Vikings @ Saints post game

[CharVike]

Here's a quote from Zim after Joseph chocked last year and duffed an easy FG for the win at AZ.
“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game. Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

So what?

Did Mike Zimmer ever encourage Greg Joseph directly? Did he give him a game ball when he kicked a 50-yarder to beat Detroit on the last play? No. He did idiotic things like stop kicking extra points because he didn't trust his kicker. Think Greg Joseph would have made a 47-yard game winner AFTER missing an extra point under Mike Zimmer? Ha!

And how about Daniel Carlson, who has now made something like 35 straight field goals? Why did he wilt like a month-old flower under Zimmer but thrive as soon as he got away from him?

Who cares what hair-brained quote Mike Zimmer made at a press conference? He hated press conferences almost as much as he hated kickers. What did Mike Zimmer ever do as a COACH to make his kickers better? The answer: NOTHING. There is no argument ... Mike Zimmer was hell on kickers.

Zim was hell because in his early 70s style a FG kicker is his most important offensive weapon. His 1st playoff game which was a 10-9 loss his kicker Blair Walsh who put up every point also duffed a short game winner. Every kicker we ever had knew he was the point maker. That's pressure and I'm sure Zim made sure they knew the game was always in their hands. He had no other choice. It was his style. Play D, pound the rock and kick FGs. Keep the pressure on until they get use to it. It didn't work.

[StumpHunter]

Changing the culture is Step One toward making the Vikings a Super Bowl contender.

That I absolutely agree with. Changing the culture to a winning one with a championship mindset is absolutely step one. Hopefully that is what KAM and KOC have brought to the Vikings.

[J. Kapp 11]

Changing the culture is Step One toward making the Vikings a Super Bowl contender.

That I absolutely agree with. Changing the culture to a winning one with a championship mindset is absolutely step one. Hopefully that is what KAM and KOC have brought to the Vikings.

And there’s a long way to go. It seems attitudes are better, but the team has a ways to go schematically and from an execution standpoint. Better, younger players at some key positions would also help a lot.

I’m just happy that players appear to be buying in.

[VikingsVictorious]

You don't know what Zimmer did or didn't do with Joseph directly. None of us do. Most of your takes are very solid and well thought out, but Zimmer was not the big bad boogey man you are making him out to be. You don't know what Zimmer would have done. None of us do.


Why not just listen to what Carlson himself had to say about it:



He had a flaw in his kicking style, getting cut gave him a chance to fix it, and now he is a better kicker. Ideally the team would have put him on the practice squad and let him try to fix his issues there, but up until that point not 1 kicker had ever been placed on a practice squad.



This is what I mean about you making him out to be a boogey man. Zimmer didn't make kickers bad, he didn't intentionally hold back the offense, he didn't hunt people for sport or murder puppies. He was just a HC who outstayed his welcome in MN and who was rightfully fired after failing for the past 4 seasons. His time is up here and his impact on the team is non-existent. Time to move on and look at what KOC can do better to make this team a SB contender.

Well, you're just wrong.

I've proven it in another post, where I cite the lengthy article by Ty Dunne about the culture during Zimmer's last couple of years and the culture now. Nothing I've said here is out of line.

This isn't some stupid article in Vikings Territory or another inane website, with articles authored by some dude living in his parents' basement. Tyler Dunne is one of the best, most respected deep-dive journalists in sports. In these long-form articles, he quotes many players and coaches, including Terrence Newman, a Zimmer favorite. The atmosphere was such that nobody enjoyed going to work. That's directly from the article. You called him the boogey man, not me. But if the shoe fits ...

You're right. Zimmer wore out his welcome. He was rightly fired. But he also created an environment that had no chance of succeeding, given his horrible disposition and extreme paranoia. He hated all quarterbacks not named Teddy, and he couldn't stand kickers. You can deny it if you want, but I'm thoroughly convinced.

But let's move past Zimmer and talk about what O'Connell did. He picked up his kicker after he missed an important extra point. That's good coaching, no matter how you look at it. And y'know what? Changing the culture is Step One toward making the Vikings a Super Bowl contender. Guys love coming to work now. Again, citing Ty Dunne's article. Frankly, I'm excited to see where KOC takes this team. It's not "there" yet. Far from it. But the team is 3-1 with a pair of one-score victories. I'd say that's a good start.

He's a deep dive Journalist? Stump should love him.
Sorry I couldn't resist.

[VikingsVictorious]

I think Tua will be cleared to play against Vikings

Tua won't back by then. He'll be lucky and probably a fool to ever play the game again.

He may be back by then. You may or may not be right about him playing again.

[phantom]

Well, you're just wrong.

I've proven it in another post, where I cite the lengthy article by Ty Dunne about the culture during Zimmer's last couple of years and the culture now. Nothing I've said here is out of line.

This isn't some stupid article in Vikings Territory or another inane website, with articles authored by some dude living in his parents' basement. Tyler Dunne is one of the best, most respected deep-dive journalists in sports. In these long-form articles, he quotes many players and coaches, including Terrence Newman, a Zimmer favorite. The atmosphere was such that nobody enjoyed going to work. That's directly from the article. You called him the boogey man, not me. But if the shoe fits ...

You're right. Zimmer wore out his welcome. He was rightly fired. But he also created an environment that had no chance of succeeding, given his horrible disposition and extreme paranoia. He hated all quarterbacks not named Teddy, and he couldn't stand kickers. You can deny it if you want, but I'm thoroughly convinced.

But let's move past Zimmer and talk about what O'Connell did. He picked up his kicker after he missed an important extra point. That's good coaching, no matter how you look at it. And y'know what? Changing the culture is Step One toward making the Vikings a Super Bowl contender. Guys love coming to work now. Again, citing Ty Dunne's article. Frankly, I'm excited to see where KOC takes this team. It's not "there" yet. Far from it. But the team is 3-1 with a pair of one-score victories. I'd say that's a good start.

He's a deep dive Journalist? Stump should love him.
Sorry I couldn't resist.

What ever sells papers