The Vikings finished 7-10 last season and missed the playoffs then lost their starting quarterback in the offseason. They used their top-10 draft pick to land a potential replacement QB, but lost J.J. McCarthy to a season-ending injury before the season began. Despite that adversity, the team has started the season 4-0, and head coach Kevin O’Connell has emerged as a frontrunner for the Coach Of The Year award.
O’Connell has the shortest odds of any coach to win the award but is still +200 to claim the honor. Mike Macdonald of the Seahawks and Dan Quinn of the Commanders have the next two shortest odds at +500 while Jim Harbaugh (+1200) and Mike Tomlin (+1600) have also helped their teams exceed expectations early in the year and round out the top five.
Macdonald and the Seahawks are the only other unbeaten team in that group, but they have yet to take on the Lions on Monday night of Week 4. O’Connell also has the advantage of taking his squad on the road to get a big divisional win in Week 4 against the Packers. The Seahawks have yet to play a divisional foe.
The Vikings are in a tougher division, but their improvement and the comeback storyline of QB Sam Darnold should continue to fuel O’Connell’s campaign. Darnold is actually +250 to win Comeback Player of the Year as well, the second-shortest odds behind only Aaron Rodgers.
The Vikings already have strong wins on their resume. They rolled over the lowly Giants in Week 1, but since then they have beaten the 49ers, Texans and Packers–all playoff teams from a year ago. They won all those games in impressive fashion, never trailing for a single second.
O’Connell’s success hasn’t just been on offense either. The Vikings’ defense has looked legitimate. Here’s what DK Network Gojo and Golic had to say:
O’Connell’s Vikings seem to be set up for continued success as well. They travel to London to face Darnold’s former team in the Jets who are 2-2 this week. They have a bye week before coming home to face the Lions and then three favorable matchups against the Rams, Colts and Jaguars. At the end of that run, they could easily be 9-0 or maybe 8-1. Even if they’re 7-2 at that point, they should be right in the mix for the top seed in the NFC.
If O’Connell can turn Darnold’s career around and take this team from out of the playoffs to one of the best records in the conference, he should remain on the inside track for Coach of the Year. Getting him at 2:1 is still a decent value, and he should continue to trend in the right direction given the upcoming schedule and how strong his team has looked.
This week, the Vikings are only 2.5-point favorites as they play the Jets, who didn’t even score a touchdown in their Week 4 loss to the Broncos. O’Connell’s Vikings are -550 to make the playoffs and currently -105 to win the NFC North. If you are ready to take an even longer shot on the Vikings, they are currently +1400 to win the Super Bowl.
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