ESPN: The 5-1 Situational Masters

[StickyBun]

https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-viki...eed-to-fix

[Guest]

It is bizarre that we take basically the same damn roster, fire the coach who struggled mightily in situational football, hire a coach who emphasizes its importance, and completely reverse our fortunes. 

Everyone knew the problem. We lost 8 of 9 games by one score. The one exception: Cousins' covid game. We set an NFL record for the worst defense in the final two minutes of the half. An NFL record! But what's clear now is that it wasn't just bad defense. It was dysfunctional coaching and play calling that repeatedly put us in bad situations.

To have it spelled out so obviously is pretty remarkable. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
It is bizarre that we take basically the same damn roster, fire the coach who struggled mightily in situational football, hire a coach who emphasizes its importance, and completely reverse our fortunes. 

Everyone knew the problem. We lost 8 of 9 games by one score. The one exception: Cousins' covid game. We set an NFL record for the worst defense in the final two minutes of the half. An NFL record! But what's clear now is that it wasn't just bad defense. It was dysfunctional coaching and play calling that repeatedly put us in bad situations.

To have it spelled out so obviously is pretty remarkable. 

Snake bit & poor situational football - that's the taste left in my mouth reflecting on the Zimmer era.  I think the revolving door @ OC hurt this team big time and the last one we had just wasn't good enough for the NFL. 

I hope what we're seeing early on with this staff is the real deal, sustainable over a long period. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
It is bizarre that we take basically the same damn roster, fire the coach who struggled mightily in situational football, hire a coach who emphasizes its importance, and completely reverse our fortunes. 

Everyone knew the problem. We lost 8 of 9 games by one score. The one exception: Cousins' covid game. We set an NFL record for the worst defense in the final two minutes of the half. An NFL record! But what's clear now is that it wasn't just bad defense. It was dysfunctional coaching and play calling that repeatedly put us in bad situations.

To have it spelled out so obviously is pretty remarkable. 

100% ^^^^^ THIS!!!!!

[Guest]

To be honest, I think it’s more of a coincidence in that our
good plays line up with certain times than that we’re being “situational
masters”.  I think if you can choose to be
good in “situations” you should be able to be good for the rest of the game.  I do think you can lose the game by being bad
situationally, and I do think we’re giving ourselves a little bit more of a
chance to win by not being bad situationally. 
I think playing to win, and being aggressive has done more than anything
we’ve done situationally.  I think us playing
two games against backup QBs has done more than anything we’ve done
situationally.  I do think our special
teams has been clutch though and been a big asset.

[Guest]

I don't think you can discount the new players plugged in at certain positions as one of the keys to turning this around either. Two new guards, Z and Hicks, and special teams have all been beneficial. GM and HC are getting the most out of a roster that still has some weaknesses. The future looks brighter and that's all I asked for this season. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:

@MaroonBells said:
It is bizarre that we take basically the same damn roster, fire the coach who struggled mightily in situational football, hire a coach who emphasizes its importance, and completely reverse our fortunes. 

Everyone knew the problem. We lost 8 of 9 games by one score. The one exception: Cousins' covid game. We set an NFL record for the worst defense in the final two minutes of the half. An NFL record! But what's clear now is that it wasn't just bad defense. It was dysfunctional coaching and play calling that repeatedly put us in bad situations.

To have it spelled out so obviously is pretty remarkable. 

Snake bit & poor situational football - that's the taste left in my mouth reflecting on the Zimmer era.  I think the revolving door @ OC hurt this team big time and the last one we had just wasn't good enough for the NFL. 

I hope what we're seeing early on with this staff is the real deal, sustainable over a long period. 

The best part about KOC calling plays and being heavily involved with the offense is that we'll have the same system and play caller until he's not the Vikings head coach any longer.  Imagine what we can do in future years if there's stability there.
And really, Ed Dona-shell isn't going anywhere soon either.  So we probably have stability at the coaching position with the exception of our ST's coach who will get a promotion at some point soon.