How do you like having a coach who says after a loss that it is not the end of the world

[VikingLord]

Going 12-4 and getting the WC... damn, that's depressing.

If the Vikings finish 12-4 this year I'll be shocked.

10-6 is most likely, and that might not get them in. The Rams are right there, as are the Bears.

[Dames]

Going 12-4 and getting the WC... damn, that's depressing.

If the Vikings finish 12-4 this year I'll be shocked.

10-6 is most likely, and that might not get them in. The Rams are right there, as are the Bears.

I really hope you're shocked then.

If we finish 10-6 with the way our our schedule is laid out, I'll be pretty disappointed. I can see us dropping 1 vs GB or Chi if we screw it up, but we should be favored all all 4 remaining games really. If we drop 2 of them, it's a bad way to end a really good season, and that's not how we've played that last 8 games. Even in the 2 losses, we've played pretty well overall.

[TSonn]

I haven't actually heard the comments, I've just read them, but it seems to me to be his attempt to distract people from the fact that his defense laid an egg and the team once again was not prepared for a big game. Yeah we lost this one but hey look over here we still are heavy favorites for a wild card (please ignore that we would've been favorites to win the North had we won this big game and my defense held them under 30 points).

[S197]

I don't care what he says in press conferences, I care what he does in the two weeks leading up to the biggest game of the season.

[VikingLord]

If the Vikings finish 12-4 this year I'll be shocked.

10-6 is most likely, and that might not get them in. The Rams are right there, as are the Bears.

I really hope you're shocked then.

If we finish 10-6 with the way our our schedule is laid out, I'll be pretty disappointed. I can see us dropping 1 vs GB or Chi if we screw it up, but we should be favored all all 4 remaining games really. If we drop 2 of them, it's a bad way to end a really good season, and that's not how we've played that last 8 games. Even in the 2 losses, we've played pretty well overall.

I hope I'm shocked too, but I still don't get a warm fuzzy feeling about this team's ability to step up when it counts on either side of the ball.

The most likely finish is 10-6 IMHO. Vikes have been good at home and I expect that to continue, but could see them drop another to the Packers or Bears, and still see them struggling on the road against the Chargers.

[Maelstrom88]

To be fair, Seattle has the number 3 offense in the league. You had to expect them to score points. The defense certainly needs to be better but give Seattle it's due. They have invested heavily in the offense the last few off-seasons and the defense is starting to show cracks because of this. Zimmer needs to coach better for sure but players need to play better as well or be on the bench. If Rhodes can't cover in man anymore they need to play more zone or bench him.

[psjordan]

This isn't Detroit man. I absolutely believe they are all trying to win a trophy, and continue to try it every year. It's like you are implying that we are going-thru-the-motions in this organization.

Nope, not at all what I'm implying. I'm stating I think this staff has a "realistic probable ceiling" with the way they coach. Of course everyone is trying. Doesn't mean everyone is great at what they do. And I hope you're not implying DET is going through the motions, because they surely are not.

Talking about canning the coach with our record just seems absurd, BTW.

Again I'm talking about ceilings, not canning. It's why I stated you never know if a move is for the better or for the worse. Are we better off (what I consider) gambling that this staff will make it all happen, or roll the dice on a new entity? 7-8 out of 10 organizations would take this staff.

[808vikingsfan]

Anyone catch his presser today? Zimmer said something interesting when asked how important a backup QB is with experience. He said something to the fact that you want both QBs to get along, you don't want the #2 trying to compete for the #1 job. I wonder if that what was the case with Sloter (or at least part of it).

[Maelstrom88]

Anyone catch his presser today? Zimmer said something interesting when asked how important a backup QB is with experience. He said something to the fact that you want both QBs to get along, you don't want the #2 trying to compete for the #1 job. I wonder if that what was the case with Sloter (or at least part of it).

Bill Walsh thought differently. I wonder who the better coach is?

[Thaumaturgist]

My uninformed, uneducated, unqualified opinion is that competition should be a good thing. Undermining is bad, but competition is good.

[J. Kapp 11]

Well, how many of our DB's have gotten noticeably better since they arrived?

All of them have.

Xavier Rhodes was a talented penalty machine when he came into the league. He was coached into an All-Pro. Trae Waynes could stick with a guy but had no idea where the ball was. He was coached up and became a solid corner who only gave up more completions than Rhodes because teams were afraid to target Rhodes. Mack Alexander was a head case who couldn't get on the field. He's become our best corner, even though he plays the slot. Harrison Smith started right away, but it's inarguable that he got better. Zimmer was smart enough to use him all over the field, and he could do that because his corners could cover. Anthony Harris? He's the poster child for improvement. All of that is coaching. Zimmer is famous for coaching up players, especially DBs.

The problem isn't whether players got better. The problem is that those same players, especially Rhodes, have regressed.

Xavier Rhodes simply can't be trusted in man coverage anymore. In years past, you could put him on an island and do all kinds of exotic things because you knew he wasn't going to get beat. Now we have to alter other areas to cover for his poor cover skills. Is that coaching? Certainly doubt it. Good technique is good technique.

I think the problem with Rhodes is that he's trying to play the way he did in 2016, but he doesn't have the same athleticism. Instead of adjusting his game for age, like Terrence Newman did, he's trying to be the same old Rhodes Closed. Just like Darrelle Revis before him, this big, fast, physical corner has lost a couple of steps in a big hurry. The only way he's going to stay in this league is to adjust his technique. Look at the 60-yard TD. He was furious at Harrison Smith. Why? Smith was up on the line of scrimmage, threatening to blitz. If I recall correctly, he DID blitz. How could Rhodes expect help? It was obvious to everybody that Smith was not going to be deep. The truth is that Rhodes messed up and played zone when he should have been playing man.

That could possibly be coaching. But how are we to know?

Another issue is the defensive line. As recently as last year, they could get plenty of pressure rushing four. Against Seattle, they generated FIVE total pressures -- only 12% of dropbacks. Can't win that way. Again, that seems to be age vs. coaching. Everson Griffen has all but disappeared. Notice how much of Stephen Weatherly we saw on Monday? That was because Griffen was ineffective. Linval Joseph is hurt, but even before the surgery, he wasn't the same as he used to be. Danielle Hunter is more of a monster than ever, but opponents just double him because nobody else can beat their man.

When you can't pressure the QB, it makes it all that much tougher for the DBs to cover receivers.

This defense has gotten old ... fast. Blame the front office, if you want. But coaching? What is Zimmer supposed to do? Guys on the Game Chat were all calling for him to blitz. What if he had? Russell Wilson would have carved up this secondary, which is playing more zone than we've ever seen because THEY CAN'T COVER. That's why you're seeing so many completed passes.

Look, I've been open in my liking Mike Zimmer, so I admit I'm a bit biased. Is he the perfect coach? Probably not. Is he among the better coaches in the league? Yeah, I think so. But he's going to have to turn into a genius to get this defensive unit to play at a championship level. Some key players are simply getting old and slow. The unfortunate truth is that this defense's championship window was probably 2016 and 2017. It's closing fast.

[Dames]

My uninformed, uneducated, unqualified opinion is that competition should be a good thing. Undermining is bad, but competition is good.

I've always felt that way too. You want the guy leading to be unafraid of competition too. Some guys handle it better than others. Confidence goes a long ways in that department. Kirk doesn't seem like a guy who is scared of that. He dealt with that in Washington the entire time.

I get why you want them to work together, but competing is a healthy thing usually. I suppose the risk is... if you had the Cousins from last year, and there was a legit option on the bench, it could have caused some unrest in the team. That's not great either.

[Purple Domination]

I like having Zimmer a lot.