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Call it a big night in The Big Easy.

That's the simplest way to sum up Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell winning Coach of the Year honors from The Associated Press and Ring of Honor defensive end Jared Allen being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

O'Connell and Allen were in New Orleans Thursday when the recognitions were announced during NFL Honors, which also featured an impressive on-stage performance by Camryn Bynum and Joshua Metellus and the TV return of Vikings Legend Randy Moss, who followed up current superstar Justin Jefferson managing his way around a mic stand and humorously handling the teleprompter going out. Jefferson made it through, though, in his home state to announce former LSU teammate Joe Burrow as Comeback Player of the Year (Sam Darnold was nominated but did not win).

It was quite a way to launch Super Bowl Weekend, and Sunday included more from Moss on ESPN Sunday morning.

The Eagles capped the weekend by surging to a 34-point lead and eventually prevailed 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX.

The 287^th NFL game (not counting preseason contests) of the 2024 season is in the books, and in two weeks from today, the NFL will convene in Indianapolis for the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.

Congratulations, Jared Allen, on your induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame! This is a well-deserved honor! The Vikings have had some great defensive ends over the years, including Jim Marshall, Carl Eller, Chris Doleman, Danielle Hunter and of course Jared Allen. Congratulations again!

— Rod from Vancouver, Canada

That's quite a list of Vikings who have left indelible marks on the rest of the league from their handiwork at defensive end. That's essentially dominance in every decade so far that has certainly developed and advanced the identity of the Vikings.

We're obviously looking forward to producing more content about Allen this year as he heads for enshrinement in August.

I'm still hold out hope for Marshall to join every other eligible player listed above in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but no Senior Candidates were voted into the Hall of Fame this year, after the selection process for Senior Candidates again changed.

Long-time 62-year-old Vikings fan. More of a hope and comment so here goes. I enjoyed watching a very good season, and Sam Darnold played very well at times and not so well at other times. I believe the Vikings "ball catchers" are all above average with each having a large catch radius, and I believe that was the main reason Darnold appeared much better than he is. I'm concerned that having to constantly adjust and make "spectacular" catches eventually leaves a body open for injuries. Accuracy at the NFL required level is very difficult to teach, and Darnold is just "a bit outside." So my hope is that we don't get greedy and tag Darnold in hope/belief that we can trade him for draft picks. I would think other teams see the flaws in Darnold and won't want to take him on for $40 million or whatever. If that happens, we lose free agent money that we need to shore up many roster losses and deficiencies to a guy sitting on the bench.

Go Vikes!

— R.J. in Texas

When the Vikings sign a new player in free agency, I usually start with the stats, even though they may not tell the full story.

The number I was most curious about was Darnold's career completion percentage of 59.7 and whether it could be improved.

Spoiler alert, it was, with Darnold completing 66.2 percent during a year of career highs. Sometimes it was teammates helping him out with an adjustment, and other times it was Darnold expertly putting the ball exactly where it needed to be.

That metric has multiple contributing factors.

Every team will have its on set of evaluations on potential free agents much beyond that basic assessment, and I'm sure because of the position and what Darnold achieved this year, he's being evaluated by a few teams.

The tag and keep option would return Darnold for one season at a rate that would be significant against the salary cap.

The tag and trade path might be a chance for Minnesota to increase its draft capital.

The set a price limit strategy would allow Darnold to entertain offers, and if he received one that is in excess of what the Vikings believe is best for the team, then Minnesota would move forward with building the roster another way — not dissimilar from the past year with Kirk Cousins.

K.O. was asked about Darnold during a call with Twin Cities media members on Thursday night.

"Look, you guys know how I feel about Sam," O'Connell said. "He is a guy that we identified last year as somebody who could come in and be successful. And really no matter where he was at before he arrived in his quarterback journey, it was about maximizing our time together. And I think we did that, and I think it was a very special year for Sam. And what that earned him is, everybody in our league now thinks he's a bona fide legitimate starting quarterback and can win a lot of football games. He won 14 of them [in 2024].

"So he's earned the right to be a free agent, but we will continue to have ongoing dialogue and discussions with him and his representation," O'Connell added.

For more on the topic, O'Connell joined SKOL Chant standout Jamie Erdahl and Good Morning Football last Friday and discussed the QB situation, as well as a few other topics.

This year we've had some kind of ref calling into the head referee during games. What's the name of the system called? Can you give a brief description of how it works and where can I find a complete description of it?

— Craig in Boston

The introduction of replay assist with "eye-in-the-sky" replay officials helping out on-field officials was introduced in 2021 to allow assistance in "specific, limited game situations."

This is from the NFL’s Football Operations Manual.

Replay officials and designated members of the NFL officiating department can advise on-field crews based on clear and obvious video evidence. The expansion of the replay assistance rule facilitates the administration of the game and limits stoppages on certain rulings.

