It isn’t the first time we’ve had that sort of coaching chops in this town, recently. It’s hard to believe now, but it wasn’t that long ago that former head coach Mike Zimmer, was considered one of the top coaches in the league. Opposing offenses could not figure out his defense, especially his A Gap pressure schemes.

But one recurring issue that Zim had to deal with, as Minnesota’s head coach, was a rotating carousel of offensive coordinators. When the Vikings were good, his OCs were hired away. When they were bad, he fired them. And in-between, there were surprise resignations, untimely tragedies and one mysterious Mike Zimmer eye injury.

Fast forward to 2024, Klint is getting another chance as an offensive coordinator, for the New Orleans Saints. How well is his 2nd OC chance going? Well, his new team is 2-0, with one of the best offenses in the NFL, by just about every metric.

Mike Zimmer vs Klint Kubiak

Meanwhile, after a three-year hiatus, Mike Zimmer is back to coaching football, too. He returned to his historic roots in Dallas, when he was hired by Jerry Jones to fix the Cowboys’ defense. After a pretty impressive week one, his old OC’s new team rolled into Jerry World for a week two matchup between two 1-0 teams.

I can only imagine how cocky Zim was, entering Sunday’s game. I don’t think it unfolded as he planned, though. Because the Saints offense dominated the Cowboys defense. Klint’s crew relentlessly went after Zim’s new defense with a perfect mix of run, play action, screen and deep pass plays. It was almost artistic, in nature. And his old coach wasn’t ready.

Same Rashid, different day.

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/Ap2RXdPhew

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 15, 2024

There goes Alvin Kamara for 57 yards!

📺: #NOvsDAL on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/F0NOkTSZ7g

— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024

Blow, after blow, after blow… the Cowboys defense never got an opportunity to catch its breath. The Saints’ offensive assault was a relentless for 60 minutes. And when the dust settled, a bruised and battered Mike Zimmer left his home stadium after being handed a Texas size, 44-19, L.

Related: Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell Gets Emotional Talking About Sam Darnold

Dallas’ defense allowed a total of 432 offensive yards to New Orleans, who went 5-of-8 on first downs and averaged an insane 7.7 yards per play. Zim’s defense managed to force two turnovers, but that doesn’t matter when you also allow 190 yards on the ground.

Alvin Kamara with the most Alvin Kamara play ever for his FOURTH TD

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/kQx1vM7g6Q

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 15, 2024

At his head coaching peak, in 2017, Zimmer had Pat Shurmur as his OC in Minnesota… until he was hired away in 2018, to be head coach of the New York Giants. And that is where the Zimmer head coaching tenure started to go off the rails, as he shuffled through a handful of different offensive coordinators.

Zim loses battle of Minnesota Vikings coaches

At one point, Zim hired veteran play-caller, close friend and longtime head coach, Gary Kubiak, to take over offensive coordinator duties. His son, Klint Kubiak, had already been a Vikings offensive quality control coach for a couple of years. Then, when Gary retired from his OC post, after the 2020 season, the job was all but handed to Klint.

Related: Brock Purdy Confirms: Vikings’ Defensive Scheme under Brian Flores.. “Man, it’s Crazy”

It didn’t go well, Klint Kubiak lasted one season as Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator, before he was fired, along with Mike Zimmer, president of football operations, Rick Spielman, and just about every other person involved in coaching or the front office, not named Rob Brzezinski.

But since leaving Minnesota, Klint Kubiak as clearly learned from his past and made himself a better coach because of it. Zim proved in a preseason interview that he doesn’t change… ever. And no doubt, the results from this weekend probably reflect that.

Klint Kubiak shines in New Orleans Saints rout

The New Orleans Saints are hard to project this season. They were mediocre in 2023 and went 9-8 with Pete Carmichael operating as the offensive coordinator. Dennis Allen is back but hired former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to take over that role. New Orleans throttled Carolina 47-10 on Sunday and Mike Sando noted Kubiak as a highlight.

