Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ StickyBun said:
I like going for it, didn't love the play call. And he's 100% not getting fired after this season.
This, on all three counts. I think this is where the "fake tough" I was talking about plays a part. "We're just going to ram it down their throats. If we don't get it we just don't want it enough!" OK, coach, this sounds great and all, but you might want to consider you're asking your smallish, wide zone "move" offensive line to play power against the strength of the Bears' defense, particularly 320 lb Hicks and 350 lb Jenkins. Good luck with that.
99% sure that is on Kubiak who (IMO) has been a disappointment, even with Cook in the Pro Bowl.
Watching that KC/Saints game last night? With Reid and Payton calling plays? Makes watching the Vikings offense look like the 1962 Packer offense.
That is a key piece of it. They can't run Dalvin down their throats every game. They have to adjust to their opponents. And they need to use Jefferson and the tight ends more. They have more on offense than Dalvin. Instead they are going to run him into the ground. Gotta get a guard.
Vikings' Mike Zimmer loses the matchups that matter mostMike Zimmer is the longest-tenured coach in the NFC North, but his team falters too often in divisional games. Sunday's loss was the latest example.
Football, coaches like to say, is a game of matchups.
That's true for coaching in the NFC North, and the matchups are no longer favoring Mike Zimmer.
Zimmer is 63-46-1 as the Vikings' coach. That's an impressive record that has granted him longevity. He is the longest-tenured coach in the division. Only six NFL head coaches have held their current jobs longer than Zimmer.
Look at the matchups he's currently facing in his most important games, though, and a Vikings fan might have reason to worry.
On Sunday, the Vikings lost another almost-must-win game, this time 33-27 to the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings have lost two straight to fall to 6-8. They could theoretically make the playoffs, but would have to win at New Orleans and Detroit and then have the NFL bracket chosen by the same fools who chose the college football playoffs.
Sunday's loss means that Zimmer is 1-5 against the Bears' Matt Nagy, who just three weeks ago was thought to be coaching for his job.
Zimmer is 1-3 against Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur, another young offensive coach Zimmer seems to think of as an affront to grumpy old defensive coaches.
And the Detroit Lions, having fired the ridiculous Matt Patricia, will likely hire a talented offensive coach who may know how to use players like Matthew Stafford, Kenny Golladay and D'Andre Swift.
The only time Zimmer has beaten Nagy was earlier this season, when the Bears were playing Nick Foles at quarterback, and were without running back David Montgomery, who has begun playing like a star the last two weeks.
Zimmer's only victory over LaFleur came earlier this season at Lambeau Field.
The Vikings can cite plenty of excuses for their mediocre season, including key injuries and opt-outs. But they remain stocked with star-quality players, including perhaps the best combination of running back and outside receivers in the league.
Yet the Vikings find themselves third in a four-team division, ahead only of one of the worst-run franchises in all of sport.
Sunday, they frequently looked frazzled and disorganized in key moments. For the second time in three years, they faced the Bears in an important game late in the season and watched Mitchell Trubisky, widely regarded as a bust, torch their defense in a hard-to-stomach loss.
When the Bears beat the Vikings 24-10 at the end of the 2018 season, Cousins and Adam Thielen argued on the sideline. On Sunday, Cousins glared or yelled at a couple of receivers and tight end Irv Smith Jr. in the same red-zone sequence, and Justin Jefferson seemed to yell toward Cousins after the quarterback missed him in the back of the end zone.
There were two sequences that made all the difference on Sunday.
Zimmer chose to go for a first down when facing fourth-and-1 from his own 34 with about six minutes left in the second quarter, with his team trailing, 17-7. That felt like an act of desperation even before Dalvin Cook was stopped, and the Bears took advantage of the field position to kick a field goal.
Late in the fourth quarter, Cameron Dantzler made a brilliant interception in the end zone. The Vikings had the ball on their own 20 with 2:57 remaining, trailing 30-27.
This Vikings team isn't the defensive powerhouse it was in 2017. This was a game the offense needed to win, and it was given a chance.
And that offense, featuring all of that skill-position talent and one of the league's highest-paid quarterbacks, could not produce a single first down. On fourth-and-1, Cousins tried to bootleg right, was pressured, and threw a hopeless pass.
"I think the defense needs to look in the mirror, too," Zimmer said.
