Myles Price set the Minnesota Vikings up at the Indianapolis Colts' 47-yard line following a 58-yard return on Sunday's opening kickoff. However, the Vikings' offense sputtered and couldn't move the sticks.
Minnesota ran four straight times and got stuffed on both 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1. That set the Colts up at the Vikings' 39-yard line, leading to a seven-play, 61-yard drive that set the tone for a frustrating day.
Fortunately, Minnesota ultimately won 16-10, but the offense only mustered 275 yards. The opening drive may not have actually called for four straight runs, but Kevin O'Connell said that the lack of success still falls on him.
"It might look like run-run-run-run to start the game, but we can't put it so much in the defense's hands
on ultimately what play we end up running when we have two plays called," O'Connell told reporters following the game. "That totally ends up being on me."
O'Connell explained that many of the offense's calls included "cans", where the quarterback can audible out of a primary play to another call depending on the defense. So while the drive may have ended in four runs, that doesn't mean O'Connell necessarily called for that.
Still, as the playcaller, O'Connell must either allow the "canned" calls or keep them static. Right now, with Minnesota's offense struggling to find consistent success, it may be worth determining whether or not allowing the extra autonomy at the line of scrimmage is optimal.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Vikings' Kevin O'Connell takes ownership of play-calling blunder