“The Saints scored on their first nine possessions twice in 258 total games with Sean Payton as head coach from 2006-21. They did it Sunday in their first game with Kubiak as coordinator. Kubiak’s father, Gary, was head coach or offensive coordinator for top-10 scoring offenses 15 times in 23 seasons. His son exceeded expectations for any coach making his debut as a caller, regardless of pedigree.

The Saints’ 47-10 victory against the Panthers said plenty about Carolina. The Saints’ defense (+19.1 EPA) and special teams (+5.4 EPA) played outsized roles, helping New Orleans start four of its drives in Carolina territory. Still, the Payton-era Saints played weak opponents as well. This game Sunday marked only the third time since 2000 that the Saints scored on nine possessions in one game. They never scored on more possessions in one game over that 407-game span.“

Mike Sando on Klint Kubiak’s Saints debut (The Athletic)

Kubiak’s offensive EPA (expected points added) was the second-highest among first-time signal callers on Sunday. The Saints jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter, and found themselves up 30-3 at the half. Derek Carr racked up 200 yards through the air while recording just four incompletions. He added three touchdowns as well.

Related: JJ McCarthy is Sam Darnold’s No. 1 Fan

Eight different players caught a pass with nine being targeted. Chris Olave is the Saints star wideout, but he had just 11 yards on the day. Kubiak showed an ability to keep the ball moving down the field, even if the opponent was lackluster in their own right.

Road gets tough for former Minnesota Vikings OC Klint Kubiak

Kubiak had to appreciate that his first game calling plays for the Saints had him matched up against the Carolina Panthers. Bryce Young has struggled out of the gate during his NFL career, and the offense has often allowed the opposition plenty of opportunity to put them in the dust. The former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator won’t be that fortunate the next two weeks.

TRENDING: #Panthers CB Jaycee Horn tried to trash talk #Saints QB Derek Carr,
who then put Horn in a body bag

“I GOT 3 TOUCHDOWNS ON YOU.”

DAMNNN

pic.twitter.com/7Zb7yWMGRt

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 9, 2024

On the road against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, New Orleans opens as 6.5 point underdogs. The Cowboys are coming off a big road victory against the Cleveland Browns, and quarterback Dak Prescott just signed a shiny new contract. The Saints then welcome divisional for Philadelphia to New Orleans for a Week 3 matchup.

Related: What We Learned About the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 Throttling of Giants

Klint Kubiak earned some serious trust from head coach Dennis Allen on Sunday. He will need to continue performing against more difficult opponents in the coming weeks if he wants that to grow.

Cousins spent six seasons with the Vikings before leaving in March 2024 to sign a monster four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Although Cousins is no longer in purple and gold, he did recently appear on the Bussin’ With The Boys Show and dropped a little nugget about a phone call he received from Klint Kubiak on draft night in 2021.

Klint Kubiak calls Kirk Cousins on Thursday afternoon in April, 2021

On a recent Bussin’ With The Boys Show, Cousins makes his first comments after he was stunned the Atlanta Falcons spent their 2024 first-round draft pick to select quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at pick No. 8. In the show, Cousins discusses how he feels about Penix Jr. and also his recovery from his Achilles injury. However, that wasn’t the only thing he discussed.

Per Kirk Cousins via @BussinWTB, Cousins said he was golfing on draft night in 2021 when Klint Kubiak, the OC at the time, told him the #Vikings might draft a QB in the 1st-round 👀

Minnesota was heavily linked to Justin Fields and Mac Jones at the time 🤯

📸: @NBCSports pic.twitter.com/dkfUxLYcQn

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) May 14, 2024

At one point in the show, Cousins mentioned how former Minnesota Vikings Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak called Cousins while he was golfing on draft night in 2021, letting him know that the Vikings might draft a quarterback in the first-round.

Cousins added that he appreciated the heads up from Kubiak, but has “understood for awhile” that teams are always thinking of succession plans.

Cousins: “I’m trying to think, it was 2021, so that would be three years ago. The Vikings, three years ago, I was finishing up around of golf before the draft, on Thursday, and I’m on like the 18th hole, walking up the fairway and Clint Kubiak calls me, our OC, and he said, ‘I just want to give you a heads up, like we may draft a quarterback tonight’. I was like, ‘Okay.'”

