Must Fix vs. Must Maintain for 2022

you had me at

Pretty much sums it up.   

Zimmer's defense got abused by a fringe QB in the NFCC game. That said. How many fringe teams in Viking history had 8 game W streaks and 12 of the final 13 W's? Losing Pat and was the reason for the drop off.
Kirk is not the personality to speak or step up when the offense is being run like  . I did think he was brought in to be the missing piece. It wasn't on him the OC was a joke but leaders lead and he has yet to show ability past just working there. I want him to be more then a good soldier. He needs to be that captain.

Back to what we must maintain or fix for 2022 (this is probably repetitive with others):
Defense: Fix the end of half and end of game failures.
Fix the cornerback play (Alexander and Breeland were not good)
Fix the run defense

I think the new scheme will energize the defense and make the Vikings harder to prepare to play

Offense: Fix pass protection (especially on 3rd down)
Fix 3rd down conversions
Fix the short yardage run game
Fix the screen game
Fix the predictable play calling

Ditto for energizing the offense. A new scheme makes for more uncertainty for opposing defenses - especially if KOC has a few wrinkles that make his offense different than the Rams' offense.

So fix and maintain from last year

Offense - Maintain
Keep getting JJ the ball as much as possible. I think that'll continue to happen
Scripted opening drives were largely successful.

Offense - Fix
Improve the interior line - have they done enough here? Let's hope a series of small moves and increased depth adds up.
Modernize the offense - the big one. Will a more empowered Kirk be a good thing? Can they create the deception they've been talking about. Will they use guys like ISM, Kene, Nailor and Chandler to spice things up? How will they use Smith? How will they use Ham? How will they use Mundt?
Put the ball in the hands of your key weapons while they're on the move. Probably part of the one above.
Stay aggressive on offense regardless of the score. Don't default into clock burning and 'just take the 3 points' mode.

Defense - maintain
Stay stingy on 3rd down
Get to the QB - this could be put in the maintain or fix category. Healthy Hunter and Z is dynamic and probably requires less blitzing and creativity. If those guys miss time, depth is pretty sparse.

Defense - fix
my big one is to shore up those 2 minute drills. League avg. would improve the defense a lot. This could have been an issue with the base defense and/or that teams had an obvious set of plays to exploit the defense in those situations and no adjustments were made as to how the team was vulnerable.
Improved play and just general talent from the secondary. Safeties in particular. Grabbing Cine is going to help a lot but progression and development from Bynum could be huge as well. Same thing holds for Booth. He's a nice add but as a rookie he'll need some time and then Dantzler becomes more important.
Improved run defense. They did some stuff here and I hope it's enough, but I am hoping that the additional personnel and speed they've added will free up both Smith and Kendricks more to get to some of these plays more quickly. I think both of those guys were occupied in coverage a lot due to a shaky secondary. The defense is obviously a cascade from the pressure up front to the middle to the secondary. Bringing in just better play makers should have a significant impact from back to front.

Special teams - maybe improve punt returns.

Other then sustaining and finishing drives the offense is good enough. The defense is a bigger ? I agree. I'm still hopeful the the offense is even better. The defense needs to be much better.