Pat McAfee praises Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell: ‘He might be a damn mastermind’
The Minnesota Vikings’ domination of the Green Bay Packers in Sunday’s 23-7 Week 1 win caught the eye of many, including former Pro Bowl punter Pat McAfee.
On a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee, a known buddy of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, admitted that he was a believer in Minnesota’s new head coach.
“Kevin O’Connell might be a damn mastermind for the Vikings,” McAfee stated. “If you look back to the L.A. Rams on Thursday night, what’d they look? They looked bad. I mean, Kevin O’Connell goes to the Vikings and guess what they look like? Really good. It was awesome to watch. It was a [expletive] show. Justin Jefferson is this year’s Cooper Kupp.
“…We should have a little bit more respect into these microphones for the Minnesota Vikings, and I think everybody around the NFL is going to have a lot more respect for the Vikings because of what they did [on Sunday].”
With O’Connell as offensive coordinator, Los Angeles had the No. 11 overall offense in 2020 (377 yards per game) and No. 9 offense last year (372.1 yards per game). In the Ram’s first game under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, they had just 243 yards of total offense — only the Chicago Bears had fewer total yards in their season opener.
Conversely, Minnesota had the eighth-most total yards in Week 1 (395), and receiver Justin Jefferson caught nine balls for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings ranked 12th in total offense (362.8 yards per game) in 2021.
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