EAGAN, Minn. — Another box — Minnesota becoming playoff bound — was checked off when Seattle fell to Green Bay on Sunday Night Football, on the eve of the Vikings suiting up in their pearly new Winter Warrior uniforms on Monday night.

Understandably, the Vikings didn't take time to celebrate. Instead, they kept focus on Chicago.

"I acknowledged it in front of the team, congratulated them and then once I was done with that opening sentence," Kevin O'Connell said Tuesday, "we moved on to what it was going to take to beat the Bears."

And they did resoundingly.

Such is the approach of a 12-win club that stomped a division rival, 30-12, in prime time, and is riding a seven-game win streak; the tried-and-true quality of being where your feet are at and handling business.

It's a philosophy that begins with the Vikings head coach sticking in the moment, and letting it be known.

"I may catch an eye roll – 'He's saying it again' type of thing,' " O'Connell confessed. "But now it does feel in a lot of ways like our players have taken on that identity of our team, and it helps us. It helps with how we practice, how we walk through, with lifts and guys getting treatment and getting turned over on a short week. Everything's got to be in place. Everything's got to be surgical with that mindset."

There's no pressure to harp on the "big picture" when the only picture that matters right now is recovering, re-locking in and beating the Seahawks in Week 16. But what about talk of the No. 1 seed?

What about the goal of finishing with the conference's best record and gaining a first-round bye?

"I think it'll be pretty easy for me to sequence that up," O'Connell quipped to the media.

Easy because if the opportunity to address the No. 1 seed presents itself, O'Connell won't shift his mentality or change his tone or preach a message different than the one that's grounded this team.

All Minnesota wants is to go 1-0 each week.

"We've got some really tough opponents down the stretch here," O'Connell said, noting the challenge of playing at Seattle. "It's very important that we treat this game with the urgency that it deserves, because it's a really good team on the road fighting for their playoff life, and we're going to get their best shot."

Here are four more takeaways from O'Connell's press conference Tuesday:

1. Aggression & Anticipation

Sam Darnold is trusting his "big-field vision" and letting it rip.

Although Darnold finished Monday with his second-most incompletions in a game this season (16), his ball placement, specifically his anticipation and identification of "the void," on several throws stood out.

Maybe none was more obvious than a 17-yard dart over the middle to Justin Jefferson, with four defenders in the vicinity, that pushed the Vikings from the Bears' 18 late in the third quarter to their 1.

The throw, which Darnold tucked behind Bears linebackers and in front of a closing-in secondary, required Darnold to trust his eyes, feet and timing – and believe, fully, Jefferson was going to get open.

Retired NFL QB and analyst Dan Orlovsky posted about the uniqueness of the throw Tuesday morning.

"Sam's done a great job of that on a lot of out-breaking routes this year, and as we've progressed throughout the season, more and more times it's shown up on some of those in-breakers, where it could get noisy in there, especially down in that area," O'Connell shared. "Actually, that [play] wasn't really on the [call] sheet in the red zone. It was just kind of in the moment – just thought, going fast there and getting a chance to get Justin some free access and get him in there."

O'Connell finished his point with praise for the superstar Vikings receiver: "I mean, really good play by Sam, but Justin fearlessly going in there, right on the front line, that's not made for everybody."

2. Staying in the fight

Brian O'Neill's leadership is a key element to Minnesota's success.

And his on-field performance – he's allowed two sacks on 485 pass-blocking snaps – is a massive reason why the Vikings offense has done a better job of marrying the run and pass. His impact is tremendous.

Which is why the crowd held its breath when O'Neill got his knee hit freakily and toppled to the turf with about six minutes remaining in the first quarter Monday. O'Neill writhed in pain but managed, eventually, to walk off on his own accord and actually re-entered the game on Minnesota's next series.

"The consistency at which Brian has played is a whole separate conversation. Don't think he gets the credit he deserves for just how phenomenal he's played this year," O'Connell stated. "But then there's an entire separate conversation [about] who he is in this building; what he means as a captain of our team, [and] how many times I turn to him in moments to communicate and really get the pulse of our team."

O'Connell specified there was a second scary play for O'Neill in his watch-back, but that it didn't deter the veteran lineman from getting taped and returning to the game – and not missing a beat when he did.

(Note: O'Neill entered the locker room before the team at halftime and missed several snaps at the start of the third quarter before returning with a knee brace. He's expected to be available in Seattle.)

"Love, love, everything about what he means to me, our offense and our team," O'Connell said.

3. Special in space

If you didn't know, Aaron Jones, Sr., is exceptional in space.

On a third-and-17 with less than a minute left in the opening frame Monday night, Jones chipped a Bears defender as he rolled out of an in-line tight end stance and ran a shallow crossing pattern toward the numbers near the Vikings sideline. The running back caught the ball a few yards upfield, probably to punter Ryan Wright's approval – any extra yards created more space between his back and the end zone.

Somehow, some way, Jones gained 17 and the conversion.

"It's all about angles and trying to maximize every inch," O'Connell said of Jones' abilities in space.

Of course, it's on display for everyone. Whenever Jones touches the ball, he's a threat. On the catch-and-run, Jones broke one tackle and split two defenders before he extended for the marker.

Jones ranks eighth in yards after the catch per reception (8.7) among running backs with 40-plus targets this season, according to Pro Football Focus. The leader in the clubhouse is Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs (12.2).

O'Connell expressed, "I think every time we see those on tape, I think it's registering with Sam [that], 'I'm going to be able to put the ball in play to this guy, and he's phenomenal with the ball in his hands.' "

4. Everywhere within the white lines

In O'Connell's introduction Tuesday, he highlighted captain Joshua Metellus, admitting it was an oversight not to give the safety, who had a game-high 10 tackles Monday, a game ball in the locker room.

To be fair, it's becoming routine – that Metellus was everywhere – and thus easier to overlook.

"The way he handles it, snap-to-snap, is probably the most important thing, because a lot of guys – you play the same spot, get into a rhythm, you start seeing tendencies and tells," O'Connell shared. "He's got to be able to do those things from two or three different spots, which his football I.Q. is off the charts."

In addition to eight solo tackles, Metellus recorded two first-quarter pressures on Caleb Williams. On one, Metellus acted as a quarterback spy and constricted Williams to a 1-yard scramble up the middle. Shortly after, Metellus walked up on Chicago's center, attacked one side on the snap, ate two blocks and somehow still battled through to Williams, forcing him out of the pocket and into a throw out of bounds.

With linebacker Ivan Pace, Jr., on the shelf due to a hamstring injury, Metellus has recently harnessed an even larger workload in the box – and done it with expertise and energy, making 27 tackles in his past three games.