Compton: “And this was on Thursday [draft night]?”

Cousins: “This was on Thursday, like a few hours before the draft. So I’ve understood, for a while, that teams are always thinking about succession plans, are always thinking about that. They didn’t end up drafting one that year but you’re made aware that this is a possible direction they could go. My point is, this isn’t a foreign concept, there’s an awareness that this is the NFL, you know, anything can happen.”

What happened on NFL Draft night 2021?

At the time, the 2021 draft pick seemed to be loaded with potential top quarterbacks. After the first-round, a total of five quarterbacks were drafted which consisted of Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones.

In the 2021 draft, the Minnesota Vikings originally had the 14th overall pick and were heavily linked to Justin Fields and Mac Jones. Fields more so than Jones.

Things didn’t go as planned for the Vikings that day as the Chicago Bears jumped the Vikings by trading up from pick No. 20 to pick No. 11 to select Fields. The Vikings then trade with the back from pick No. 14 to select Left Tackle Christian Darrisaw at pick No. 23 and decided not to draft Mac Jones, who is selected a pick later by the New England Patriots.

What could have been for Minnesota Vikings?

In the end, the Minnesota Vikings never drafted a first-round quarterback in 2021 and stuck with Kirk Cousins for three additional seasons. It was also a blessing in disguise that the Vikings didn’t end up drafting whichever quarterbacks they were targeting back then.

Four of the five QBs taken in the first-round that year are no longer on their original team. The only remaining starter is Jacksonville Jaguars Quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Although, he hasn’t lived up to the hype when he was originally drafted No. 1 overall by the Jaguars.

Related: ESPN NFL Insider Wants Vikings to Sign Hunter Renfrow

Meanwhile, Christian Darrisaw has cemented himself as one of the best left tackles in the NFL with massive payday coming his way soon. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it looks like the Vikings made the right decision in the first-round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Former Player Calls Out Nepotism

Multiple sources close to the Vikings (including one former player) told the “Defector”, a subscription-based outlet run by the former lead writers for Deadspin, that players inside the locker room point to nepotism when internally discussing Adam Zimmer’s employment with the Vikings.

“No fucking reason [Adam] should be a DC,” a person close to the team told Defector. “Nobody disliked him, but nobody ever thought he would be the coordinator, let’s put it that way.”

No reason, other than the obvious one. “What’s the term—nepotism, right?” said one former Vikings player. He said he and his teammates quickly picked up on the reason “Big Zim” had promoted the coach they called “Little Zim.”

“Everybody knows why Adam is there, they all know,” said the person close to the team, who we’ll call Source A for clarity.

Kalyn Kahler – Defector

Mike Zimmer calls defensive plays during games but allows Adam to call plays during practice, per two sources, and Adam called the defense during parts of this past preseason too. “It’s some cute shit so he can feel some type of way,” the former player said. Patterson, a powerful speaker, is the one who addresses the defense, and at times, the full team. This past April, Patterson was promoted again, this time adding “assistant head coach” to his co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach titles. “Probably to make him feel better,” said a second source close to the team, who we’ll call Source B

Kalyn Kahler – Defector

Who is Adam Zimmer?

According to the Vikings website, Adam graduated from Trinity University (San Antonio, TX) in 2006, where he played safety. Upon graduation, he immediately got a job with the New Orleans Saints. Sean Peyton, as you may know, is a good friend of Mike Zimmer. By 2009, Adam Zimmer was promoted to an official role (assistant LB coach), where he may or may not have helped kill Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC championship game.

That landed him his next NFL coaching job in 2010. It was the same role (with an additional title) in Kansas City. He spent three more years with the Chiefs, away from his father, before making his way to Cincinnati during “Big Zim’s” final year with the Bengals (2013). Assistant LB coach must’ve been filled because he was named “assistant DB coach” instead.

“Little Zim” then followed his dad to Minnesota, where he landed his first job as an NFL position coach (linebackers). That’s where he stayed from 2014-2019, before his promotion to Co-Defensive Coordinator for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Is Nepotism a Problem?

