Vikings LB Blake Cashman’s latest accolade is another feather in the cap of HC Kevin O’Connell, further proving he’s one of the best head coaches in the NFL
Each week, the cries for Minnesota Vikigns head coach Kevin O’Connell get louder and louder, even with evidence building against the contrary.
At a certain point, you have to just admit that you are wrong about Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Oh, I’m not talking about myself, but rather the swaths of fans who continue to call for his firing, despite starting the season 6-0 and having players continue to win NFC Player of the Week awards. In fact, inside linebacker Blake Cashman became the latest Vikings player to win the award for his performance in a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. He tallied 12 tackles, 2.0 sacks, and four passes defended in a monstrous day.
“[Blake Cashman] The NFC Defensive Player of the Week. As far as we’re concerned, we got a nice little streak going,” said O’Connell during Wednesday’s press conference. “Like I said, it was unfortunate during the bye week we weren’t able to win it, but super. I mean, I don’t know if there’s much more I can say about Cash. Glad he’s getting the recognition that his play is warranting because he’s playing great, great football, leading our defense. Green dot is such a huge part of our defense’s success here early on in the football game.”
Kevin O’Connell is the furthest coach from being fired
When you have five players winning a Player of the Week award in the first six games, incluidng a streak of five games in a row, something is going right. And no, it’s not because O’Connell doesn’t coach the defense or special teams; he’s in charge of everyone. He hired the assistants and had a say in player acquisition over his five years in the job.
Plus, he has set the team up for a laundry list of successes, even if some of them haven’t necessarily been due to his offense being elite. The team is 49-25 under his leadership, and they are currently riding an 11-game winning streak, with a five-game winning streak in each of his first five seasons of being a head coach.
At a certain point, the discussion about O’Connell being fired or replaced by Brian Flores needs to stop. Not only has ownership shown the type of commitment to O’Connell that deserves, but he’s produced at a high level. Sure, he is 0-2 in the playoffs and his offense is struggling this season, but those are likely to change. If it doesn’t over the next couple of seasons, we can reopen the discussion in terms of Tony Dungy or Marty Schottenheimer.
Until then, O’Connell is here to stay, and that shouldn’t even be a talking point.
Here is the full list of 23 players to earn Player of the Week honors under O’Connell:
- 2022: K Greg Joseph, Week 4 (Special Teams)
- 2022: P Ryan Wright, Week 6 (Special Teams)
- 2022: EDGE Za’Darius Smith, Week 8 (Defensive)
- 2022: WR Justin Jefferson, Week 10 (Offensive)
- 2022: RB Kene Nwangwu, Week 12 (Special Teams)
- 2022: QB Kirk Cousins, Week 15 (Offense)
- 2022: K Greg Joseph, Week 16 (Special Teams)
- 2023: ILB Jordan Hicks, Week 6 (Defensive)
- 2023: S Cam Bynum, Week 7 (Defensive)
- 2023: QB Josh Dobbs, Week 9 (Offensive)
- 2023: ILB Ivan Pace Jr., Week 14 (Defensive)
- 2024: EDGE Jonathan Greenard, Week 3 (Defensive)
- 2024: QB Sam Darnold, Week 14 (Offensive)
- 2024: EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel, Week 16 (Defensive)
- 2025: QB J.J. McCarthy, Week 1 (Offensive)
- 2025: CB Isaiah Rodgers, Week 3 (Defensive)
- 2025: DT Levi Drake Rodriguez, Week 9 (Special Teams)
- 2025: S Harrison Smith, Week 17 (Defensive)
- 2026: CB Isaiah Rodgers, Week 2 (Special Teams)
- 2026: WR Myles Price, Week 3 (Special Teams)
- 2026: K Will Reichard, Week 4 (Special Teams)
- 2026: CB Byron Murphy Jr., Week 5 (Defense)
- 2026: ILB Blake Cashman, Week 7 (Defense)
