Kevin O’Connell, the current head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, faces his former boss, Sean McVay and his Los Angeles Rams in this NFC week eight clash.
Embed from Getty ImagesO’Connell served as McVay’s Offensive co-ordinator for two seasons, and won Superbowl LVI, when they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. At the end of those two years the Rams were 25-11 and reached the post-season in both years. Since O’Connell left, the Rams have a record of 15-19 since 2022.
Embed from Getty ImagesO’Connell became the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2022, and has this Vikings team purring, sitting at 5-1, after their 31-29 loss to the Detroit Lions, which dropped them down to the fifth seed in the NFC.
The Vikings are averaging 28 points per game (ppg), with an average of 18 points allowed. This season, QB Sam Darnold is playing his way into the MVP talk, with an impressive overall passer rating of 104.0.
He has thrown for 1370 yards on 109 completions (154 attempts). He has 12 touchdowns and only five interceptions this season.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Los Angeles Rams, on the other hand, have struggled since O’Connell left. They are currently at 2-4 and sit 13th in the Conference. They are averaging 19 ppg and 26 points allowed this season.
The 16 year veteran QB Matthew Stafford has has thrown for 1392 yards on 132 completions (198 attempts), with only three touchdowns and four interceptions. His overall passer rating is 83.6, slightly lower than his career passer rating of 90.8.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis game should be an easy return to winning ways for the Vikings. However, going into SoFi Stadium is always a tough environment (Rams are 27-12 playing at home since moving to SoFi in 2020), so this should be a close game, but the Vikings win by at least a touchdown (prediction 27-15 to the Vikings).
