The beginning of the Kevin O’Connell era not only brought a 23-7 win in his coaching debut, but his scheme is already paying massive dividends.
The key to his scheme is “the illusion of complexity” as he tries to maximize matchups for his star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Last year, he was able to get Cooper Kupp some very favorable matchups leading to his record-breaking season.
In the Vikings win, we saw O’Connell find Jefferson those same matchups, including this one on the first drive of the third quarter where he was lined up across from edge rusher Preston Smith.
Jefferson matched up on #91 pic.twitter.com/i4tLCbswuM
— SyedSchemes (@syedschemes) September 11, 2022
On this play, it was an easy pitch-and-catch gaining five yards on a speed out. With O’Connell’s creativity, this should the expectation moving forward.