John DeFilippo has vote of confidence from coach Mike Zimmer

While many on the internet are calling for Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo to be fired, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has faith in the offensive play caller.

Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune reports that Zimmer stands behind DeFilippo and says that he is “doing a good job.” While Zimmer may be saying that he is doing a good job, the numbers say otherwise. The Vikings are ranked 16th in the NFL in yards with an average of 333.7, 18th in points this season, and only throwing about 67.4%. And the run game hasn’t been much to right home about either. Versus the New England Patriots, they had 95 yards on 13 rushing attempts.

While Zimmer has given DeFilippo a vote of confidence, he is possibly making small adjustments to how he will move forward with his play calling. Zimmer has said that he might give more of the in-game adjustments to defensive coordinator George Edwards. “I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet. So we’ll just have to see. You know, when things are going smooth, it’s no issue. Then I can go talk to the offense all I want. When things are helter skelter on defense, I’m spending a little bit more time with them, or with the special teams. So it’s just part of it.”

Despite the unease of offense this season Zimmer insists that the lines of communication are open between him and DeFilippo. “We talk all the time. We talk about the things I think are important,” Zimmer said. “And I think he tries to do those.”

This season has been a reminder that football is fickle, and the Vikings are well, the Vikings. But there is a still a sliver of hope for Minnesota to get into the playoffs via the wild card race. Joe Nelson of Bring me the News Sports says that the Vikings are now in sixth place in the NFL playoff race. The Vikings are still in good shape but winning against the Seattle Seahawks is a must.

But Zimmer isn’t worried. He just needs the Vikings to stay on task and focus on winning. “We’ve just got to go out there and play this game,” Zimmer said. “We’ve got four games in front of us — all games that we can win if we play good — and if we do that, then everything will be happy again.”