Pat McAfee praises Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell: ‘He might be a damn mastermind’

“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.