I need to report a robbery. Gary Kubiak stole my junior high playbook from the 70’s. Also if I was Kirk I would take a major pay cut and escape somewhere with an O-line and a play caller.
Completely agree if they can get anything at all for him. He's due $9M next year so doesn't seem like there will be much interest. Just wait for Vikings to cut him and sign him for half that.
Same crap another day! Weird play calling in a pass first league, crappy line play especially in pass pro, zero pass rush, no run stop and poor clock management/decisions. I should just repost it every game. Keep losing we need higher picks to dig back out.
We’ve known all season how porous the 2020 Vikings defense is. What we didn’t know is how often the Vikings brain trust would run Dalvin Cook between the tackles, especially when starting must-score drives late in the game. I cannot fathom why any professional football coach would insist on banging a smallish back into the meat of any defense when starting drives. Dalvin Cook should be run off tackle 80 percent of the time, not inside half the time. He’s not Mike Alsott for God’s sake. Today, the Vikings got no production late in the game by giving the ball to Cook to start drives and asking him to run into the backs of his interior offensive linemen, who were pushed back consistently by the Bears interior linemen.
Many are going to focus on Irv Smith’s drop of an easy TD. In a close game, that drop became huge because the Vikings spent the rest of the game chasing the score. Danzler makes a spectacular pick late in the game to give the Vikings the ball on their own 20, with more than two minutes left in the 4th quarter and the chance to go on a game-winning drive. First play? Cook up the gut for no gain. My God people. Another swing pass to Cook, another run by Cook up the gut and the Vikings are looking at 4th and yard with two minutes left. We know what happened on 4th down—Kirk is not quick with his feet or mind in pressure situations—and his desperate pass to no one to a Bears field goal and a six-point lead.
Zimmer’s decision to go on 4th-and-1 in the first half from his 34-yard-line ultimately was the defining play that kept the Vikings chasing the score. It resulted in a Bears field goal and had the Vikings only needed three to tie on their last possession instead of TD, I liked their chances with Dan Bailey kicking like the pro he is.
My friends, I’ve had it with this Vikings regime. All season the lineup consisted of either rookies or career back-ups, with the exception of three starters on defense and five starters on offense. How does a general manger let that happen? I’m tired of Speilman’s bullshit trading for late round picks and a philosophy that only addresses the offensive line when the public demands it. I’m sick of not having a quarterback who can change a game instead of one who only manages a game, inconsistently at that. Mike Zimmer, Speilman, the whole regime have got to go. Give the new general manager a draft, the authority to hire his own head coach and let’s start fresh. Please.
Zingy and the Wilfs, pay attention to the following:
If you want mediocrity and a team that knows how to lose the close games against good teams, then keep the current regime. If you want a Super Bowl win, the management and head coach are out there, somewhere.
Fair assessment Rog. I think going for it on 4th was a reasonable decision but running behind a struggling offensive lineman was not a good choice. But in the macro, it feels like there are many, many fans feeling the same way as you about the current regime.
Yup. That defensive unit we fielded has 2 true starters, Smith & Wilson. Gladney & Dantzler are promising future starters. Everyone else are rotational players at best.
Love your metaphors, Matthew, and wholeheartedly agree with your analysis. A mediocre front four, injury decimated LB corp and a rookie back end is not a recipe for success. Add in an interior OL that specializes in “Look out” blocking, we suck. BTW, your podcast with Kollman is outstanding!
Matthew, first, I love your podcasts and reporting on the Vikings. Over the years I have become a member of the Cult of Coller.
I'm going to ask a phone book of questions here that I admit I posted in the Athletic weeks ago and I don't expect you to really answer, but it's cathartic. A primal post if you will.
If we're over the cap by $5M and it's going to come down how can we expect to resign any of our solid free agents like Harris or Odenigbo? With cap that bad won't we almost certainly have to cut solid players like Reiff and Rudolph? And, if Rudolph costs $9M and we don't throw to him, why would we pay that anyway? And won't we then have to hope rookies can fill the void just like this year?
Which brings us to, why do we pay so much for guys like Rudolph and Barr, very good players at their positions, but not All-Pros, though we pay them like that? $24M between the two of them next year could go a long way towards O or D line help, but their cap savings if cut is only half that.
Related to that, if Zimmer remains the coach, which seems likely, why draft top receivers anyway since he doesn't want to throw the ball and the O-line stinks in pass protection? This team has playmakers on offense at WR, TE, and RB, but it doesn't have an O-line that can maximize them or the QB. If you’re going to spend this much on Kirk, then why don’t you support him like your examples of Ryan and Goff (Wentz/Foles too). This team is a lot closer to being a great offense than a great defense so why don't they "lean into the Kirk" as you say and try to get a top five offense?
During games I always end up rooting for them to win, while before and after I take the long-view and want them to lose. Not so much to get a few spots higher in the draft, but to get a step closer to Zimmer getting fired. He's a great defensive coordinator, but he's not a head coach for this century of professional football. What will it take for Spielman--or the Wilfs--to move on from Zimmer and go all in on this offense the way the team did on defense in Zimmer’s first few years?
