One Major Award Trending in Vikings’ Favor

One Major Award Trending in Vikings’ Favor

The day prior, the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers lost their respective matchups, which incidentally swung the NFL’s Coach of the Year race in Kevin O’Connell’s favor.

+250
Sean Payton = +350
Dan Quinn = +550
Mike Tomlin = +1200

So, what happened? Well, the Vikings have won seven straight games. The franchise unexpectedly started the season a with 5-0 record, a mark tallied against gangbusters opponents — at least at the time — that included dubs over the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, and on the road at the Green Bay Packers.

Minnesota “controls its own destiny” henceforth. If it wins the next three games versus the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions, O’Connell’s group will hold homefield advantage throughout the postseason, which it has not featured in 26 years.

Florio wrote after the Vikings’ Week 15 win. “Since Bud Grant retired after the 1985 season (he came back for a year after his first retirement resulted in a 3-13 Les Steckel debacle), the Vikings have been looking for another Bud Grant.”

He added, “In O’Connell, they have him.”

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. 

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.