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In the cold calculus of small edges that influence the margins in the modern NFL, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell more than once has referenced the "illusion of complexity" that drives his approach to in-game situations.
The idea boils down to this: Play in a way that is easy and straightforward for your own players but looks complicated and creates confusion for the opponent.
But O'Connell's greatest feat this week might have come on the opposite end of that spectrum.
He has created the illusion of simplicity.
In case you missed it, O'Connell allowed himself to be "slimed" after Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson was named the league's best player of the week by ... Nickelodeon, not the NFL.
It was a moment of levity just a few days after a Sunday of triumph over the Packers. We know which one is more important in the grand scheme of things, but let's also acknowledge this: There's is more complexity to the gesture than just watching O'Connell walk away covered in green, as I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
NFL seasons are long. The weekly schedule is a grind. O'Connell seems to have a lighter touch than former coach Mike Zimmer, but he's also asking a lot of his players. The mental and physical energy needed to learn an entirely new process has to be exhausting.
And all that pressure needs a release valve. Hence, the slime — and not just having fun with it but getting into the middle and having enough humility to let the green stuff rain down on you as players watch and cheer.
The longest and best answer — by far — of Cousins' media session on Thursday came when he was asked about O'Connell getting slimed.
"I loved it. I have so much I can say about that, if we have two minutes. We felt that Jordan (Hicks) and Justin (Jefferson) had really strong games, and Josh Metellus, too. There was a chance we could have a clean sweep of the NFC players of the week. We went 0-for-3 but Nickelodeon gave us player of the week, gave Justin player of the week," said Cousins, who later rattled off a list of shows on that channel he used to watch as a kid. "Kevin said every single time that Nickelodeon gives us player of the week, we're going to slime coach and take a picture with the slime caps. I was joking that hopefully by the end of the season someone like Dalvin Cook is league MVP but we don't even care because if Nickelodeon doesn't recognize it, it doesn't even matter."
Several other players expressed similar sentiments. This is definitely going to be a "thing" anytime a Vikings player has a big game, and just the anticipation of the possibility of sliming the coach is subtle team-building.
O'Connell on Thursday said he couldn't wait to shower and get the green slime out of his hair, and joked that he might subject offensive coordinator Wes Phillips to the process.
Again, I hesitate to turn this into a comparison between O'Connell and Zimmer. More to the point is that it speaks to what O'Connell is: A coach who seems to have a good feel for when to hit the gas, when to tap the brakes and when to take a random exit on a long drive to explore an arcade in the middle of nowhere.
That goes a long way in a locker room, even if slime is the furthest thing from anyone's mind when the game is on the line.
In those moments, players will rely on the illusion of complexity without realizing they are also under the illusion of simplicity.