So…bad cap, bad contracts, Stone Age philosophy of the head coach, QB that needs a strong line to succeed: Unless Spielman's willing to invest differently and Zimmer has an epiphany on offense how is next year going to be anything but a repeat of this year?
Hey Rob... really appreciate all the thoughts... you'd draft a receiver with the assumption that there would be a shift to throwing more or at very least your third option when the opponent covers Thielen/Jefferson isn't an undrafted guy who runs a 4.7 40. Even if you're run-first, passing game will ultimately decide whether you win most of the time.
I think your Zimmer criticisms are fair and your assessment of changing how they distribute their cap space. We will have ALL sorts of time to dive into every aspect on this here newsletter. Can't thank you enough for the support!
I get the point on receiver except that it's too big of a leap to me to think Zimmer will change. Along the lines of a player you mentioned in the podcast with Eric Eager, it's like drafting Alexander Mattison who you're almost never going to play. Or years ago when all these draft analysts had the Vikings taking Ohio State's Darron Lee in the first round when they had Barr and Kendricks.
If the argument is that Thielen is a year older and Ja'Marr Chase is there for you at 11 then sure. Your draft isn't just for 2021 after all and I'll still hope that we're a year closer to life after Zimmer. I'll maintain though, that if magically both Penei Sewell and Chase are there when Vikings pick you're better off taking the LT along the lines of the "weakest" link argument you've expressed. This O-line drags down Cousins and by extension Jefferson, Thielen, and Smith Jr. in the passing game.
Now, it'd be dumb for Vikings to lock in on O-line early when a Chase or Paye or Rousseau could be there, but next year Reiff is almost certainly gone then you're needing to fill two positions on this line. If you can move Cleveland out to tackle then you better do something in free agency and the draft's first three rounds to help at guard, otherwise you're left with Dozier and Samia as your guards. And I've already seen that movie. It's a horror film.
Kirk has made a shitload of money. His kids and grandkids will never spend it all. It’s time for him to decide if he wants to win or not. He could make some concessions to bring in some pass protection. The lesson he needs to understand is that nobody remembers how much money you made; they remember how many games you won.
To aid him in that quest for victories, it would be nice to acquire a few offensive minded coaches who came up the ranks after the forward pass was legalized.
Forget tank for Trevor, that’s out. It’s time to dump for Daboll. How much better would the Vikings be with him at the helm? We’re stuck with a defensive guru who can’t stop any offense except his own.
I need to report a robbery. Gary Kubiak stole my junior high playbook from the 70’s. Also if I was Kirk I would take a major pay cut and escape somewhere with an O-line and a play caller.
I think these past few games are proof the Vikings need to trade Rudolph. Conklin and smith can hold down the TE position.
Definitely!! Like Rudy but time to move on.
Completely agree if they can get anything at all for him. He's due $9M next year so doesn't seem like there will be much interest. Just wait for Vikings to cut him and sign him for half that.
Same crap another day! Weird play calling in a pass first league, crappy line play especially in pass pro, zero pass rush, no run stop and poor clock management/decisions. I should just repost it every game. Keep losing we need higher picks to dig back out.
Great article Mathew your headline says it all
We’ve known all season how porous the 2020 Vikings defense is. What we didn’t know is how often the Vikings brain trust would run Dalvin Cook between the tackles, especially when starting must-score drives late in the game. I cannot fathom why any professional football coach would insist on banging a smallish back into the meat of any defense when starting drives. Dalvin Cook should be run off tackle 80 percent of the time, not inside half the time. He’s not Mike Alsott for God’s sake. Today, the Vikings got no production late in the game by giving the ball to Cook to start drives and asking him to run into the backs of his interior offensive linemen, who were pushed back consistently by the Bears interior linemen.
Many are going to focus on Irv Smith’s drop of an easy TD. In a close game, that drop became huge because the Vikings spent the rest of the game chasing the score. Danzler makes a spectacular pick late in the game to give the Vikings the ball on their own 20, with more than two minutes left in the 4th quarter and the chance to go on a game-winning drive. First play? Cook up the gut for no gain. My God people. Another swing pass to Cook, another run by Cook up the gut and the Vikings are looking at 4th and yard with two minutes left. We know what happened on 4th down—Kirk is not quick with his feet or mind in pressure situations—and his desperate pass to no one to a Bears field goal and a six-point lead.
Zimmer’s decision to go on 4th-and-1 in the first half from his 34-yard-line ultimately was the defining play that kept the Vikings chasing the score. It resulted in a Bears field goal and had the Vikings only needed three to tie on their last possession instead of TD, I liked their chances with Dan Bailey kicking like the pro he is.
My friends, I’ve had it with this Vikings regime. All season the lineup consisted of either rookies or career back-ups, with the exception of three starters on defense and five starters on offense. How does a general manger let that happen? I’m tired of Speilman’s bullshit trading for late round picks and a philosophy that only addresses the offensive line when the public demands it. I’m sick of not having a quarterback who can change a game instead of one who only manages a game, inconsistently at that. Mike Zimmer, Speilman, the whole regime have got to go. Give the new general manager a draft, the authority to hire his own head coach and let’s start fresh. Please.
