'Each one tells their own stories' Kevin O'Connell talks about the Vikings' recent turnover woes
Turnovers are a major part of football and one of the elements that completely shape the course of a single game. When you turn the ball over regularly, it becomes increasingly difficult to win football games. This season, the Minnesota Vikings are 28th in turnovers but first in the National Football League in takeaways for […]
Turnovers are a major part of football and one of the elements that completely shape the course of a single game. When you turn the ball over regularly, it becomes increasingly difficult to win football games.
This season, the Minnesota Vikings are 28th in turnovers but first in the National Football League in takeaways for a turnover margin of +4. It's always a good thing to be positive in the turnover department but the increasing amount of turnovers is becoming a legitimate concern.
Kevin O'Connell talks about the Vikings turnovers
It's not always as simple as being smart with the football. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still have a turnover be forced. O'Connell spoke about the turnovers recently and explains that each one tells its own story.
"I think each one kinda tells their own stories and when you look at first drive against Indy, kind of a forced playoff schedule on a third down in the red zone, we had a tipped ball trying to get Justin [Jefferson] a slant. There was quite a bit of contact there and kinda tight play in the NFL. Ball gets tipped up and eventually intercepted. But in regards to the red zone turnovers, with the type of movement we’re getting on the ball, I think we’ve had 815-plus yards over the two games, time of possession’s been heavily in our favor. We’re doing a lot of little things that normally lead to having good chances to win, but clearly the turnovers are keeping these games very close and relying on other aspects of our team to overcome for that. We need to score points. We need to finish these drives. Finishing drives with points is a winning statistic. You’d love to score touchdowns single every time, but what you can’t have is turnovers in the opposing team’s end where you’re limiting your opportunity to add three, seven, three, seven. Those things add up with the way our defense has played the last couple weeks, so we’ve got to do a better job collectively as a group – myself, our staff, and then our players and clearly Sam [Darnold] – from a decision-making standpoint. Just trust what’s gotten him here, which is throwing the ball at a really high level, making really good decisions, using his athleticism when he needs to. But the layer of just managing the game from a standpoint of play call intent, value received on this decision I’m about to make, and the impact it’s going to have on our team. Especially on some of those weighty downs where there are a direct impact on what your scoreline looks like at the end of the day. So, it’s a critical point. It’s going to be a big part of what it’s going to take to win this game versus this team because tough teams like this, you don’t want to give them too many opportunities and take away your scoring."
With each individual turnover, there is a lesson to learn. Whether it's not throwing the ball on a certain route concept or being extra careful when holding onto the football, those lessons can be impactful in helping you win football games down the line.
So far this season, the Vikings have done a good job of not letting turnovers be a major factor in their losses. However, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot and win in spite of it, which is something that is concerning during the stretch run.
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