Kevin O'Connell's fumbling message seems like warning to Alexander Mattison
Nine turnovers in three games has Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell setting a boundary and anyone who crosses it will be at risk of being benched. Or so he says.
The boundary? Anyone who fumbles the football will cross O'Connell's red line.
"That's something we're going to fix one way or another. Either guys are going to do it or we're going to have to put other guys in the game that have ball security," O'Connell said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Vikings first and last drives ended in turnovers and the Chargers dropped the Vikings to 0-3.
Put other guys in the game? Who is he really talking about here? The Vikings have turned the ball over nine times. How many of these guys responsible for turnovers is O'Connell seriously threatening to take out of the game?
- Ed Ingram knocks ball out of Cousins' hands against Bucs
- Cousins strip-sacked by Antoine Winfield Jr. against Bucs
- Cousins intercepted at the goal line against Bucs
- Brandon Powell fumbles on punt return against Eagles
- Mattison fumbles immediately after Jalen Hurts interception
- Cousins strip-sacked by Josh Sweat against Eagles
- Jefferson fumbles at goal line against Eagles
- Hockenson fumbles against Chargers
- Cousins intercepted in the end zone by.Chargers
Ed Ingram inadvertently caused the first turnover. His job is clearly in jeopardy for reasons other than that and it won't be a shock if Dalton Risner is the starting right guard this week against Carolina.
Cousins has accounted for two lost fumbles and two interceptions. The interception that ended the game against the Chargers was more bad luck than a bad pass, and the two times he was strip sacked was more about poor protection than shoddy ball security. The Vikings aren't benching Kirk, that's for sure.
Bench Jefferson? Uh, no. Sit your punt returner over his fumble? Not after one mistake. Bench Hockenson? Good luck with that.
That brings us to Mattison. His lone lost fumble was against the Eagles, and as mentioned before it came immediately after the Vikings intercepted Jalen Hurts. But he had another fumble deep in Philly territory that was overturned by an Eagles defender lining up offsides.
Sep 14, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison (2) fumbles the ball after being hit by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nicholas Morrow (41) and cornerback Mario Goodrich (31) at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
He got lucky in that instance, just as he did against the Chargers when he fumbled deep in enemy territory only to be saved by the refs ruling his progress stopped. But again, he got bailed out by a quick whistle.
"I thought there was some other times where forward progress and things," O'Connell said, "but we need to end every snap with the football in our hands. And that's going to be continued urgency and emphasis like it was last week and we're going to continue to do it and do it differently and emphasize it different ways until that value is received. Because that is a losing formula, as we've seen being where we're at in the turnover differential now."
So was O'Connell's firm words a warning to Mattison? It seems to line up, especially since Minnesota traded for running back Cam Akers last week. Akers was inactive against the Chargers, but he'll likely suit up this Sunday at Carolina.