Zingy and the Wilfs, pay attention to the following:
If you want mediocrity and a team that knows how to lose the close games against good teams, then keep the current regime. If you want a Super Bowl win, the management and head coach are out there, somewhere.
Fair assessment Rog. I think going for it on 4th was a reasonable decision but running behind a struggling offensive lineman was not a good choice. But in the macro, it feels like there are many, many fans feeling the same way as you about the current regime.
Yup. That defensive unit we fielded has 2 true starters, Smith & Wilson. Gladney & Dantzler are promising future starters. Everyone else are rotational players at best.
My bad 3 starters, forgot Harris.
Love your metaphors, Matthew, and wholeheartedly agree with your analysis. A mediocre front four, injury decimated LB corp and a rookie back end is not a recipe for success. Add in an interior OL that specializes in “Look out” blocking, we suck. BTW, your podcast with Kollman is outstanding!
Appreciate that man!
Matthew, first, I love your podcasts and reporting on the Vikings. Over the years I have become a member of the Cult of Coller.
I'm going to ask a phone book of questions here that I admit I posted in the Athletic weeks ago and I don't expect you to really answer, but it's cathartic. A primal post if you will.
If we're over the cap by $5M and it's going to come down how can we expect to resign any of our solid free agents like Harris or Odenigbo? With cap that bad won't we almost certainly have to cut solid players like Reiff and Rudolph? And, if Rudolph costs $9M and we don't throw to him, why would we pay that anyway? And won't we then have to hope rookies can fill the void just like this year?
Which brings us to, why do we pay so much for guys like Rudolph and Barr, very good players at their positions, but not All-Pros, though we pay them like that? $24M between the two of them next year could go a long way towards O or D line help, but their cap savings if cut is only half that.
Related to that, if Zimmer remains the coach, which seems likely, why draft top receivers anyway since he doesn't want to throw the ball and the O-line stinks in pass protection? This team has playmakers on offense at WR, TE, and RB, but it doesn't have an O-line that can maximize them or the QB. If you’re going to spend this much on Kirk, then why don’t you support him like your examples of Ryan and Goff (Wentz/Foles too). This team is a lot closer to being a great offense than a great defense so why don't they "lean into the Kirk" as you say and try to get a top five offense?
During games I always end up rooting for them to win, while before and after I take the long-view and want them to lose. Not so much to get a few spots higher in the draft, but to get a step closer to Zimmer getting fired. He's a great defensive coordinator, but he's not a head coach for this century of professional football. What will it take for Spielman--or the Wilfs--to move on from Zimmer and go all in on this offense the way the team did on defense in Zimmer’s first few years?
So…bad cap, bad contracts, Stone Age philosophy of the head coach, QB that needs a strong line to succeed: Unless Spielman's willing to invest differently and Zimmer has an epiphany on offense how is next year going to be anything but a repeat of this year?
Hey Rob... really appreciate all the thoughts... you'd draft a receiver with the assumption that there would be a shift to throwing more or at very least your third option when the opponent covers Thielen/Jefferson isn't an undrafted guy who runs a 4.7 40. Even if you're run-first, passing game will ultimately decide whether you win most of the time.
I think your Zimmer criticisms are fair and your assessment of changing how they distribute their cap space. We will have ALL sorts of time to dive into every aspect on this here newsletter. Can't thank you enough for the support!
I get the point on receiver except that it's too big of a leap to me to think Zimmer will change. Along the lines of a player you mentioned in the podcast with Eric Eager, it's like drafting Alexander Mattison who you're almost never going to play. Or years ago when all these draft analysts had the Vikings taking Ohio State's Darron Lee in the first round when they had Barr and Kendricks.
If the argument is that Thielen is a year older and Ja'Marr Chase is there for you at 11 then sure. Your draft isn't just for 2021 after all and I'll still hope that we're a year closer to life after Zimmer. I'll maintain though, that if magically both Penei Sewell and Chase are there when Vikings pick you're better off taking the LT along the lines of the "weakest" link argument you've expressed. This O-line drags down Cousins and by extension Jefferson, Thielen, and Smith Jr. in the passing game.
Now, it'd be dumb for Vikings to lock in on O-line early when a Chase or Paye or Rousseau could be there, but next year Reiff is almost certainly gone then you're needing to fill two positions on this line. If you can move Cleveland out to tackle then you better do something in free agency and the draft's first three rounds to help at guard, otherwise you're left with Dozier and Samia as your guards. And I've already seen that movie. It's a horror film.
Kirk has made a shitload of money. His kids and grandkids will never spend it all. It’s time for him to decide if he wants to win or not. He could make some concessions to bring in some pass protection. The lesson he needs to understand is that nobody remembers how much money you made; they remember how many games you won.
To aid him in that quest for victories, it would be nice to acquire a few offensive minded coaches who came up the ranks after the forward pass was legalized.
And on with the 2021 preseason we go.
Forget tank for Trevor, that’s out. It’s time to dump for Daboll. How much better would the Vikings be with him at the helm? We’re stuck with a defensive guru who can’t stop any offense except his own.