#777: Kevin O’Connell’s Coaching Meltdown Dooms Vikings in Ugly Loss

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell made some idiotic decisions vs. Baltimore Ravens in the Vikings loss. Where did O'Connell go wrong? Tim Paul breaks it all down!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kevin O'Connell made one of his dumbest decisions ever, and
I'm gonna explain what it is, but first I need
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(00:22):
from the brawl with Tim Paul and get your carpets
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or backwards. That spells the same. The Vikings lose to
the Ravens twenty seven to nineteen. But could you believe
the foolish things Cavan O'Connell was doing on the football field.

(00:48):
Let's start here. JJ mccarnarthy threw the ball forty two times,
the most he's ever thrown in his entire football career,
going back to Michigan. The most he's ever thrown the
ball before this was thirty seven times. And what is

(01:08):
so insane about that statistic? Is this statistic? Aaron Jones
averaged five point two yards per carry, and Jordan Mason
averaged six point three yards per carry. The run game
was effective, yet you continued to rely on the arm

(01:33):
of jaj McCarthy to win this football game. The reason
why you traded for Jordan Mason and extended Aaron Jones
is to relieve some pressure from McCarthy. And when both
backs have it going on, you ask McCarthy to throw

(01:53):
the ball forty two times. And the greatest example of
of Kevin O'Connell's ineptitude was on third and one, a
deep ball to Justin Jefferson. Just pick up the first down.
Why does every third and short need to be a

(02:15):
pass play? Here's what Kevin O'Connell does wrong. He does
not treat third and short as two downs. The best
coaches in the NFL treat third and four as two
downs to get it so most of the time they
actually run it on third and four knowing they're going

(02:37):
for it on fourth down. If they don't get the
full four yards. Kevin O'Connell passes on third down incomplete,
and then he passes again on fourth down incomplete. Tanner Weber,
he's a Vikings fan and analyst. On x he posted
what the Vikings did on every third and fourth down play,

(02:59):
and some of the plays are obvious passing situations a
third and twelve, a third and six, a third and fifteen,
a third and nine, But there are several situations where
O'Connell could have used a third and four or shorter
and used it as a two down situation. And every
single time Kevin O'Connell passed the ball. There is so

(03:25):
much power in paper cutting a team to death than
just hitting home run ball after home run ball after
home run ball. One, it gives your defense more rest. Two,
it is mentally deflating for an opposing defense to be
on the field for eight to nine minutes and not
be able to get off the field, And it gives

(03:46):
your offense more confidence. Kevin O'Connell does not believe in slow,
methodical drives down the field. He believes that you need
to hit a home run ball on every single offensive possession,
and that is the wrong mindset. Kevin O'Connell must think
that Jaj McCarthy is much better than he actually is.

(04:08):
And there's a movie called Hall Pass that I want
to use to illustrate my point. Hey, Paul Blonde right here, Yeah,
forget about it. It's an illusion. She's surrounded by stutefish. Stutfish. Yeah,
when an eight surrounds herself with less attractive women make
her look like a ten man? What are you talking about?

(04:29):
She is a ten? You make me laugh, Freddy, I'm
not gonna try this, all right, what, I'll block everything out?
Tell me what you see? Why? Well, okay, now watch
this man hot right now? Oh my god, how holy shit.

(04:54):
Kevin O'Connell sees a ten in JJ McCarthy, and that's
why he to throw the ball forty two times when
in reality he may never get there. He is a
six right now. Kevin O'Connell thinks JJ McCarthy is much
hotter than he actually is, and that's why he abandoned

(05:17):
the running game. And that's why he's taking deep shots
on third and one. That's why the team had eight
fall start penalties, and that's why this team offensively is
a mess. Kevin O'Connell is asking JJ McCarthy to do
things that he's not capable of doing. He sees things

(05:39):
that are not there. What we see in JJ McCarthy
is a fixer upper. What Kevin O'Connell sees is a mansion.
What we see from McCarthy is a car not designed
to go along distances. What Kevin O'Connell sees is a
freight liner built to carry and entire load of steel

(06:01):
across the country. And what is becoming more true as
the season continues is that Kevin O'Connell is becoming a
terrible self evaluator because on third and short and fourth
and short, the Vikings are one of the worst efficient
teams in the NFL. Is the answer for Kevin O'Connell

(06:25):
to give up play calling duties and I'm gonna say no,
because what is still going to remain true is that
he is going to be in the headset telling the
offensive coordinator which kind of play to run. He cannot
help himself but to have an influence in some fashion

(06:45):
on what the offense looks like on game day. The
answer is for Kevin O'Connell to take a hard look
in the mirror and understand that his offense needs to
be adjusted for the situation. He needs to look at
the statistics available and know that the Vikings are one

(07:07):
of the worst teams in the league on third and
fourth and short. Because he is obsessed with passing the ball.
That's what needs to change. His decision to have McCarthy
throw the ball forty two times when Aaron Jones and
Jordan Mason are effectively running the football are decisions that

(07:29):
lose locker rooms. Our decisions that point the finger at
the head coach and say, I don't know how much
we can trust this guy, So his offensive strategy needs
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