On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings sent C.J. Ham into the end zone and Harrison Smith off with a tribute on the big board. It was the best they could do for two long-time players in what became a lost season.
“C.J. got into the end zone. Wanted to see if we could get a pick or two for 22,” Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “But at the moment where we pulled [Smith] out, a special credit to our fans for making that feel like the moment it should have.”
Even a 16-3 win over the Green Bay Packers does little to alleviate the pain of a season in which the Vikings went 9-8 and missed the playoffs. The Packers started third-stringer Clayton Tune and removed most of their starters, hoping to give themselves the best opportunity to win in the playoffs next week.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are left to wonder what would have happened if they had covered the final kickoff in their Week 11 Chicago Bears game correctly. Minnesota would be 10-7; Green Bay 9-7-1. The Bears would enter their primetime matchup in the 3:30 p.m. slot with a 10-6 record and have to beat the Detroit Lions to maintain playoff seeding.
Instead, Minnesota’s season has ended, and Smith and Ham’s careers may end without a playoff run.
It’s not just the missed opportunity in the Bears game, though. The Vikings are left to wonder what would have happened if McCarthy had followed up his fourth-quarter heroics in Chicago with a better performance against the Atlanta Falcons at home. What if Carson Wentz had finished off the comeback drive in Dublin? What happens if O’Connell calls for a run on third-and-one against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 10?
Such is life in the NFL, where one decision creates a butterfly effect for the entire season.
“I think we all learned that everything, every little play, will matter,” said O’Connell.
“There’s 1,000 things that go into an NFL team winning a game,” he added, “and those things get even [more] magnified over the course of 17 [games]. And then you find yourself looking from the outside in, in January.”
If it sounds familiar, it’s because this season ended much like 2021.
Remember Minnesota’s 2021 season? The Vikings finished 8-9 after losing eight one-score games. The entered Week 17 with a 7-9 record and should have lost to the Bears to secure better draft positioning. Instead, Mike Zimmer pushed to win and didn’t prioritize Justin Jefferson breaking Randy Moss’ all-time receiving record in a meaningless game.
“I don’t care about records,” Zimmer declared after the game. “I care about wins.”
The 2021 Vikings were left to wonder what would have happened if Dalvin Cook hadn’t fumbled in overtime against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. What if Greg Joseph hadn’t missed a gimme after a back-and-forth in Arizona a week later? Remember Cameron Dantzler playing too far back in the end zone in Detroit?
I know I’ve posted this video a couple times, but I know only some of you understand the importance. Dan Campbell came into Detroit and this team was 0-10-1 and got their first win on this play. Last year was 9-8 and this year 12-5 and heading to the divisional round
pic.twitter.com/EsPtwUPOWR
— Grace (@gracesportakes) January 15, 2024
There were a thousand of those moments. Ultimately, the Vikings never put teams away and didn’t deliver in the clutch. In the offseason, they replaced Zimmer with O’Connell, an offensive whiz with a history of delivering in the biggest moments.
O’Connell’s offense was supposed to create margins in otherwise tight games. He was also coming off a Super Bowl win as the Los Angeles Rams’ coordinator. O’Connell also had a history of winning close games as a player, dating back to his college days.
Still, here we are five years later, in a similar place. Minnesota lost winnable close games this year. The quarterback situation was more stable under Kirk Cousins in 2021, but he didn’t present much upside. Brian Flores’ defense is stout like Zimmer’s, but his contract is up at the end of the year.
Ultimately, the significant difference is that Kevin O’Connell ensured Justin Jefferson would finish the season with 1,000 receiving yards and 100 in his final game. In doing so, Jefferson joins Randy Moss and Mike Evans as the only receivers to have 1,000 yards in each of their first six seasons.
“He should never play a season for the Minnesota Vikings,” declared O’Connell, “and not get to those numbers.”
That’s the fundamental difference between Zimmer and O’Connell. Zimmer felt the Vikings would win so long as they had a stout defense. O’Connell knows all pathways to the Super Bowl pass through Jefferson.
To avoid another fruitless year, the Vikings must ensure whoever is under center can unlock him. They can’t endure the pain of another lost season.