Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell reveals what needs to be significantly upgraded in 2025

The Minnesota Vikings lost in the Wild Card round, 27-9 to the Los Angeles Rams and head coach Kevin O’Connell he was not satisfied. While competing against his former head coach, Sean McVay, there were more problems. One of them was the amount of sacks.

for example, Kevin O’Connell sounded off on a historic nine-sack game. However, a 14-3 season came to an abrupt end by the NFC West champions. After the loss, the Vikings head coach explained it the team’s greatest need is an upgrade on the offensive line.

Interestingly, Sam Darnold was on the wrong side of history. The The Vikings quarterback had a playoff feat that hadn’t been seen in 25 years. Darnold was sacked six times by the Rams in the first half. However, the loss is a reflection of their two defeats this season. The two losses to the Detroit Lions and the Rams had a similar game plan.

Both teams made a point to increase the pressure. Detroit and Los Angeles have explosive defensive fronts that made it a point to fire Darnold. The last two weeks have shown that the offensive line needs an upgrade. Despite the injuries, Minnesota will need to make some moves before the season begins.

Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings says they need a better offensive line

Before Monday’s game, there were some obvious concerns about the front line. Vikings 54.3% pressure rate against the blitz seemed a little worrisome. Those numbers are sure to increase after the 27-9 loss. However, Darnold also held the ball for just under three seconds (2.93 to be exact). That’s the longest of any quarterback in the league.

It’s not a winning combination, to say the least. Furthermore, the Vikings lost Christian Dariso to injury. The left tackle was looking to have a Pro Bowl season before getting hurt. He was a star on that offensive line. Still, teams find a way to adjust and Minnesota did just that after his injury.

Regardless, Monday’s loss serves as a wake-up call for what the team needs. This is O’Connell’s second season in which he won 13+ games and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Considering they lost Kirk Cousins ​​and had Darnold in year one, that could be considered a success.

However, it is not O’Connell’s standard, nor is it the franchise standard. They’ll have time to prepare for the NFL draft, as well as splash out a bit in free agency if they have the right amount of cap space.