It’s the question that Kalyn Kahler is trying to answer in her article. The answer, however, is complicated because nepotism is common in many professions, but not always a problem. But for the Minnesota Vikings, it appears to be. If players and others inside the organization take issue with your coaching hierarchy then you’re damn right it’s a problem.

Adam Zimmer isn’t the only accused form of nepotism for the purple in this article. “Source A” also takes a shot at Klint Kubiak, son of retired Vikings OC, Gary Kubiak (who has TWO other kids coaching or scouting somewhere in the NFL).

“You have to achieve at such a high level and you look at Andre Patterson, he has performed at a high level every time and he can’t get a sniff, and Adam just had to stick around,” said Source A. “They aren’t even in the same weight class.”

“Sometimes you see guys that stay too long because they want to set their kid up,” Source A told me. “I think Kubes did that for Klint, get him set up before he walked out the door, even though his health said no.” 

Kalyn Kahler – Defector

Buckle Up

This story dropped the day after the Minnesota Vikings season was put to bed by the division rival Packers. I can only imagine what else is floating around insider circles just waiting to push Mike Zimmer out of town. If I had to take an educated guess, I’d say this is only the beginning of the pile up. We’ll see if Zim makes it to Sunday, at this rate.

Both the Vikings’ offense and defense ranked in the middle or toward the bottom in a lot of NFL categories. Inexperience due to nepotism in the coaching room, especially at the coordinator positions, needs to be investigated by the Wilfs.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

We’ve been waiting for Zimmer to hand the franchise keys over to the offense so they feel empowered to aggressively go out and win games when needed but it actually happened last Sunday. Cousins, Cook, Jefferson and Thielen were all entrusted, at some point in the 4th quarter and even during the final drive, to keep the football away from Justin Herbert and the LAC offense.

Even when put in some precarious long-yardage situations, the head coach kept his offense in attack mode and was paid off with a victory. When it was over, the Vikings’ offense had the ball for 15:32 of the final 21:25, including all but 4:53 of the 4th quarter.

The new and improved Minnesota Vikings close games by holding the football for 15.5 of the final 21.5 minutes.

(including all but 5 minutes in the 4th quarter) pic.twitter.com/duzL41xBgR

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 19, 2021

Once was nice but not enough.

But that was only one week. The Vikings are still a sub-.500 (4-5) football team. That’s because, until last weekend, they refused to take risks on offense when necessary. Instead, check-down passes short of the sticks and run plays in obvious passing situations became the norm.

Something changed last week. Even in the final drive, the offense was faced with multiple 1st, 2nd or 3rd down and long situations. Instead of playing it safe on offense, then punting and relying on defense, they targeted the sticks through the air and even went for it on 4th down to seal the game.

Most fans, myself included, need to see that offense-first mindset more than once before we will believe that Mike Zimmer & Co has finally seen the light. And even if the head coach continues to call on Klint Kubiak and Kirk Cousins to win him games, those two guys still have to prove they can deliver on a consistent basis.

Mike Zimmer, Kirk Cousins’ jobs is still on the line.

One big win did not save Mike Zimmer or Kirk Cousins’ job. Making the playoffs isn’t guaranteed to keep either guy employed under the Vikings umbrella. A deep playoff run is the only thing that will make Kirk and Mike safe for next season and beyond.

Both guys are under contract for next season but the Wilf’s have outs in either case. If Zimmer really did have an epiphany and what we saw last week from Cousins and the offense becomes the new expectation, then the playoffs go from “possible” to “likely”. And once in the tournament, there might not be a roster more talented than the one in Minnesota

Mike Zimmer yesterday on telling Kirk Cousins to be more aggressive: "Second-and-18 or whatever it is, he’s gotta get the ball down the field. We can’t throw five-yard throws."

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) November 15, 2021

If Mike falls back into his “just trust my defense” mentality or Kirk Cousins reverts back to “Check-down Charlie” then the losses will start piling back up. In that case, the Minnesota Vikings will be searching for a new head coach and QB this offseason.

Green Bay is a great test.

Lucky for fans and media, we’ll probably find out this weekend if the new Mike Zimmer is here to stay. The Green Bay Packers are coming to US Bank Stadium and winning will rely on more aggressiveness. Aaron Rodgers actually has a defense this season and the Vikings will need the pass and run game to beat one of the best teams in the NFC.