Fourteen games into the season, the Vikings have beaten one quality opponent (the Packers) and would require a miraculous sequence of events just to squeak into the newly-created seventh playoff seed.
Zimmer's performance on Sunday may help Nagy keep his job.
The NFC North's young coaches may become a threat to Zimmer's.
https://www.startribune.com/mike-zimmer-...600003125/
Quote: @purplefaithful said:Sunday, they frequently looked frazzled and disorganized in key moments. For the second time in three years, they faced the Bears in an important game late in the season and watched Mitchell Trubisky, widely regarded as a bust, torch their defense in a hard-to-stomach loss.
I was thinking during the game that, win or lose, this might be the best thing to come from this game. Trubisky is clearly not the answer and anything that might give the Bears reason to put off replacing him is good for the Vikings.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ StickyBun said:
I like going for it, didn't love the play call. And he's 100% not getting fired after this season.
This, on all three counts. I think this is where the "fake tough" I was talking about plays a part. "We're just going to ram it down their throats. If we don't get it we just don't want it enough!" OK, coach, this sounds great and all, but you might want to consider you're asking your smallish, wide zone "move" offensive line to play power against the strength of the Bears' defense, particularly 320 lb Hicks and 350 lb Jenkins. Good luck with that.
99% sure that is on Kubiak who (IMO) has been a disappointment, even with Cook in the Pro Bowl.
Watching that KC/Saints game last night? With Reid and Payton calling plays? Makes watching the Vikings offense look like the 1962 Packer offense.
Yeah, that was probably Kubiak. At least it should've been. Can't imagine the HC calling the play on that. But doesn't matter to me. Going for it on 4th down on your own 35, given the game situation, I could go either way on. But the call to pit weakness against strength was just baffling to me.
I've been OK with Kubiak most of the year. Not quite the KAO I was hoping for, but top 5 offense is hard to complain about. I also try to consider the fact that 9 times outta 10 play-calls that don't work are the OCs fault and play-calls that do work are great execution by the players.
I'm sure Kubiak felt like shit after words, everybody booing the shit out of him. No smarter coordinator in football. F*ck, they put his picture up there and the f*ckers boo him....F*ckers. Wait, that was a different game.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ StickyBun said:
I like going for it, didn't love the play call. And he's 100% not getting fired after this season.
This, on all three counts. I think this is where the "fake tough" I was talking about plays a part. "We're just going to ram it down their throats. If we don't get it we just don't want it enough!" OK, coach, this sounds great and all, but you might want to consider you're asking your smallish, wide zone "move" offensive line to play power against the strength of the Bears' defense, particularly 320 lb Hicks and 350 lb Jenkins. Good luck with that.
99% sure that is on Kubiak who (IMO) has been a disappointment, even with Cook in the Pro Bowl.
Watching that KC/Saints game last night? With Reid and Payton calling plays? Makes watching the Vikings offense look like the 1962 Packer offense.
Yeah, that was probably Kubiak. At least it should've been. Can't imagine the HC calling the play on that. But doesn't matter to me. Going for it on 4th down on your own 35, given the game situation, I could go either way on. But the call to pit weakness against strength was just baffling to me.
I've been OK with Kubiak most of the year. Not quite the KAO I was hoping for, but top 5 offense is hard to complain about. I also try to consider the fact that 9 times outta 10 play-calls that don't work are the OCs fault and play-calls that do work are great execution by the players.
I'm sure Kubiak felt like shit after words, everybody booing the shit out of him. No smarter coordinator in football. F*ck, they put his picture up there and the f*ckers boo him....F*ckers. Wait, that was a different game.
I can't really tell if you are being sarcastic here...yes the OC calls most plays, he would have had the options designed, but in such a crucial situation, I would expect the HC to be consulted - and to have authority to choose what option they took.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:Sunday, they frequently looked frazzled and disorganized in key moments. For the second time in three years, they faced the Bears in an important game late in the season and watched Mitchell Trubisky, widely regarded as a bust, torch their defense in a hard-to-stomach loss.
I was thinking during the game that, win or lose, this might be the best thing to come from this game. Trubisky is clearly not the answer and anything that might give the Bears reason to put off replacing him is good for the Vikings.
