The Minnesota Vikings have opened the 2026 season 3-0, but the wins have come with plenty of rough edges. The defense and special teams have done most of the heavy lifting, while the offense has sputtered, shuffled quarterbacks, and done just enough to stay unbeaten.
That kind of start can stir up uncomfortable memories in Minnesota. The 2016 team raced to 5-0 before the wheels came off, finishing 3-8 the rest of the way and spending January at home. This group, though, may have one thing that old team didn’t: Kevin O’Connell, who has shown he knows how to keep momentum from slipping away.
O’Connell’s strength has always been the feel of the room. When the energy turns sour, whether it’s J.J.
McCarthy’s failed development or Kirk Cousins’ torn Achilles in 2023, he has struggled to steady things. But when the vibes are right, he has a way of carrying the Vikings into better stretches.
That was clear in 2022, when the Vikings moved into a new era under O’Connell and responded with eight fourth-quarter comebacks on the way to a 13-4 record and a division title. It happened again in 2024, when Vegas pegged the team for 6.5 wins after Cousins left for Atlanta, only for Minnesota to storm out to 5-0 and eventually reach 14-2 before collapsing in the final two games. Even last season, with the Vikings sitting at 4-8 and seemingly finished, O’Connell managed to get the locker room to buy into making their high school selves proud, and that fueled a five-game winning streak to close a lost year.
The current run has followed that same pattern. Minnesota beat the Green Bay Packers with a comeback in Week 1, survived a soggy Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, and then used a fast start to hold off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. It wasn’t clean, but it was enough to keep belief growing inside the building.
That’s a sharp contrast to what happened in 2016. Teddy Bridgewater went down with a freak leg injury in the practices before the opener, forcing the Vikings to trade for Sam Bradford.
Bradford had to learn the offense on the fly behind a shaky offensive line, and Adrian Peterson’s torn meniscus in the second game made things even messier. Minnesota leaned on defense and special teams just to stay afloat.
Mike Zimmer made sure everyone knew how he felt about the offense. He called his offensive line “soft” and slashed stuffed animals to place around the old team facility at Winter Park to remind them that “fat cats get slaughtered.”
There was some grey area in that incident that may or may not have been slathered in red paint, but the damage was done. The offensive line unraveled further when left tackle Matt Kalil was injured, Jake Long’s replacement stint lasted one game, and the secondary eventually went rogue in a Christmas Eve loss to the Packers. What began as a promising season ended in disappointment.
O’Connell now has a chance to steer this team away from that same fate. He can start by continuing to build Kyler Murray’s confidence after an uneven first full start against the Buccaneers. Justin Jefferson avoided a major injury after leaving Sunday’s game, and Jordan Mason is set to return from injured reserve in a Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The defense looks steadier than the 2016 group ever did, and Brian Flores appears to have the trust and respect of his players. Myles Price has also given the Vikings a boost as a punt and kick returner. All of that can help keep the wins coming even if the offense remains the side that isn’t driving the results.
For now, the Vikings are living in the kind of momentum O’Connell has learned to manage. If he keeps doing that, Minnesota has a real shot at avoiding a replay of 2016.
In Other News...
Kevin OConnell Faces Real Heat After Vikings QB Bust
The Vikings have already moved on from a costly quarterback swing, sending former 2024 No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy to the Giants for a 2027 fifth-round pick and putting an abrupt end to a pairing that never took hold in Minnesota. Head coach Kevin OConnell and general manager Nolan Teasley both acknowledged the disappointment of the decision, calling it a necessary fresh start as the team looks to steady an offense that has stumbled early this season.
What makes the move more than a simple roster reset is the pressure it puts on OConnell and the organizations quarterback plans going forward. The Vikings still have to answer whether the development process behind McCarthy went wrong, and how much of the responsibility lands on the coaching staff as the offense searches for traction. For a team built around offensive identity, the aftermath of this trade could linger well beyond the transaction itself. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams Injury Against Vikings Was Not What It Seemed
Caleb Williams exit against the Vikings looked like the kind of sudden, ugly injury that can change a game in an instant. He left in visible pain, and for Minnesota it was one more reminder of how quickly a matchup can tilt when a quarterback is forced to the sideline. The medical update, though, painted a more specific picture: a Grade 2 right hamstring strain tied to scar tissue breaking up from an earlier hamstring issue.
For the Vikings, the result was less about a catastrophic setback and more about a quarterback trying to work his way through a tricky recovery. Williams is expected to be week-to-week, which leaves his status unsettled but offers some relief that the injury is not expected to cause long-term damage. Still, the way it happened showed just how sharp the pain can be when a player is dealing with something that never fully went away. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Suddenly Face A Huge 2027 Quarterback Decision
The Vikings quarterback picture has changed quickly enough to create a new kind of offseason concern for the future. After trading J.J. McCarthy to the Giants, Minnesota now finds itself without a quarterback under contract beyond the 2026 season, a reminder that the teams long-term plan at the games most important position is suddenly wide open.
That reality pushes the conversation toward 2027 and the veteran market, where names like Justin Herbert, Mac Jones and Drew Lock can at least be discussed as possibilities depending on how their contract situations and team needs evolve. For now, it is only speculation, but it is the sort of quarterback uncertainty that can shape roster-building long before the calendar turns to the season itself. [Read more 🡒]