mansquatch wrote:You seem to forget that when Zim took the reigns in 2014 there was an almost overnight change in the defense from what we saw with Frasier, and with basically the same personnel outside of Barr.
That's simply not true. There were a bunch of new starters on that defense. Barr, Munnerlyn, Brinkley and Joseph were all added to the team that year. Several players whose development had begun under the previous coaching staff showed improvement and took on larger roles: Griffen, Rhodes and Floyd among them. It was a very different defense in terms of both personnel and scheme.
I also haven't forgotten that the offense was ranked 13th in the league the year before Zimmer took over. It's descended from there to dead last in the league. That's not exactly a feather in anybody's cap.
I'm not persuaded that management change is the answer. They've built a championship defense and the best ST return and coverage game in the league. Jeff Locke is having a career season. They look to have gone from one of the worst QB situations in the NFL to having two average to above average starters on the roster. The WR corps, which has been a complete disaster since 2010 is now looking like one of the deepest groups in the league. Adrian Petersen up until this season was widely considered the best RB in football. The two groups where they have failed have been Kicker and OL.
No wonder you're not persuaded. We have very different views of the team. We can debate whether they've built a championship-caliber defense or not but the defense is good. Unfortunately, the goal is to build a championship
team, not just a good-to-great defense. They have 1 healthy starting-caliber QB on the roster. The other has clearly been below average in my opinion and is seriously injured. We don't even know if he'll ever play again so I don't see how he can be considered part of a positive QB situation for the team at this point. Their coverage and return teams are good. Locke's okay. The offense as a whole is B-A-D.
They've literally succeeded at practically every other roster spot besides K and OL.
That failure on the OL has crippled the entire offense. That's very significant, especially since it was obvious a year ago that they needed to improve up front. They have good depth at WR but that unit is nothing special by NFL standards. The only reason the Vikes even have a solid starting QB right now is because they were fortunate enough to find a trade partner who would send them one for a #1 pick (and more) at the 11th hour. That wasn't accomplished through any sort of planning and while I give Spielman credit for his resourcefulness and improvisation, he's now spent 3 first round picks in 6 years on QBs and we
still don't know if the future of that position is secure, especially beyond 2017.
But we should toss them? I do not find this line of thinking persuasive in the least. It could be SOOOO much worse.
It could also be SOOO much better. That's the point.
By the way, I didn't say they should toss Zimmer. That would be up to a new GM but I do understand that a new GM might want to hire his own HC.
This year has been very disappointing, there is no doubt, but I like our chances with this leadership team. I'm really shocked after everyhting we saw with Tice, Childress, and Frasier that guys are so quick to quit on this group. We've seen bad. This group might not be winning the top seed in the NFC right now, but they are not bad.
They've looked pretty bad lately. The signs aren't healthy: OC inexplicably quit mid-season. The OL is a disaster and will be difficult to fix. The running game is performing at historically poor levels. The long term future of the QB position is still unsettled. They're on a 4 game losing streak during which the team has been out-coached more than once. The defense has been faltering. None of this is indicative of a team trending upward but it's not just about this season or even primarily about this season. It's about 10 years of mediocrity.
I don't expect much agreement on this. This season has just finally convinced me of something I've suspected for a while and I feel they have the wrong man for the job. If you're not persuaded, I understand.