To beat Aaron Rodgers you need to keep the ball away from him in the 4th quarter. If you give him the ball late in a close game, Rodgers will beat you every time. He knows it, his offense knows it and your defense knows it.

We all expect this weekend’s game to be close. That means keeping Aaron Rodgers on the sideline late, just like Justin Herbert last week, is how you win. We’ll find out then if Zim trusts the offense and if Kirk trusts himself. Either way we should get a glimpse into what we can expect going forward.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Himself.

In a lot of ways, Kirk Cousins and Mike Zimmer are perfect for each other. The head coach has always preferred a risk-averse signal-caller who values the football more than his own ability to make plays. That was until the last week or two, when suddenly Zim was calling for more offensive aggressiveness too. At 3-5, the conservative “play not to lose” mentality clearly wasn’t working and I guess we should give Mike some credit for actually seeing it.

Mike Zimmer said he told Justin Jefferson earlier in the week to prepare for a lot of targets today.

“I know that he was very frustrated last week,” Zimmer said after Jefferson wasn’t a focal point of the offense in Baltimore.

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) November 15, 2021

On 4th down, Zimmer could've had MIN kick a 54-yard FG to go up 30-20. But if Greg Joseph would've missed it would've allowed LAC to tie with a TD and PAT (or win with a 2pt).

Zimmer didn't want to give LAC the ball back w/2+ min remaining. And that was the right call.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 15, 2021

Breaking Nature + Nurture Habits

Nobody really doubts that Kirk Cousins has the arm, the talent or the downfield vision to be a top QB. What he lacks is trust. He lacks trust in himself to deliver throws that other quarterbacks may not be able to make and he lacks trust that his wide receivers will make contested catches.

This isn’t an attack on #8’s confidence. I have no doubt he believes in himself and his offensive weapons. Taking chances in the passing game just conflicts with his risk-averse nature. Something that’s been compounded by years of nurturing in Mike Zimmer’s style of football.

But on Sunday in Los Angeles, with the help of attack-mode Klint Kubiak, Cousins looked like a newly freed man. Even in the riskiest moments, Kirk trusted his own accuracy, instincts and the talent that oozes out of his wide receivers. It didn’t matter the situation, Cousins was focused on pushing the ball downfield.

Kirk Cousins trusted his arm, his instincts and his receivers (instead of Zim's defense) vs the Chargers and the #Vikings won because of it. pic.twitter.com/Sb9FXbbNIc

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 18, 2021

Payoff

And guess what? He and the Minnesota Vikings were rewarded with a huge win that ended with a Kirk Cousins kneel-down. No nail-biting defensive possession to sweat through. No Justin Herbert come back. Just a stress-free victory formation with two minutes still left on the clock.

So if Zimmer, Kubiak and Kirk Cousins learned anything from last week, we should see continued aggressiveness going forward. Adam Thielen called for as much in Wednesday’s media availability.

Attack, attack, attack.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

That’s because, when either offense struggles, it’s for the same reasons. Both teams rely too heavily on their running games, no matter the score or situation and lack trust in their QB’s and passing game. Each has a plethora of offensive weapons that they underutilize week in and week out. And both head coaches prefer an old-school, run-first and dominate the clock style of football.

The #Vikings have targeted Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson 3 times since halftime.

They’ve been out scored 21-7 since that point.

The ineptitude of Kubiak and Zimmer knows no bounds.

— Ted (@tlschwerz) November 7, 2021

This #Gophers offense looks lost so far.

Their three leading receivers, (Chris Autman-Bell, Mike Brown-Stephens and Dylan Wright) have combined for ZERO targets today.

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) November 6, 2021

Fleck and Zimmer are the same guy (on the field)

PJ Fleck and Mike Zimmer might be complete opposite personalities when engaging with media or going about their daily lives. But once the whistle blows and they’re standing on a sideline, they become the same exact person.

If either Minnesota football team jumps out to a lead, both head coaches will put the aerial offensive game plan on ice, in hopes of running opponents out of stadiums. That was on display last Sunday when the Vikings jumped out to a 17-3 first half lead vs the Ravens and ended up losing in overtime.

