Zimmer's Game Management

Zimmer’s end-of-game disaster

Situation:

Dallas Cowboys face second-and-3 from the Minnesota 12 with 1:49 left.

Vikings lead, 16-13.

Vikings have all three timeouts.

At this point, time was not a factor for the Cowboys. Either they were going to score a touchdown to take the lead or attempt a chip-shot field goal to tie the score. Yes, anything (offensive penalties, a sack, turnover, missed field goal) could happen, but by far the most likely scenario was that the Vikings were going to need to score again before the end of regulation. That should have been at the forefront of Zimmer’s mind, and he should have called timeout. Instead, he let a full 38 seconds run off the clock.


Two plays later is when the magic really happened. With the Cowboys facing third-and-16, Zimmer correctly called timeout to stop the clock. As Dallas lined up for its third-down play, Zimmer didn’t like what he saw and called a second timeout. Only one problem: You’re not allowed to do that.

“I screwed up. I forgot that I called one. I knew the play that they were running. It was really the same play they hit down the middle against us for a long touchdown,” Zimmer said, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “And somebody said, ‘Call timeout,’ and I did. The official wasn’t supposed to grant it. … It’s not his fault.”

I’m not trying to be mean here, but your game management process needs to better than: “Somebody said, ‘Call timeout,’ and I did.”

In what serves as a wonderful example for how unnecessarily complicated the NFL is, the league has a contingency here for when the officials screw up and forget the rules. The official was supposed to refuse the second timeout, but because he blew his whistle and allowed it, the rulebook stipulates that the violating team gets hit with a 5-yard delay of game penalty. That’s what happened. So not only did the Vikings lose an extra timeout, they also turned third-and-16 into third-and-11.

After allowing Ezekiel Elliott to convert the third-and-11, the Vikings used their final timeout. That left them with zero left as they tried (and failed) to drive 75 yards.

What the final drive setup looked like: Drive 75 yards in 51 seconds with no timeouts.

What the final drive setup should have looked like: Drive 75 yards in 1:20 with one timeout.

Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. But the point is to give yourself the best chance to win. And Zimmer didn’t do that.

The Vikings screwed up the end of the first half too. Their offense got the ball at their own 15 with 37 seconds left and one timeout. Credit to them for trying to score and not just kneeling. But the execution was a disaster.

Kirk Cousins completed a 6-yard pass and then scrambled for 13, but he couldn’t get out of bounds. Had the Vikings called timeout at the end of his run, they would have had a first down at their own 34 with about 24 seconds left, needing roughly 30 yards to try a long field goal. But they chose not to call timeout, instead hustling (I use that word loosely) to the line of scrimmage. According to The Athletic’s Chad Graff, Zimmer doesn’t permit Cousins to call timeouts. And Zimmer didn’t call one himself.

They looked confused trying to line up, let the clock run down, and didn’t run their next play until there were five seconds left. It was an incompletion. Cousins then took a knee, and Zimmer went into halftime with the one timeout in his pocket.

I’m not saying the Vikings lost the game because of these mishaps. Their offense stalled, and their defense got picked apart by a backup quarterback. But the game management issues have surfaced often for this team, and Sunday night was no exception.