Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ JR44 said:
Every missed kick including the extra point totally deflated the team, it was a lot more than just the points. Ultimately, we lost the game because we didn't punch in TDs when we had the chance which has been a problem all year, but to say that the the missed FGs would have only accounted for 10 points is not taking the totality of the game into consideration.
This. But it's not just about the psychology of it. The missed kicks also took us out of our game plan, which was working well.
If the game plan is about "winning with FGs" or "staying close", then it isn't going to work against good teams. I would argue that a team is never going to win a championship if it doesn't build the swagger that comes from dominating teams, at least sometimes or even just weak teams. Why haven't we ever had a big lead and kept it for a game? If we're even "pretty good", and we're trying to build momentum or psychology, why don't we pound it into a team like Jacksonville or Carolina??
The answer is that Zimmer's entire football philosophy is to play conservatively, win a slow game of field position and possession, and that means eking out 3 points at a time. His entire philosophy is dependent on having a great placekicker, so he cannot abandon that - even though he and/or his staff have been terrible at identifying and managing kickers. He kept trying to get points from his kicker even with 2 games of evidence that Bailey was a mess.
IMO his offensive philosophy is ridiculous in this day and age. Great offensive teams can lose TOP and still beat you easily with long fast pass plays. He knows as well as any coach that he should not be counting on his kicker, but he continues to operate a game plan that relies on kicking FGs and winning close games. It's futile.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ JR44 said:
Every missed kick including the extra point totally deflated the team, it was a lot more than just the points. Ultimately, we lost the game because we didn't punch in TDs when we had the chance which has been a problem all year, but to say that the the missed FGs would have only accounted for 10 points is not taking the totality of the game into consideration.
This. But it's not just about the psychology of it. The missed kicks also took us out of our game plan, which was working well.
If the game plan is about "winning with FGs" or "staying close", then it isn't going to work against good teams. I would argue that a team is never going to win a championship if it doesn't build the swagger that comes from dominating teams, at least sometimes or even just weak teams. Why haven't we ever had a big lead and kept it for a game? If we're even "pretty good", and we're trying to build momentum or psychology, why don't we pound it into a team like Jacksonville or Carolina??
The answer is that Zimmer's entire football philosophy is to play conservatively, win a slow game of field position and possession, and that means eking out 3 points at a time. His entire philosophy is dependent on having a great placekicker, so he cannot abandon that - even though he and/or his staff have been terrible at identifying and managing kickers. He kept trying to get points from his kicker even with 2 games of evidence that Bailey was a mess.
IMO his offensive philosophy is ridiculous in this day and age. Great offensive teams can lose TOP and still beat you easily with long fast pass plays. He knows as well as any coach that he should not be counting on his kicker, but he continues to operate a game plan that relies on kicking FGs and winning close games. It's futile.
You play your game based on the cards you're dealt. The Vikings were dealt a hand without Hunter, Pierce, Barr, Kendricks, playing a game on the road against the best run defense in the NFL.
No one expected us to win this game. But the game plan installed to keep the game close and maybe even pull out a victory was working well...until the missed kicks.
The takeaway from this game shouldn't be "Vikings should've won, Zimmer sucks," but rather "Vikings should've lost, kudos to Zimmer for installing a game plan was working until four missed kicks flipped the script."
I have no problem calling out Zimmer when he deserves it. See Philly championship game and a half dozen other games the last few years where he was simply out-coached. This wasn't one of those games.
Bailey killed us, but Kirk also took back to back sacks to make one of those kicks about 15 yds further back than it needed to be.
Suh wrecked our interior with his pass rush all game, just like many great DTs have in recent years.
Zim's clock management isn't great and at this point it's safe to say it never will be.
TB is just a better team. It's frustrating because we all want the Vikings to be good, especially with the seasons that Dalvin, Thielen, Jefferson, Kendricks, and even Harrison Smith are having.But it's just not to be this year.
I don't think Zimmer and Kirk will ever get us over that giant hump, but like @ MaroonBells said, I can't blame either of them for this loss.
One guy skating in all of this is Gary Kubiak. Jefferson was woefully underused all game while we force-fed Conklin and Ham. Wth was that? I'm all for mixing it up but you gotta find a way to get JJ the ball more.
Quote: @pattersaur said:
Bailey killed us, but Kirk also took back to back sacks to make one of those kicks about 15 yds further back than it needed to be.
Suh wrecked our interior with his pass rush all game, just like many great DTs have in recent years.
Zim's clock management isn't great and at this point it's safe to say it never will be.
TB is just a better team. It's frustrating because we all want the Vikings to be good, especially with the seasons that Dalvin, Thielen, Jefferson, Kendricks, and even Harrison Smith are having.But it's just not to be this year.
I don't think Zimmer and Kirk will ever get us over that giant hump, but like @ MaroonBells said, I can't blame either of them for this loss.
One guy skating in all of this is Gary Kubiak. Jefferson was woefully underused all game while we force-fed Conklin and Ham. Wth was that? I'm all for mixing it up but you gotta find a way to get JJ the ball more.
You take what they give, you dont force the ball to a doubled JJ or AT if you have a TE of FB wide open unless you are in a must convert situation.
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