If either team falls behind, like the Gophers did 0-14 vs Illinois last weekend, there’s next to no chance they’re able to throw their way back into it. Both offenses take way too long to flip the switch into “oh shit” mode, instead of opening the throttle whenever necessary.

Neither will abandon the run-first game plan until the 4th quarter, which PJ Fleck admitted after their loss last week and Zimmer has mentioned countless times before.

Fleck says that he thought they could run their offense until about 9 minutes left, when they went to their 2 minute offense.

I’d like to sign up for said 2 minute offense as the new 60 minute offense.

— Dan Owen (@DanOwenMN) November 6, 2021

Deny or Lie

That’s why both teams struggle in the same ways. Their offenses are too fucking predictable and boring. Fans know it, media knows it… but the head coaches and offensive coordinators for either club either deny there’s a problem or they act just as befuddled as the rest of us. I’m not sure which I hate more.

PJ Fleck told media this week that the Gopher offense and its game planning is fine. The problem is costly mistakes at crucial moments. But he fails to recognize the reason those mistakes are so crucial is because of PJ’s refusal to trust Tanner Morgan’s arm when he needs to. If you ALWAYS need a positive game script to be successful, penalties and negative plays hurt way more.

Mike Zimmer and Klint Kubiak, on the other hand, have told us for weeks about the need to get more aggressive offensively. They have said the same things this week. But it’s all just lip service. Because when rubber meets the road and the game hangs in the balance, they’ll choose the cautious approach every time, if it’s an option. Just look at last week in overtime.

Kirk Cousins’ arm forced OT on the final Vikings drive in regulation. Then, Anthony Barr made the defensive play of the game, batting a Lamar Jackson pass into the air and then catching it himself on the way down for an INT.

All Minnesota needed was 30 yards and a field goal. Instead, they went three-and-out: short pass, run, short pass, punt. After the game, Zimmer complained about the overtime offense, as if he doesn’t have a headset on that reaches the offensive coordinator. Come on Mike, we’re not that stupid.

Mike Zimmer expressed frustration in the offense, specifically that they failed to even pick up a first down after the Vikings’ two interceptions. Those two drives were brutal and costly.

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) November 7, 2021

Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator or Quarterback?

Here’s where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Gophers’ offenses align once again. Nobody’s completely sure who deserves the most blame. There’s an obvious trust issue in the passing game for both teams. But whose fault is it?

Should Mike Zimmer and PJ Fleck trust their offensive coordinators more? Or should their offensive coordinators trust their QB’s more? Maybe, its Kirk Cousins and Tanner Morgan who are playing too conservative by nature… It’s possible, given both quarterbacks have no problem handing off to running backs way to often and both have been known to choose the more cautious short throws, even if deeper routes might be open.

Morgan doesn’t have the talent or statistics to be in the same conversation as Cousins. Still, Tanner has thrown for big numbers in the past (2019) and, much like Kirk with the Vikings, is a team veteran in his 5th year. Why pay Kirk Cousins $35 million if you don’t trust him. Why make Tanner Morgan the face of your program if you aren’t sure he can get the job done?

More thoughts on the Gophers’ need for a QB change in the second half: Morgan seems like a great guy but sticking with a QB you clearly don’t trust makes no sense. It’s only 14-0 and a QB change has the potential to provide a spark for an offense that is being shut down.

— Judd Zulgad (@jzulgad) November 6, 2021

Zero trust in Kirk Cousins on those last two plays. We can all debate whether that’s warranted, but the main goal of those last two play calls was to avoid a mistake.

— Phil Mackey ???? (@PhilMackey) November 1, 2021

2x the frustration

Minnesota football fans are pissed off this week and for good reason. If you’re a fan of one team, you’ve been watching the same problems slap you in the face week after week. If you’re unfortunate enough to be a fan of both teams, then you’ve been hit with 2x the frustration on the same fucking topic. It’s like a bad offensive dream that you can’t escape.

Oh, and both head coaches suck at using their timeouts. That’s another commonality they can share over a glass of wine.

