KOC Failing To Test Kamal Hadden Revealed A Dark Truth For the Vikings

After some friendly fire in the second quarter between Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, Nixon exited the game with a stinger and didn’t return.

The Packers already ruled Nate Hobbs out before Sunday’s affair. So, when Nixon got hurt, it left the Packers with three cornerbacks, two of whom had never played a regular-season snap in the NFL at the position.

Green Bay went with Kamal Hadden, and Minnesota paid it no attention. It showed Kevin O’Connell‘s lack of trust in quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

How many times have you seen a cornerback go down in college football or the NFL, and the offense immediately target the reserve coming in? Not only did the Packers have to go to the bench when Nixon left Sunday’s game against Minnesota, but they also turned the keys over to a player in his second year in the league with a completely blank résumé at cornerback.

Nixon exited on the first play of Minnesota’s drive at the end of the first quarter. When Green Bay summoned Hadden, the Vikings’ drive lasted nine more plays. Eight of those were runs, and the only pass was to tight end Josh Oliver.

O’Connell didn’t just pump the brakes on targeting Kamal Hadden in that first sequence; he put a halt to the entire passing game. The end result of that drive? A turnover on downs.

Still, there was plenty of time left — nearly three quarters — for O’Connell and McCarthy to figure out ways to test Hadden. It never happened.

McCarthy finished the game 12 for 19 for 87 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur treated the second half of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter as if Green Bay was super simming in Madden. That was because McCarthy and the passing game never posed as a threat.

LaFleur was more than complimentary of Hadden’s performance afterwards.

Kamal has made as much progress as any player that we’ve had here. Just to see where he’s come from to where he is now. And I think it’s totally reflective in terms of how he’s approached coming in the building on a daily basis. He practices the right way. He approaches it the right way. I’m really proud of him.

The entire secondary held things on lockdown, but it was harder to gauge their performance given O’Connell’s apparent total lack of confidence in his quarterback. Even with arguably the best wide receiver in the game in Justin Jefferson and a hell of a No. 2 in Jordan Addison, the Vikings opted to tuck their tail between their legs and take their lickings from Green Bay’s defense. Once the Packers went up 17-6 early in the third quarter, it felt like too tall a hill to climb for McCarthy and Co.

To Hadden’s credit, when the Vikings opted to throw it later in the second half, he didn’t have a single blunder that provided a sliver of hope for Minnesota’s aerial attack.

For a cornerback coming into a game and taking his first reps at the position in regular-season action, barely having your name muttered on the broadcast is a good thing. If corners or offensive linemen are routinely being highlighted in a broadcast, it’s usually because they’re the leak on defense through which the opposing offense is flowing. Hadden got a mention when he came in for Nixon instead of Bo Melton; after that, not much else was said about him. But the silence speaks volumes.

Green Bay sacked McCarthy five times, hit him 10 times, and he threw two interceptions. Aside from the deficit late in the game, nothing really warranted O’Connell cutting the quarterback loose. It turned out to be the perfect situation for Hadden, who got his feet wet without fear of drowning. Hopefully, he settled in, because he could be right back on the field starting Thursday in Detroit if Nixon and/or Hobbs aren’t back.

For this invaluable early experience, Kamal Hadden can thank Kevin O’Connell’s lack of trust in J.J. McCarthy at the moment.