Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has been criticized nationally since Pittsburgh dropped a fifth straight game to close its season with a wild card-round loss to rival Baltimore on Saturday.
It was same old, same old for the Steelers, who have been in the playoffs in four of the past five seasons but fallen in the first round on each occasion. The argument against Tomlin is that the Steelers have gotten stagnant. The counter is that Pittsburgh’s roster simply isn’t very good, and Tomlin is squeezing out every ounce of its potential.
The latter is currently occurring in Minnesota. Monday’s 27-9 drubbing at the hands of the Rams in Arizona ended another remarkable Vikings’ season with a thud.
The Vikings won 13 games in Kevin O’Connell’s rookie season in 2022, then won 14 this season and were in a bout for the top seed in the NFC playoffs just a week ago. Yet in each postseason, the Vikings were uninspiring in first-round losses, falling to a middling Giants squad two years ago and getting beaten convincingly Monday by a Rams team that actually looks capable of Super Bowl run.
Los Angeles has an elite quarterback in Matt Stafford — you know, the guy O’Connell won a Super Bowl with when he was the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2021. It also has dominant playmakers and a young, tenacious defense. The Rams are the only team in the past three months to beat Buffalo’s starting unit.
Minnesota’s best victories were against Houston and Green Bay — good, not great teams.
That’s about the class Minnesota is in at the moment. And that’s no knock on O’Connell. Football boss Kwesi Adofo-Mensah targeted a “competitive rebuild” when he took over three years ago and it’s exactly what the head coach has delivered. Minnesota has won a lot of games while turning over its roster, largely on the back of schemes and vibes, both of which are a product of the coach.
O’Connell has created a culture and foundation upon which championships can be chased. It’s time to get serious about doing that.
Coaching and culture can only take you so far. Come playoff time, you need to have the guys to contend.
The question at quarterback already has been answered. Minnesota has produced high-efficiency offenses with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold, neither of whom is a Super Bowl-caliber signal caller. The gap between Darnold and Stafford is a canyon. There was no winning with the level quarterback play Minnesota received against the Lions and Rams.
That O’Connell cultivated a system and environment in which Darnold — who looked a lot like the guy he’s been for his entire career to date the last two games — could play near an MVP level all season should be celebrated.
Surely, the Vikings will soon shake Darnold’s hand and thank him for his service, and then we’ll find out if J.J. McCarthy can ascend to the elite level necessary to play into late January. Minnesota should surround him with a championship-caliber roster that gives both quarterback and coach the best possible chance to do so.
The rebuild should soon be entering its final stages, and the competitiveness should hit new heights.
The maximum amount of blood has been squeezed out of this rock. The Vikings were “fraudulent” in two of the past three seasons only in the sense that they played well above their means. Well, the means can now be increased.
The salary cap space now exists to address this team’s most pressing concerns. It’s time to solidify the plaster-like interior offensive line and add a true No. 1 corner in the secondary.
O’Connell has proven he can do more with less. Now it’s time for the Vikings to stop punching above their weight class and simply join the heavyweight division — before O’Connell enters Tomlin territory.
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