Hmmmm, undecided. Until he threw across his body a la Favre for an interception, I was fairly impressed with Trubisky's improvement. The Bears, like us, are most likely out of the range to get one of the top QBs without a big trade. He's a UFA after this season and his mini-resurgence would make him appealing to someone if he doesn't expect a fortune. If Nagy stays in Chicago, IMO Trubisky would be smartest to stay with him.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ StickyBun said:
I like going for it, didn't love the play call. And he's 100% not getting fired after this season.
This, on all three counts. I think this is where the "fake tough" I was talking about plays a part. "We're just going to ram it down their throats. If we don't get it we just don't want it enough!" OK, coach, this sounds great and all, but you might want to consider you're asking your smallish, wide zone "move" offensive line to play power against the strength of the Bears' defense, particularly 320 lb Hicks and 350 lb Jenkins. Good luck with that.
99% sure that is on Kubiak who (IMO) has been a disappointment, even with Cook in the Pro Bowl.
Watching that KC/Saints game last night? With Reid and Payton calling plays? Makes watching the Vikings offense look like the 1962 Packer offense.
Yeah, that was probably Kubiak. At least it should've been. Can't imagine the HC calling the play on that. But doesn't matter to me. Going for it on 4th down on your own 35, given the game situation, I could go either way on. But the call to pit weakness against strength was just baffling to me.
I've been OK with Kubiak most of the year. Not quite the KAO I was hoping for, but top 5 offense is hard to complain about. I also try to consider the fact that 9 times outta 10 play-calls that don't work are the OCs fault and play-calls that do work are great execution by the players.
I'm sure Kubiak felt like shit after words, everybody booing the shit out of him. No smarter coordinator in football. F*ck, they put his picture up there and the f*ckers boo him....F*ckers. Wait, that was a different game.
I can't really tell if you are being sarcastic here...yes the OC calls most plays, he would have had the options designed, but in such a crucial situation, I would expect the HC to be consulted - and to have authority to choose what option they took.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ purplefaithful said:Sunday, they frequently looked frazzled and disorganized in key moments. For the second time in three years, they faced the Bears in an important game late in the season and watched Mitchell Trubisky, widely regarded as a bust, torch their defense in a hard-to-stomach loss.
I was thinking during the game that, win or lose, this might be the best thing to come from this game. Trubisky is clearly not the answer and anything that might give the Bears reason to put off replacing him is good for the Vikings.
Hmmmm, undecided. Until he threw across his body a la Favre for an interception, I was fairly impressed with Trubisky's improvement. The Bears, like us, are most likely out of the range to get one of the top QBs without a big trade. He's a UFA after this season and his mini-resurgence would make him appealing to someone if he doesn't expect a fortune. If Nagy stays in Chicago, IMO Trubisky would be smartest to stay with him.
Not sarcastic at all. It was "probably" Kubiak, but as you say, sometimes a HC will have input on certain plays, so it's impossible to say for sure. Honestly doesn't make any difference to me.
I don't know what the Bears will do, but as a Viking fan I'm rooting for them to keep Trubisky.
Seems like our coaches are always trying to fake out the defense in these situations. Either going right at their strengths or throwing a bomb on 4th and 1. But what was needed here on these 4th and 1 calls was play action and let your $2 million per game QB throw a short pass to one of our two elite receivers while the Bears were very short handed in the secondary.
agree, Zimmer is NOT getting fired
Quote: @FLVike said:
Seems like our coaches are always trying to fake out the defense in these situations. Either going right at their strengths or throwing a bomb on 4th and 1. But what was needed here on these 4th and 1 calls was play action and let your $2 million per game QB throw a short pass to one of our two elite receivers while the Bears were very short handed in the secondary.
They should have been attacking that secondary relentlessly all day instead insisting on running Dalvin into the teeth of the Bears run D.
Quote: @comet52 said:
@ FLVike said:
Seems like our coaches are always trying to fake out the defense in these situations. Either going right at their strengths or throwing a bomb on 4th and 1. But what was needed here on these 4th and 1 calls was play action and let your $2 million per game QB throw a short pass to one of our two elite receivers while the Bears were very short handed in the secondary.
They should have been attacking that secondary relentlessly all day instead insisting on running Dalvin into the teeth of the Bears run D.
Coach Zimmer is stuck in an outdated offensive philosophy. It sucks because there is so much more that this offense can do. I wonder if that is why Stefanski left.
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