Maddening.

Eric Strack | (Angry) Minnesota Sports Fan

The giant mess this team has become doesn’t trail back to one person or one part of the team. Bad play calling on offense, defensive injuries, a cautious quarterback and a very inconsistent offensive line shows that there’s plenty of blame to go around.

But in professional sports, failure leads to change and it’s fair to say change is probably overdue for this iteration of the purple and gold. What exactly can the Minnesota Vikings change right now and who should, if anybody, take the fall for the slow start?

Fire Klint Kubiak?

The Vikings first 15 scripted plays each week are excellent and consistently lead to points. Week in and week out those first few possessions seem to inject the fanbase with hope that Klint Kubiak has figured things out. The offense feels so effortless and well-managed. But then we’re consistently left disappointed after the first quarter.

Vikings points per quarter (NFL ranks):

1st qtr – 7th
2nd qtr – 14th
3rd qtr – 12th
4th qtr – 30th

So, basically, once the Vikings move beyond scripted, planned plays — once the game becomes more improvisational — the offense sputters.

— Phil Mackey ???? (@PhilMackey) November 1, 2021

The shine early and suck later trend continued in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The first few offensive drives were excellent and the Vikings quickly jumped out to a commanding 14-3 lead. But from that point on, the offense was stagnant until the final drive in regulation. That’s when Cousins had to lead a last-minute TD drive just to force overtime. And once overtime hit, the offense ground to a halt again.

If you strip away Klint’s last name, would he still be offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings? No. Our OC, who had never called plays in his coaching career until this season, coordinates this offense because his dad was the guy who sat in his chair last season. We had hope that it might work out but it hasn’t.

Fire Mike Zimmer?

One damning note to me: On third down in OT, Kirk Cousins said the Vikings had all longer developing routes and pressure got to him before the routes opened. But against a team famous for blitzing, how do you not give Cousins at least one route that could be open quickly.

— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) November 7, 2021

But Klint Kubiak is still very young and might turn into a great OC someday. For all we know, he might be a great OC right now. Even with all of Klint’s downfalls, he’s not the real problem and can’t be blamed for the restrictions his offense is forced to operate under. Zimmer is a defensive head coach who hates Kubiak’s side of the football.

Besides, it was Zimmer who wanted to hire Kubiak. Why? A first time offensive coordinator is more likely to be subordinate to however Mike wants to run the offense.

Adapt or die.

Mike Zimmer is a defensive guru (so we’re told) who’s coaching a team with incredibly explosive weapons on offense. That should be a recipe for success. But instead, Zimmer can’t adapt to the strengths of his team like we’ve seen Mike Tomlin do in Pittsburgh or Bill Belichick do in New England.

Instead, we get an old-school offensive game script that’s built to rely on defense in an offensive world. Every week, the Vikings build an early lead, play too conservatively to hold that lead, then blow the lead, in hopes the offense can bail them out in the final moments.

Sometimes, they’ve pulled out victories. Other times, like in their last two games vs the Cowboys and Ravens, they haven’t. If the Minnesota Vikings cannot win the way that Mike Zimmer wants them to then I guess they just won’t win at all.

Win the turnover battle and score a special teams touchdown but still lose.

Thank you, Mike Zimmer.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 7, 2021

Before today, teams with a +2 Turnover differential, a Kickoff Return TD, and a 7-point lead at the start of the 4th Quarter were 110-4-1 (.961). Those teams won 96% of the time.

The Vikings loss to the Ravens makes those teams 110-5-1.

— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) November 8, 2021

Especially this weekend vs Baltimore, the Minnesota Vikings did just about everything necessary to win a football game. Yet, a plethora of late-game coaching decisions instead meant their second-consecutive loss. That’s why John Harbaugh’s Ravens are (always) a playoff team and the Zimmer’s Vikings are not.

When?

When the Minnesota Vikings decide to fire Zimmer should depend upon how the players are feeling about him. It’s unlikely ownership wants to make such a drastic change midseason but if players like Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson become visibly frustrated then it’s time to rip the band aid off.

We’re currently at the stage where the agents of star players are speaking out.

