EAGAN, Minn. — Kevin O'Connell started and ended his press conference Monday singing the same tune.

There's no place like home, especially when home means arguably the NFL's greatest home-field advantage.

"I wanted to start out, again, and just compliment our crowd and that atmosphere," O'Connell expressed. "I can't tell you what it means to have that as our home environment. It's why it means so much to us to still be having a chance to host some more games this year at U.S. Bank [Stadium].

"I think they've kind of fallen in love with this year's team for a lot of reasons, and it's an easy team to fall in love with because of the stories we've mentioned," O'Connell concluded of fans. "I hope they see it and feel it, because we certainly feel what's coming from them, and it's been incredibly positive."

That leads us to now. Six days from Sunday. About 145 hours until kickoff at Ford Field where Minnesota (14-2) will battle to lock up the NFC North and seek the opportunity to add at least one more home game to its schedule. O'Connell's tried-and-true 1-0 approach has stoked the flames for the biggest test of the year: A shot for Minnesota to avenge one of its two losses this season and earn the only bye in the NFC Playoffs.

"In the back of our minds, we knew we had to win a lot of football games to keep pace with a team that really has been, if not the best, one of the top two teams in the league for most of the year," O'Connell said. "I'm not sure how unique, as far as the historical precedent. I just know they're a damn good team."

It's a kinda, sorta unfathomably unique matchup.

The winner-takes-the-division game at Detroit on Sunday Night Football will mark the fifth divisional tilt in the past 25 seasons to feature teams with 11-plus wins each. The last such meeting happened recently – try less than one full spin of the Earth ago (we're sorry for the snark, it's Week 18 and we're pumped!) when the Vikings topped the Packers.

The Lions (13-2) are wrapping Week 17 at San Francisco (6-9) on Monday Night Football.

Yeah, the uniqueness element is off the charts. And the implications are enormous.

But O'Connell must weigh those factors against the backdrop of the bigger picture: a Lombardi trophy.

"I don't want to undersell it, but at the same time this is just a football game this week, and we're going to do it and throw everything we've got at it and play 60 minutes and maybe then some to go try to win the division. But at the same time, there's still the tournament that we're all in this for," O'Connell said. "It's definitely something that I'm thinking about from a standpoint of how to mentally prepare our team and physically prepare our team – because the season does not end Sunday, regardless of the outcome."

Here are four more takeaways from O'Connell's media session at Vikings headquarters:

1. Special moment

Minnesota's red-hot quarterback slicked back his red hair, tossed his Vikings cap into the water-sprayed air and soaked up, like Will Ferrell's character, Ricky Bobby, from Talladega Nights, win No. 14 on Sunday.

Six months ago, the scene would've been too improbable to picture outside of cinema. Now, Sam Darnold is a genuine MVP candidate. On Sunday he added to his résumé 33 completions, 377 yards and three TDs. It was his 13^th game in 2024 with a rating above the century line, tied for tops in the NFL with Lamar Jackson, and it moved the national needle on what we realized long ago: this team is awesome.

So, more about the moment.

O'Connell deemed it a "super organic way" for the team to properly appreciate all the million little things that have combined to reap wins but inadvertently get glossed over in the heat of most moments.

"Sometimes this thing goes so fast," admitted O'Connell, "and you're so caught up in the 1-0 aspect of things and the day-to-day and the minute-to-minute, and this play and this adjustment and this coverage. For me, sometimes, like, I don't really feel a lot of those things until a moment like that."

It certainly was more than deserved. For Darnold and all the other unique journeys in that room. For sweeping Green Bay – winning in that way in front of home fans – and positioning themselves for the highest-stakes game, yet, on the NFL calendar. For buying into and seeing through the team's 1-0 mantra.

"I think the young folks call it the vibe," O'Connell quipped. "It's everything you work toward."

2. Beyond the box score

Better watch out when Jordan Addison hesitates on purpose.

The second-year sensation smoked the Packers secondary in Week 4 on a straight-line hitch-and-go 29-yard touchdown that showcased his pull-away speed.

