Dan Campbell raves about the job Kevin O'Connell is doing in Minnesota

O'Connell and Campbell square off Sunday for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Dec 24, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell shake hands after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium. With the win the Detroit Lions clinched the NFC North. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Dan Campbell's Lions have gotten the better of Kevin O'Connell's Vikings in the last four meetings between the NFC North powers. It's the longest Lions win streak in the series since rattling off five consecutive wins between Nov. 1961 and Oct. 1963, the first five games ever played between the two teams. As he prepares his side to host the Vikings in the biggest game of the 2024 NFL regular season, Campbell understands the difficulty of the task at hand.

“Yeah, listen, he’s an excellent coach," Campbell said of O'Connell at his Wednesday press conference. "I mean, you look at what he’s done, now, going on three years, their offensive scheme is, they do a great job, man. Very creative and they understand how to find weaknesses and pick at them, get the most out of their players, put their players in position to have success."

Lions HC Dan Campbell speaks on Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings 👀

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Despite Vegas projecting a 6.5-win total for the Vikings coming into the season, O'Connell has masterminded a 14-2 season with a chance to claim the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The third-year Vikings head coach has gotten a career year out of journeyman QB Sam Darnold, who has used the full compliment of his offensive weapons.

"When you have a player like [Justin Jefferson], it’s, ‘Well, you’ve got Jefferson.’ But it’s not always that easy because everybody’s trying to, you’re trying to double him, you’re trying to do your best to take him away, and for them, he’s your best player, so you still have to find ways to get him involved and get him in the game so that he helps you, and they do a really good job of that. They move him around, Jefferson’s smart as well as everything else, he can handle all that," Campbell said. "And so, that’s just a couple things they do. I like what they do in the run game as well."

O'Connell has bounced back from a 7-10 season in 2023 when he was forced to rotate quarterbacks after Kirk Cousins' season-ending Achilles injury. For his efforts in turning around the Vikings this season, O'Connell is currently the favorite to be named Coach of the Year. Campbell is the second favorite heading into Sunday's showdown.

"You can’t argue with the production of this team, what they’ve done. Had some tough games last year, they had some injuries and they were able to battle through it and finish with a positive, on a positive note just for the season itself, and to get through that and come back battling this year... and he’s made the most out of that personnel. Man, they’ve got really good personnel and they’re playing at a high level," said Campbell.