I represent a lot of Vikings and I cannot watch this. It’s painful

— Blake Baratz (@blakebaratz) November 1, 2021

Playoffs or no playoffs, the Minnesota Vikings should part with Mike Zimmer. If he continues losing it will happen sooner rather than later. And let’s be honest, if he goes, Klint Kubiak probably does too.

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

You’ve heard of teams “beating themselves” before. But tonight, the Vikings were beaten by their own coaching staff. Most notably, their head coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak. But let’s be honest, Zimmer is running the defense and controlling the offense.

He may not be calling the plays on that side of the ball but he dictates the type of game they play, which is one of extreme caution. Zimmer isn’t about to trust a rookie OC to take full control of the offense and it shows. On the field, Kubiak continues to get outcoached by defensive coordinators, especially as games progress. It’s like they’re playing chess while Klint plays checkers. Last night, the Dallas defense looked like they were in the Vikings huddle.

Minnesota’s uber-talented roster and too loyal for their own good fanbase deserves better. So does the Wilf family.

Vikings points per quarter (NFL ranks):

1st qtr – 7th
2nd qtr – 14th
3rd qtr – 12th
4th qtr – 30th

So, basically, once the Vikings move beyond scripted, planned plays — once the game becomes more improvisational — the offense sputters.

— Phil Mackey ???? (@PhilMackey) November 1, 2021

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Mike Zimmer’s ultra-conservative game plan and Klint Kubiak’s horrific play calling are why the #Vikings don’t have 5+ wins. Teams would die for a Jefferson, Cook, Thielen trio and Minnesota wastes them

— Payne Insider (@PayneInsider) November 1, 2021

Mike Zimmer still doesn’t know how to head coach

Mike Zimmer has done some egregious things during his tenure as the Minnesota Vikings head coach. Hell, I wrote about his stupidity just a couple weeks ago. His end of half management has become a running joke amongst the fanbase. But he took his game management incompetence to another level on Sunday night.

It started in the first half, when Zimmer decided not to use his final timeout with 25 seconds remaining after a Kirk Cousins scramble couldn’t get out of bounds. Rookie wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette didn’t know where to line up and the clock kept running. By the time Cousins finally snapped the ball and threw an incompletion, the game clock was down to 00:01 left in the half. Zim’s final timeout still in his pocket.

Would the head coach ever forget to call a timeout if his defense needed one? Funny you ask because he provided an answer at the end of the 2nd half.

It gets worse

With under two minutes left to play, the Vikings leading 16-13 and Dallas threatening to score, Zimmer’s lack of game management skills reared its ugly head again. This time, the incompetence hit all-time peak levels. Mike was determined to keep the Cowboy offense out of the endzone because he was hoping to force them into a game-tying field goal with OT as the worst-possible outcome.

Good idea. Except that Zim was so concerned about Cooper Rush scoring a TD on that final drive, he called all three of his timeouts in a two-play stretch. He called so many TO’s that the refs flagged him for delay of game. Turns out it’s illegal to call two-straight without a play being run in-between.

That delay of game call turned 3rd and 16 into 3rd and 11 for Dallas. They’d pick up the first down thanks to poor tackling by Anthony Barr, forcing Zimmer to call his final timeout. The next play was a touchdown from Rush to Cooper, which left Kirk Cousins 51 seconds and ZERO timeouts to drive the offense down the field and score a TD… or lose.

Incredible sequence.

Mike Zimmer attempts to call back-to-back timeouts. Dallas moves from 3rd-and-16 to 3rd-and-11, opening the door for them to pick up a first down.

Then the TD.

— Phil Mackey ???? (@PhilMackey) November 1, 2021

Kirk: “Hey Zim, save me a timeout or two so I can go win thi… nevermind.” pic.twitter.com/IvQDVhlSxR

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 1, 2021

They’d lose, falling to 3-4 and all but handing the NFC North to the 7-1 Packers. This was supposed to be the first game of a grueling 4-game stretch. It’s unlikely they’ll face backups, going forward though. And good luck against Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers if you can’t beat Cooper Rush at home.

Not with Mike Zimmer managing games and Klint Kubiak calling plays

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan