We have finally reached the end to the 2018 NFL season. The Super Bowl has come and gone and the New England Patriots are champions once again. A plethora of other teams have been filling their head coaching vacancies since Week 17.
A notable team that held off firing their head coach is the Minnesota Vikings. Mike Zimmer saw his once vaunted Vikings team in 2017 become a shell of themselves in 2018. The Vikings missed the playoffs with an underachieving record of 8-7-1.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way considering their upgrade at quarterback. Kirk Cousins and the offense just never saw any consistency this season. From a new quarterback to a new offensive coordinator in John DeFilippo, it kind of makes sense as to why the Vikings never hit their stride this season.
However, despite those hindrances, the Vikings still proved a tough matchup in most of their games. Meaning, they were poised for a playoff berth. It came down to the wire for the Minnesota Vikings season in Week 17. All they needed to do was defeat the Chicago Bears at home. Win and you’re in situation.
If you watched the game, then you’d have thought it was the Bears who needed to win to get in. Bears head coach Matt Nagy took Mike Zimmer to the woodshed. The Vikings came out flat and were completely out-coached. Considering the season in its entirety, this poor season falls on the head coach.
It makes you wonder, are the Minnesota Vikings making the right call to stick with Mike Zimmer?
Sure, if paying Kirk Cousins $90 million guaranteed to just hand off the ball is their plan, then Zimmer is fine. However, that’s not why they’re paying Cousins the big bucks. Yet, for some reason Zimmer just wants the offense to continuously pound the rock. He seems to think it’s the 1970's where a team can win with a stout defense and a running game. Zimmer was 100 percent the problem for the Vikings this season.
A disappointing season like the Vikings had this year falls on the head coach. Just look at the Oakland Raiders in 2017. They were a phenomenal offense in 2016 but came crashing down like an asteroid into the earth in 2017. That falls on the head coach for not being able to keep it together.
Not only did Mike Zimmer not keep it together, but he was meddling with forces out of his comfort zone. He’s a defensive minded coach, yet he wants his hands all over the offense.
Every year it’s the same story with Zimmer. He throws his offensive coordinator under the bus in postgame pressers and acts like it’s normal. It’s no wonder they couldn’t attract any legit offensive coordinator.
It’s why they had to stick with Kevin Stefanski, who will likely just do what Zimmer says and pound the rock. The key to the Minnesota Vikings isn’t their defense anymore, it’s their offense. It’s why they brought Cousins on board. To optimize the talent of their three elite receivers.
That is not saying that the Vikings shouldn't run the ball, but their bread and butter is their stalwart receiving group. This notion completely goes over Zimmer's head.
So long as Mike Zimmer is at the helm, the Minnesota Vikings can likely kiss any Super Bowl hopes goodbye.
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