Mothman wrote: ↑Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:52 am
In short, I still think one of the reasons discussions of the Vikes are often so contentious is because in this century, the team has spent so much time existing in a somewhat undefined state, rarely elite, rarely awful, where it's easy to see the glass as half full or half empty because it's not clear. Are they on the way up? Are they on the way down? Are they treading water?
They are the definition of mediocrity IMHO, at least since the year 2000.
Their most successful season since 2000 was 2009 IMHO where they had an imbecile for a head coach, but the GM had stocked the team with enough elite talent that they literally were missing just that spark at QB, whom they found in a Brett Favre with a chip on his shoulder after parting with the Packers on less than good terms. That team finished with one fewer win than the 2017 team, but in my view was a far better team that could have (and maybe should have) gone to the Superbowl.
That team couldn't maintain that level of success despite keeping many of the pieces intact the following year, mostly because said QB's heart wasn't in another run. He gave everything he had left in 2009 and, after getting beat to a pulp by the Saints as well as beating the Packers twice that year, just wanted to retire. Favre played 2010 not for himself as he did in 2009, but for others, and it showed. And the team regressed with him, because without Favre's on-field player leadership to overcome the incompetence of the head coach and the lack of on-field leadership from anyone besides Favre, that Vikings team topped out.
If we look at the other successful season in 2017, that team ended up starting a 3rd-string journeyman QB who literally had nothing to lose. Case Keenum was like a 14 year old who just got the keys to his Dad's Lamborghini and his parents were out of town for the week. Once again, supremely talented team that just needed a turbocharger at QB and an on-field fearless leader to get the engine humming, and hum they did right up until Case finally realized he had something to play for and he started playing like it. Prior to that he played a lot like Favre in 2009, footloose and fancy free and wasn't afraid to sling it and make a mistake or two along the way.
If you ask me what's wrong with the team, both right now and in fact throughout most of this century, it's
A) Lack of real player leadership despite plenty of player talent, some of it truly elite at times
B) Failure of creativity, mostly at the coaching level and some at the GM level that has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at critical moments
Those are the two things holding the team back in my view. An example at the GM level would be the drafting of Ponder, and then the subsequent failure to consider drafting Russel Wilson because they had already drafted Ponder. Was Ponder really a special talent at QB? Did he have a higher ceiling than he'd already realized? Had he demonstrated that the jump pass under pressure was the next Big Thing at the QB position in the pros?
Yes, the Vikings drafted Ponder and passed on Wilson. Earlier in the century they traded Moss and then used the extra pick they got for Moss to try to replace Moss (which was impossible), passing on Rodgers not once, but TWICE, in that draft. Note - Rodgers is still playing and still playing at a high enough level. The Packers continue to enjoy stability at the QB position.
An example at the coaching level is Mike Zimmer. Yes, Zimmer is an example of this. Why is he an example of this? Because plenty of head coaches have rebuilt teams and gotten them farther in the playoffs faster than Zimmer has (or will, IMHO). What do I base that on? I base it on the relatively simple fact that despite having been promoted to head coach, Zimmer still functions as the team's defacto defensive coordinator and has every year he's been head coach. We still talk about the defense as Zimmer's defense, and the player choices out there are Zimmer's choices. A coordinator at the pro level is charged with managing a distinct aspect of a team. When said coordinator gets promoted to head coach, he is charged with managing the overall team. Said head coach should be empowered to hire his own coordinators who he can then work with to design a team and an approach that can win games and hopefully get the team to the promised land. Whenever a coordinator refuses to cede control over an aspect of a team, that tells me said coordinator isn't doing the job he was hired to do, but is stuck trying to do the job he did while the job he needs to do isn't getting done as well as it could be done. Teams hire head coaches to be head coaches, and coordinators to work with head coaches to design and implement. Zimmer has never stopped being a defensive coordinator IMHO.
So to sum things up, if you look at a team like the 49ers, it's clearly possible to turn things around quickly with the right people in the right places. You don't even need an elite QB to do it. You do need a GM that understands the role of a GM and is capable of spotting the right opportunities at the right times and is willing to pull the trigger on said opportunities. You need a head coach who has a strong vision as to what the team needs to be able to do and how he can get the players he has as close as possible to being able to implement that consistently, and then you also need strong on-field player leaders who can hold their teammates accountable and command their respect, mostly by the example they themselves set on and off the field. Look what the 49ers have. On defense they have Richard Sherman. If you don't think Sherman has a huge amount to do with the performance of the 49er secondary this year, think again. Yes, he's one guy, but he's a force multiplier not just due to his skills, but his leadership as well. Contrast Sherman's influence with any of the Vikings DBs. The Vikings undoubtedly have talented DBs, but player leaders? No, I don't see that in the Vikings secondary. I see a lot of talented guys making a lot of excuses and pointing a lot of fingers.
On offense the 49ers have George Kittle, a former 5th round TE who is blocking and knocking and catching the socks off pretty much everyone. Doesn't care about his stats. He'll do whatever he's asked to do and he'll do it well and quietly. He'll sacrifice his personal glory for the team. Contrast that with Stefon Diggs. Diggs is probably more talented. He's also nowhere near the type of player leader that a guy like Kittle is.
You get those three elements in place, you win. It's as simple as that, and in my view so far in the 2000's the Vikings have been average to below average in both.
I think Spielman isn't terrible. He's done a good job of evaluating talent. He's just missed on finding talented player leaders, so the teams he has built are almost universally missing that special something and everyone, probably including him, knows it.
Zimmer will be a defensive coordinator until the day he retires in my view. He has not stepped into the head coach role and I don't see that changing. Good head coaches are out there and coordinators who can become good head coaches are out there.
And as far as the players go, in a diva league filled with highly paid athletes who talk about moving on, learning from this last game, yada yada yada, until the Vikings find some guys who are capable of telling it like it is, not to be divisive or cruel or that have bad attitudes, but that tell it like it is to everyone else and, most importantly, to themselves, we'll continue to be treated to seasons of highlight reel plays that ultimately culminate in disappointing finishes.
Want a return to a decade of dominance? Find the next Jim Finks. Find the next Bud Grant. Find the next Joe Kapp. Yeah, you can win plenty with less-heralded guys who just play authentically and really, really care about their teammates and the outcome of games and who aren't full of the BS they feed themselves and try to feed everyone else about why they failed.