Post by Purple Pain on Jan 24, 2019 15:22:50 GMT -6
For The Vikings, The 2019 Season Will Define Several Careers by Eric J. Thompson
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Link: www.dailynorseman.com/2019/1/23/18194306/minnesota-vikings-2019-season-mike-zimmer-rick-spielman-kirk-cousins
In certain ways, some things never change when it comes to the NFL. The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Saints fans are whining after a playoff loss like they’re the only fan base in the history of the league that has ever had a bad play go against them. The Eagles are publicly sticking with Carson Wentz despite Nick Foles leading the team to an improbable postseason run. Vikings fans are spending the offseason researching potential offensive line draft picks that the team will likely pass over in April. Time is a flat football circle.
In other ways, the passing of a calendar year in the NFL can feel more like a decade. A year ago today, Vikings fans were only two days removed from being unceremoniously shellacked out of the opportunity to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Pat Shurmur was poached to be the Head Coach of the New York Giants next day. Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford were all on the roster. Gary Kubiak had been retired for over a year after retiring from the Denver Broncos at the end of the 2016 season. The Vikings were just over two weeks away from signing promising Offensive Coordinator John DeFilippo and just under two months away from signing promising quarterback Kirk Cousins. Despite the crushing defeat in the NFC Championship Game, Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman were widely lauded for building a team that came so close to the ultimate goal. The pieces were in place to be a serious Super Bowl contender in the 2018 season.
Smash cut to a year later. The outlook for the Minnesota on January 23, 2019 is decidedly less rosy than it was in 2018.
In other ways, the passing of a calendar year in the NFL can feel more like a decade. A year ago today, Vikings fans were only two days removed from being unceremoniously shellacked out of the opportunity to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Pat Shurmur was poached to be the Head Coach of the New York Giants next day. Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford were all on the roster. Gary Kubiak had been retired for over a year after retiring from the Denver Broncos at the end of the 2016 season. The Vikings were just over two weeks away from signing promising Offensive Coordinator John DeFilippo and just under two months away from signing promising quarterback Kirk Cousins. Despite the crushing defeat in the NFC Championship Game, Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman were widely lauded for building a team that came so close to the ultimate goal. The pieces were in place to be a serious Super Bowl contender in the 2018 season.
Smash cut to a year later. The outlook for the Minnesota on January 23, 2019 is decidedly less rosy than it was in 2018.
While there has been more churn than an Amish butter farm on the offensive side of the ball over the past several years, the defense has remained surprisingly stable in Minnesota. After spending two seasons digging out of the crater that Leslie Frazier left, the Vikings defense has been in the top four of yards allowed and top eight in defensive DVOA in each of the past three seasons. Not a huge surprise there—after all, Mike Zimmer spent over two decades honing his craft on defense before taking the head gig with the Vikings.
Another reason why the defense has been so consistent? The coaching staff has followed suit. As Sam Ekstrom of Zone Coverage pointed out last week, Zimmer has had the same four core defensive coaches throughout his tenure in Minnesota. In a league that’s always looking for the next big thing, continuity and consistency have become criminally underrated in today’s NFL. Just look at two of this year’s final four teams. Sean Payton and Drew Brees have been together since 2006 outside of that one year Payton was suspended for blatantly cheating. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have been side-by-side since the turn of the century. (Insert your own Pats cheating joke here.)
Of course, I’m not saying “keep Cousins and Zimmer together like that and watch the Super Bowl berths roll in.” Outside of the fact that Cousins is a sizable step down from all-timers like Brees and Brady, the’res a chance that the current Vikings’ QB/coach combo might not be intact on January 23, 2020.
When the Vikings made all the significant signings and re-signings last offseason—namely Cousins, Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, and Eric Kendricks—the “window” was supposed to be three seasons. Most of the core talent was locked up through 2020. If the Vikings were going to take the next step and make the Super Bowl for the first time in over 40 years, surely it would happen in that 2018-2020 time frame.
After this past season’s thoroughly disappointing 8-7-1 campaign, it appears as though that timeline has been accelerated. If the Vikings struggle again in 2019, that window will likely be closed on this regime.
