There are a lot of different ways to win a football game in the NFL, and there isn’t another team that knows them better than the Minnesota Vikings.

During head coach Kevin O’Connell‘s tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, they have won games in a myriad of ways. From blowout wins to last-second field goals and everywhere in between, they have done a great job in finding ways to win, as O’Connell has a 36-18 record three weeks into his fourth season as the head coach.

Kevin O’Connell preaches winning the turnover battle

Winning the turnover battle is crucial for the Vikings, and O’Connell highlighted that during Friday’s press conference.

“I think it’s going to be the number one thing for many of the games we play, if not all [of them],” said O’Connell about winning the turnover battle. “But it is a statistic that’s really been a winning stat for us since I’ve been the head coach here, just purely breaking even or possibly doing better. The turnover battle normally gives us a pretty good chance to do the things required to win.”

It makes sense. Of O’Connell’s 36 wins, 26 of them have come when the Vikings have won the turnover battle with just three losses. They didn’t have their first loss in a game where they won the turnover battle until Week 8 of the 2024 season, when they lost to the Los Angeles Rams 30-20.

“When I think about a team that can change the game on one play in different phases than just throwing touchdowns and running touchdowns, you’ve got to play a clean football game,” O’Connell continued. “And that all goes back to your preparation, not only this week, but how you build your team. Because Coach [Mike] Tomlin is going to have his team ready to go, and they’re going to play a style of football that you know they’re going to capitalize on your mistakes, and that will fuel them to have the type of day they want to have. We can’t let that happen.”

Winning the turnover battle is easier said than done for the Vikings. It helps when they have one of the best defenses in football. Brian Flores‘ unit led the league in takeaways with 33 last season. This season, the Vikings are third in the NFL with seven turnovers forced.

Where things will get interesting on Sunday morning is with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have one of the two defenses with more takeaways with eight, including five this past Sunday against the New England Patriots.

It will be a challenge to win the turnover battle against the Steelers, but it could be the key to getting the win.