Replay officials located in NFL stadium replay booths and designated members of the NFL officiating department in Art McNally GameDay Central at the league office in New York may provide on-field officials with objective information regarding on-field rulings and the correct application of playing rules.

Before, replay officials were only permitted to provide input on limited administrative issues and during replay reviews. Now, they can proactively assist in situations where clear and obvious video evidence is quickly available to assist the on-field officials on objective rulings.

Elements of the game where replay assistance could be implemented included the following.

The spotting of the ball or a foul, complete or incomplete pass, and touching of the ball or a line:

Penalty enforcement

Confirmation of the proper down

Spot of a foul

Game clock administration

Possession of a loose ball

Complete or incomplete pass

Loose ball touching a boundary line, goal line, or end line

Location of the football or a player in relation to a boundary line, line of scrimmage, line to gain, or goal line

Player down by contact (when not ruled down on the field)

For the 2024 season, the NFL Competition Committee expanded replay assist to include objective input on:

Roughing the passer

Late hits out of bounds

Intentional grounding

Unfortunately for the Vikings, face mask penalties were not part of what could be reviewed, but there's been some hints that penalty could be up for inclusion (rule changes usually are voted on during the Annual League Meeting, which will be at the end of March/start of April).

It seems like there have been times where the communication from replay assist is not always smoothly relayed to the people in the seats/watching from home. Ideally a better understanding of when it is being implemented and what is being determined through the process will follow.

My name is Mitch, Vikes No. 1 fan in the Caribbean.

My take with the Vikes is all about winning, when you should do everything possible in a competitive sport. Sometimes a QB does not match well against your competitor. In this case, the best option is to put in a different QB. This works with baseball and some other sports. Be the first to use double QB. The Saints use that approach at times.

This will keep the defense wondering what is going to be your next move. Pocket QB days are gone. Those edge rushers are too fast nowadays. SKOL, Purple Troopers.

— Mitch

I'd imagine there are many people in Minnesota who would like to visit you this time of year to swap some cold and snow for some sun and sand.

Defenses have gotten better and better at finding ways to disrupt the pocket, so having QBs who can play the game on the move, implement athleticism while remembering to take care of themselves at the end of runs and finding some off-script gains can really affect the outcomes of games.

The primary factor in any decision is trying to put the team in the best position to win.

Darnold made quite a few impactful plays on the move over the course of the season.

We'll see what the future has in store for the Vikings and other teams at the position as they try to offset advancements by the defense.

Change of pace question since I have faith in the direction the team is heading and looking forward to the 2025 season.

Have you heard anything about if the "Dynamic Kickoff" rule will be continued? I think most can agree it did not seem to be very dynamic. I saw a recent stat that the concussions were the same as the year before.

I hope the NFL will just go back to the old kickoff rules.

Thanks for the good job.

— Joseph Milner in Terre Haute, Indiana

I appreciate the opportunity to dive into recapping the first year of the dynamic kickoff rule.

I do think the rule will be back in some capacity, even if it is modified a little bit.

Super Bowl LVII (Philly and Kansas City) only featured one kickoff return, and Super Bowl LVIII (San Fran and K.C.) became the first to not have a single kickoff return, prompting the introduction of the "dynamic kickoff" for 2024.

Sunday's game included three returns by the Chiefs and six touchbacks on kickoffs by the Eagles. Philadelphia returned one of two traditional kickoffs and recovered two onside kick attempts.

The NFL Media Research Team, which does great work, sent out some stats at the conclusion of the regular season.

Excluding onside kicks, kickoff returns went from 22.1 percent (lowest in NFL history) in 2023 to 33.3 percent in 2024 (916 of the 2,753 dynamic kickoffs were returned). A total of 1,803 (65.5 percent) resulted in touchbacks, and 34 (1.2 percent) landed out of bounds or short of the landing zone, resulting in a penalty.

A total of seven (including one on an onside kick) were returned for touchdowns. Dallas housed two, and Arizona, Cincinnati, New York (Giants and Jets) and Seattle each returned one.

League-wide, the average starting field position for teams after receiving a kickoff (excluding onside kicks) increased by over 4 yards from 2023 to 2024, with points per drive (1.78 to 2.02) and scoring rates on drives (33.2 percent to 37.9 percent) also increasing.

Although the numbers were boosted across the NFL, Minnesota's kickoff returns actually dropped from 19 for 477 yards (25.1) in 2023 to 14 for 341 (24.4) in 2024. This also was impacted to a degree by the number of combined touchdowns and field goals against Minnesota going from 70 in 2023 to 60 in 2024.

Opponents were able to card a better average against Minnesota in 2024 (28.5 — 399 on 14 kickoff returns) than in 2023 (23.8 — 405 on 17).