With Kyler Murray back, will Vikings open up passing attack?

EAGAN, Minn. -- Inside the visitors locker room Sunday at Soldier Field, Minnesota Vikings players peeled off layers of rain-soaked uniforms and equipment. Coach Kevin O'Connell soon launched into a postgame speech that precisely depicted his mindset, excitement -- and maybe even a bit of distress after a 9-3 victory over the Chicago Bears.

O'Connell praised players for "trying to figure out a way to find a way."

Later, he roared: "The only thing that matters is winning!"

That line represented the culmination of a very public reckoning O'Connell has put himself through while heading into his fifth season in Minnesota. The Vikings (2-0) have won seven consecutive games, dating back to last season, in ways that are almost unrecognizable from the pass-happy teams he first fielded upon arrival in 2022. But as quarterback Kyler Murray returns to the field, and with a hot but otherwise clear weather forecast Sunday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4:05 p.m. ET, Fox), O'Connell has far from given up on the passing game he craves. 

"I'm still a believer in explosives," he said Monday. "I'm still a believer in taking some yards when they present themselves and doing it at a level where we pitch and catch at a level that I know our guys are capable of."

From 2022 to 2024, the Vikings put up the NFL's third-most passing yards (12,886) with the league's fifth-lowest rate of designed running plays (35.3%). They built their offense around receiver Justin Jefferson, who averaged a league-best 100.4 receiving yards per game over that period. Since that point, however, the Vikings rank No. 31 in passing yards (3,093) and have the league's fifth-fewest number of offensive plays -- rushing or passing -- that have gone for 10 yards or more (197). They've had fewer than 200 passing yards in 16 of their past 21 games.

Fortunately for them, that stretch has coincided with a defense and special teams that have been among the NFL's best, ranking No. 3 and 7 in expected points added (EPA), respectively. 

During their unbeaten start this season, with Murray playing only 11 snaps because of a concussion and leading rusher Jordan Mason going on injured reserve with a thumb injury after one week, the Vikings have managed a league-low 13 plays of 10 or more yards. O'Connell has protected the offense, particularly last week in Chicago, by leaning on the run game more than all but one other NFL playcaller. His rate of designed runs (50%) is higher than every team but the Seattle Seahawks, who also lost their starting quarterback (Sam Darnold) early in Week 1. Relatedly, the Vikings are tied with the Seahawks and Cincinnati Bengals for the NFL's fewest turnovers this season (one). 

"You've got to learn some things on how you approach trying to win one game every Sunday," O'Connell said this summer. "And they're all different. Every weekend is a challenge schematically, personnel-wise, where your team's at from a health standpoint, where your team's at with certain positions. Ultimately, all we're tasked with doing is trying to win a game for 60 minutes every week.

"It sounds like a cliché until you learn [that] it doesn't matter what the stat box looks like. It doesn't matter what an EPA looks like. ... Ultimately, you learn that none of those other things matter because winning is the only thing that matters. That's what we were able to learn as a team. But most importantly, probably [for] me last year, figuring out different ways to win, however we had to, each week. The principles don't change."

On a nicer day in Chicago, even with backup Carson Wentz behind center, the Vikings likely would have tried to exploit a Bears defense that had given up 387 passing yards in its previous game to the Carolina Panthers. Instead, after two games, Jefferson now ranks No. 20 in the NFL in receiving yards per game (73.5). Fellow starter Jordan Addison has a total of two receptions on seven targets, and no other wide receiver has caught a pass. 

"Of course I would love to have 150 [yards], three touchdowns and just the fantasy stat line," Jefferson said in Chicago. "I definitely would love that. But with these conditions, with this type of game, it wasn't that type of day, which is totally fine. As long as us coming off the ball, executing our plays and just being a factor in the win, that's all that matters.

"So just coming in here, difficult environment with the weather conditions, a lot of adversity in our way. It doesn't matter. We're just not going to really think about it. Just come in there and just lean on each other to get the done."

O'Connell referenced that quote Monday, noting Jefferson has "enough experience now to see the big picture." But he also made clear that he connects the Vikings' offensive numbers this season to the unique circumstances of losing Murray in Week 1 and the weather in Week 2, and not a more fundamental issue of poor play.

He jokingly lamented losing some yards when officials flagged the Bears for a 5-yard defensive holding foul rather than defensive pass interference -- a spot foul -- on a play that Jefferson otherwise would have likely caught for a 68-yard touchdown. O'Connell also praised Addison for his blocking and said: "His time's coming as far as registering the things he's capable of in the stat column."

The same is true, the Vikings clearly hope, for the entire group.

"We know that offensively we're going to continue to grow," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said, "and we're going to make plays. And there's going to be some times when those other phases are going to have to lean on us. We're well aware of that and we're working hard every day to make sure that we're going to be the ones that step up when we're needed."