FanPost

4 Downs to 7-8: Listless & Little-Too-Late

1st Down: The way the Minnesota Vikings played in the first half against the Rams, one almost has to question whether the goal was "to win" as opposed to "not get embarrassed". As has happened so many times under the Mike Zimmer regime, the offense was as listless and conservative as it gets. It was almost as if after seeing Mattison break off a couple of nice (though not exactly game-changing) runs, Zimmer decided to play things close to the vest for the umpteenth time instead of actually looking like an offense that wanted to put points on the board. This despite Adam Thielen returning. I know everyone was shaking in their boots at the prospect of Aaron Donald getting numerous pass rush opportunities, but that doesn't excuse the putridity of the gameplan in that first half.

2nd Down: How many times from 2019+ has the offensive strategy played out exactly the way it did today. Vikings do nothing until they get down by enough points where: A. the defense backs off a bit; & B. The passing game is forced to kick into gear. At which point--because we actually have talented receivers on this club!--the Vikes make a comeback. I actually thought that Cook being out might force Kubiak & Zimmer to go to a more aggressive offensive approach, but I guess I should know better by now. Whether it is an extremely outdated/old-school scheme mindset or simply being conservative to mute criticism and save jobs (or some combination therein), this coaching staff just never seems to "get it". They cannot or will not lean into the fact that the team's best playmakers (and thus best chance to win) runs through Cousins' arm and the receiver's hands.

3rd Down: Truth be told, one could call this the best defensive performance of the season. Take away the punt return score, and the Purple defense held a surging LA club to 23 points. Not only that, but they did what all MN teams seem to be able to do--fluster Matthew Stafford into multiple mistakes (apparently regardless of the jersey on his back!). It was the defense that kept this game even marginally close into the late stages. None of it matters, this being a team game and all, but just giving credit when/where it is due.

4th Down: While watching this game, I kept thinking about the 2017 MN/LA matchup, where Sean McVay was the offensive wunderkind but got schooled by Zim on that day--setting up the Vikings' run to the NFC Championship Game that year. Not that this will really come as a surprise to anyone, but that Mike Zimmer no longer exists in any permutation. Like I said earlier, this may have been his best defensive play-calling effort of the season, but when the offense is so far gone as to hardly be considered a modern-day NFL participant for long stretches, I can't give him many benefits of the doubt. Each and every week, I continue to shake my head at and bemoan the third-and-behind-the-chains or goal-to-go-but-not-thrown-into-the-endzone passes. Without a major coaching shakeup, this team is going to lose Justin Jefferson (first mentally/emotionally, then physically) in the exact same manner as Stefon Diggs.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.