Kevin O’Connell Explains Late Game Play Calls and Sam Darnold Decision-Making vs Jaguars

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Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Every game week during the NFL season, Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen hosts his KFAN radio show “9 to Noon” at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, the Vikings’ practice facility and team headquarters.

He will have various guests on his show during these episodes, including beat writers, other media members and most notably, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. KO usually holds four press conferences during game week: one the day after a game, one mid-week, one at the end of the week, and one immediately following each game.

Kevin O’Connell explains late-game play-calling in Minnesota Vikings vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell shakes Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson after week 10 matchup
Credit: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The coach is always pretty open, when discussing football, but you get a lot of “coach speak” in front of reporters. His weekly sit-down with PA is more relaxed, in nature. Not only that, but he gets to dive deeper into methodology, play-calling and other gameday duties.

On Tuesday’s appearance, he discussed how the Minnesota Vikings had to counteract the two-deep safety-shell that the Jaguars defense deployed most of Sunday. The Jaguars’ defensive gameplan limited Justin Jefferson to five receptions for 48 yards on nine targets. Three targets to JJ were intercepted.

Sam Darnold trying to force it to Justin Jefferson, or…

Kevin O’Connell dove into two plays, in particular. Both came late in the contest. The first came on a 3rd down after the Vikings recovered a fumble deep in Jaguars territory. Up 9-7, Darnold threw a pass that sailed over Jefferson’s head in the endzone. KOC alluded to Darnold potentially trying to force something that wasn’t there.

“[…]there was a red zone sequence later on in the game where we just kind of threw Justin a fade, kind of down the sideline into two-deep (coverage). “I told Sam coming off the field, I said, no matter how much we want it to change, they’re not changing. So, you know, we’ve got to see that, we’ve got to diagnose that. We’ve got to put the ball in play and had a chance at Jordan on the backside, which in my mind, as the play-caller, I’m thinking the backside could be the front side if we see it and progress, but that’s a lot sometimes to put on Sam.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN

When watching the play back, a 3rd-and-7 at the Jaguars’ 11-yard line with 4:30 left in the game, Darnold does lock onto Jefferson. Fortunately, he doesn’t force the ball into a tight window. It innocently fell incomplete, and Parker Romo kicked yet another field goal, which put the Vikings up 12-7, instead of a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

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You can see Addison beat his man at the top of the screen. According to Kevin O’Connell, the pre-snap look should have made Darnold work Addison’s side of the field first, where Darnold would have seen Addison open for what could have been a first down to continue chewing the clock. Still, the head coach took ownership of the missed opportunity.

“And that’s where I’ve got to get better at making sure the minute-to-minute communication and how the game is going, regardless of what the coverage breakdowns looked like going into games. It’s that world-class communication we’ve got to have to [ensure] we are at our best when we need to be. And that always starts with me.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN

O’Connell defends getting aggressive on 3rd-and-1

The Vikings would get the ball back the next drive after an interception by Byron Murphy, Jr. Facing 3rd-and-1 at the Jaguars’ 37-yard line, O’Connell called a play-action pass that ultimately got Darnold sacked.

Jefferson got open, but Jaguars defensive lineman Travon Walker sacked Darnold before he could throw the ball. O’Connell explained his reasoning for not running for a third straight play.

“…I’m at the 37 [yard-line]. If we do get back or run through on the 3rd-and-1 and we get tackled for a loss, I’m not going to trot [kicker John Parker Romo] out there, even though he was 4/4 [on field goals] on the day. I’m not going [send Romo] out there for a 55-plus-yard field goal, and possibly risk giving the Jaguars a short field.  [Because] that would have been the number one way to give them a path to winning that football game. I also don’t like punting the ball from the 37, 38-yard line.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN

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The coach then confirmed that Jefferson was the target on the play but pass rusher Travon Walker blew the play up, thanks to a missed chop block. Darnold followed his orders on the play. If the look wasn’t there, his job was to go down and take the sack

“…[W]e did have an opportunity on the play to throw [to] Justin freely running over the middle, but we didn’t get the execution to get that defensive end chopped down [that] would have allowed Sam to see it and throw it.”

“I told Sam before the snap, if [the coverage is] murky or if it’s cloudy at all, or we give up any kind of rush, I want you to just go down… We’ll have that much more room to try to pin [the Jaguars] inside the 10 [yard line], which we did not do in that moment either.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN

KOC, Minnesota Vikings offense won’t change

At the end of the day, O’Connell makes it clear that he is not going to change who he is as a coach and play-caller. If he has a chance to go for the throat, and put a team away, he is going to do it. Unlike other coaches in this town, KOC plays to win.

As an example the head coach referenced a recent game-sealing Darnold –> Josh Oliver touchdown completion that put the Indianapolis Colts away. That touchdown gave the Vikings an 11-point lead with two minutes left, essentially ending the Colts’ chances of a comeback.

“So [it’s a] level of execution to go along with the mindset of situationally managing that, knowing where we are in the field, knowing what it looks like with the Jaguars coming back right at you. And then potentially where the clock was at the time, what a significant gain for a first down would have meant for a standpoint of possibly ending the game. Kind of like what we did against Indy to finish that game after we had basically mowed it down the field for six, seven runs in a row, and then set up a way to put a stamp on that drive.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN

This was a fascinating look into O’Connell’s mind regarding playcalling. As fans, it’s easy to second-guess a decision just because a play doesn’t work out. Everyone who was quick to label O’Connell a genius for the Oliver touchdown pass against the Colts was quick to jump on the head coach for getting “too cute” on 3rd-and-1. Several factors went into that play call, not just “let’s see if we can gain one yard and get the first down.”

Related: Would a Super Bowl Victory Land Sam Darnold Back in MN?

His explanation on Darnold’s incompletion to Jefferson shows that, even with the copy of the All-22 film, we don’t always know a play’s intent. O’Connell suggested that Darnold, a seven-year veteran, diagnosed a defensive look wrong and tried forcing a play to the wrong side of the field. Had he seen the field as his coach did, Darnold could have extended a drive and ended the Jaguars’ hopes even sooner.

O’Connell preaches “process” and “preparation”. That he will not lose confidence in his guys or his game plan and play-calling abilities. So, we can expect the same aggressive nature during this 2024 stretch run. It may not always work out, but KO trusts his players to execute, and ultimately get the Minnesota Vikings where we all want them to go.

“I don’t, unfortunately, always know how the execution is going to play out. I just know my confidence level in our guys to execute [will be] sky-high because of the preparation we’ve put in. And that’s all I have in those moments. And I’m going to continue to operate with that level of confidence in our guys to go make those plays when they’re required.”

Kevin O’Connell on KFAN
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