy to thwart the Vikings’ offensive attack. The Vikings only managed to score six points the remainder of the game, three of which came right after a Byron Murphy Jr. interception, demonstrating how effective their strategy was. When comparing the first two drives to the remainder of the game, the rushing game divides are very noticeable.

Though it wasn’t as though the offense as a whole was flourishing, that isn’t a recipe for success. They were unable to sustain much in the latter three quarters and only managed to gain 276 yards on the day. Although the Rams defense had a strong game and won, O’Connell’s continued departure from the running game has been a recurring trend during his tenure and will be interesting to watch.