If Rick Spielman can’t orchestrate the moves necessary to field a competent offensive line, it puts a ceiling on what this offense can accomplish. Cousins has shown that he probably isn’t going to do it all by himself, and he certainly isn’t going anywhere next year with that contract. So if everyone else wants to stick around, they better give their quarterback every possible tool to succeed. That starts in the trenches. Not even a Bill Walsh/Sean McVay hybrid would be capable of leading this offense to consistent success, much less Kevin Stefanski.
If Mike Zimmer’s latest “get as many former head coaches as possible and see how they can take care of the offense” experiment goes awry, many of the coaches could be looking for new gigs after the season, Zimmer included. While I have been thoroughly impressed with Zimmer since he arrived, he still works in one of the most fickle and results-driven businesses imaginable. The incredible adversity Zimmer has overcome from an unfathomable amount of different avenues over the past five years isn’t going to buy him any extra time if the Vikings’ season peters out like it did in 2018. I personally think Zimmer has shown enough to be the Head Coach here well into the next decade, but I’m also fully aware that isn’t how it works in the NFL. “What have you done for me lately?” isn’t just a Janet Jackson song. The 2019 season will go a long way toward deciding the future and legacy of Spielman, Zimmer, Cousins, and a variety of other key members of the organization. If the Vikings fizzle and flounder again, there’s no telling who stays and who goes, both on and off the field.
Another reason why the defense has been so consistent? The coaching staff has followed suit. As Sam Ekstrom of Zone Coverage pointed out last week, Zimmer has had the same four core defensive coaches throughout his tenure in Minnesota. In a league that’s always looking for the next big thing, continuity and consistency have become criminally underrated in today’s NFL. Just look at two of this year’s final four teams. Sean Payton and Drew Brees have been together since 2006 outside of that one year Payton was suspended for blatantly cheating. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have been side-by-side since the turn of the century. (Insert your own Pats cheating joke here.)
Of course, I’m not saying “keep Cousins and Zimmer together like that and watch the Super Bowl berths roll in.” Outside of the fact that Cousins is a sizable step down from all-timers like Brees and Brady, the’res a chance that the current Vikings’ QB/coach combo might not be intact on January 23, 2020.
When the Vikings made all the significant signings and re-signings last offseason—namely Cousins, Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, and Eric Kendricks—the “window” was supposed to be three seasons. Most of the core talent was locked up through 2020. If the Vikings were going to take the next step and make the Super Bowl for the first time in over 40 years, surely it would happen in that 2018-2020 time frame.
After this past season’s thoroughly disappointing 8-7-1 campaign, it appears as though that timeline has been accelerated. If the Vikings struggle again in 2019, that window will likely be closed on this regime.
If Rick Spielman can’t orchestrate the moves necessary to field a competent offensive line, it puts a ceiling on what this offense can accomplish. Cousins has shown that he probably isn’t going to do it all by himself, and he certainly isn’t going anywhere next year with that contract. So if everyone else wants to stick around, they better give their quarterback every possible tool to succeed. That starts in the trenches. Not even a Bill Walsh/Sean McVay hybrid would be capable of leading this offense to consistent success, much less Kevin Stefanski.
If Mike Zimmer’s latest “get as many former head coaches as possible and see how they can take care of the offense” experiment goes awry, many of the coaches could be looking for new gigs after the season, Zimmer included. While I have been thoroughly impressed with Zimmer since he arrived, he still works in one of the most fickle and results-driven businesses imaginable. The incredible adversity Zimmer has overcome from an unfathomable amount of different avenues over the past five years isn’t going to buy him any extra time if the Vikings’ season peters out like it did in 2018. I personally think Zimmer has shown enough to be the Head Coach here well into the next decade, but I’m also fully aware that isn’t how it works in the NFL. “What have you done for me lately?” isn’t just a Janet Jackson song. The 2019 season will go a long way toward deciding the future and legacy of Spielman, Zimmer, Cousins, and a variety of other key members of the organization. If the Vikings fizzle and flounder again, there’s no telling who stays and who goes, both on and off the field.
Link: www.dailynorseman.com/2019/1/23/18194306/minnesota-vikings-2019-season-mike-zimmer-rick-spielman-kirk-cousins
... and neither is this Chris guy.