Addison burnt the division rivals again, finessing rookie safety Javon Bullard in the third quarter Sunday on a buttonhook-and-pause route that Addison curled outside the numbers and toward the front pylon.

He laid out in the purple end-zone paint to usher in a 20-3 lead for the Vikings. O'Connell said we're all seeing the breadth of Addison's impact now that he's healthy. And that it goes beyond catching passes.

(Note: Addison missed a couple games and played below 100% for a portion earlier this year. In his past seven appearances, he's averaged 82.4 receiving yards per game and reached the end zone seven times.)

"He ran a lot of routes off motion last night. He was in bunches. He was in stacks. He was physical in the run game," O'Connell detailed. "There was so much to really like that went beyond the box score. And I'm sure he's still upset about the first deep ball (target) that he thought he should have finished."

Addison's aptitude caught O'Connell's eye in his pre-draft visit. It's carried over to growth in the Vikings receivers room, learning from Justin Jefferson and WRs coach Keenan McCardell. O'Connell elaborated:

"I remember being pretty blown away by where he was at and then any time I'm installing a play and I'm going down the road of probably like, you guys can imagine, overcooking it a little bit, I always look up and see him. He's got a pen. He's writing it down, he's drawing it up. He's asking Keenan questions."

Addison's inquisitiveness off the field and skill on it – namely his speed, acceleration in and out of breaks, strength at the catchpoint and effort – has helped him score 20 touchdowns in 31 career games.

3. Phenomenal protection

O'Connell said it's probably not been talked about enough.

That is how well Minnesota's offensive line has played since losing Christian Darrisaw.

On Sunday against a unit that entered with one fewer sack on the season (43) than the Vikings vaunted defense, Darnold was sacked once – it happened with 19 seconds left in the first half. Otherwise, he was able to maneuver in a clean pocket, sometimes converting throws on his third and fourth progressions.

"That was one thing that jumped out watching the tape last night and then with the staff this morning," O'Connell told reporters. "I thought the protection was phenomenal against a really good active front."

The Packers mustered only a handful of hits on Darnold over his 43 attempts.

Solid protection extended to competitive run-game blocking, as well.

O'Connell sounded off on the impact: "Even on a night where maybe our yards per carry wasn't huge, wasn't a big number, just the attempts and kind of being able to stay balanced enough that it wasn't just a pure chuck-it-60-times kind of game – and there's going to be some games like that with how you match up, and things like that – but to still be able to stay balanced enough, I thought, was critical."

Minnesota ultimately leaned on Cam Akers late in the game and used Ty Chandler, too, after Aaron Jones, Sr., was beset by a quad contusion in the final two minutes of the third quarter and didn't return.

None of the three averaged better than Jones' 3.9-yards per carry – together they gained 69 on 26 rushes (2.7 avg.) – but the balance O'Connell raved about was instrumental in setting up game-sealing dump-offs to fullback C.J. Ham and Akers. Both pass plays mirrored run action by the fellas up front.

4. Defenders bonding with Darnold

Camryn Bynum's latest hit takeaway celebration, inspired by the "We're All In This Together" dance from the popular High School Musical film, accurately portrays these Vikings – they're invested in each other.

The interactions, the bonds, the selfless love and support for plays equal in impact although not always gravitas, are a testament to the players in the building and on the field. They're more than getting along.

In part because it's a band of guys that've been counted out, written off, passed on, overlooked, undervalued, forgotten about or whatever else – you name it, Minnesota's locker room has it – in their careers. O'Connell noted that there's a value to highlighting those stories in closed-door environments.

Darnold's professional arc, obviously, is one that rings loudly for everyone.

"I went through some of them with our team on Saturday night, just kind of making sure those guys knew exactly, kind of, the headspace I wanted them in for Sunday," he said. "Part of that was referencing not only Sam's journey but some of some of our other guys, and maybe you don't hear about them as much, but they've been so impactful to our team and how it's been built, and the makeup of our team.

"They see how [Sam] operates," O'Connell continued. "It's the Mondays and the Tuesdays, and late on a Friday, and then he goes and plays well, and he does it again and again and again. So I think that's real."