Has Mike Zimmer lost the Vikings locker room?
By: Stuart Grant
Tags: NFL, Team Building, Leadership, Minnesota Vikings, Head Coach

After woeful losses against Chicago and New Orleans, it’s time to ask

Photo courtesy of Eternal Seconds on Unsplash

The listless Christmas day performance by the Vikings against the New Orleans Saints was hard to watch. While it was nice to see a great player like Saints RB Alvin Kamara have a record tying six touchdown day, the ease with which he waltzed into the end zone was embarrassing. Admittedly, the Vikings would have needed many other contingencies to transpire to remain alive for post season contention. In a year when a sub .500 team will win the NFC East, not only can you not count anything out, you certainly can’t play like it.

The Vikings have looked lethargic since the embarrassing loss to the equally inept Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. They needed overtime to beat the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars and their journeyman back up QB Mike Glennon. In week 15, with playoff eligibility again in the balance, they gave up 33 points in a loss to the offensively pedestrian Chicago Bears who were quarterbacked by bust Mitch Trubisky.

Some of the performance can be attributed to injury but not all. Placekicker Dan Bailey’s missing three field goals and a PAT was decisive in the week 14 loss to the Tamp Bay Buccaneers. Bailey also missed two PATs in the nail biter against Jacksonville. Most NFL teams are quick to dispense with kickers and punters who aren’t performing.

The Vikings enjoy a high red zone touchdown percentage (76.9 percent in week 9) but it is not known how much of that high percentage is achieved in “garbage time” when the game is effectively lost.

The team’s major investments in RB Dalvin Cook and QB Kirk Cousins warrant some scrutiny. While Cook is a leading candidate for the 2020 rushing crown and is having a break out year, his injury history is disconcerting and leaves doubts as to whether he can handle the workload of a bell cow back. Most importantly, his impressive statistics have not resulted in wins.

Cousins signed a huge contract upon joining the Vikings that brought speculation as to whether it was deserved or representative of the state of the QB market at the time. Cousins has played statistically well but there is a noticeable lack of intangibles in the way the team plays around him. A well publicized spat with WR Stefon Diggs resulted in a trade sending Diggs to Buffalo where he is a difference maker that has the Bills in the second AFC playoff seed.

Politically, any locker room spats with a franchise QB almost always result in the agitator leaving in favor of the QB’s standing with the team. A look at the career of WR Terrell Owens is proof. Since Diggs’ departure, WR Justin Jefferson has emerged as a viable deep threat but there is still a lack of spark in the way the team performs.

Most troubling of all, is the once-respected Vikings defense plummeting to the bottom tier of NFL team defensive standings. As a head coach with an experience profile as a defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer has to acknowledge and own this. Compare that to 2018 when the Vikings defense was ranked 4th overall. This will be Zimmer’s first year out of the postseason as Vikings head coach.

Zimmer still enjoys considerable respect and capitol in the organization but in a results based business like the NFL, things can turn on a dime. One thing everyone can agree on is that there is enough talent on the roster and the sideline to have exceeded this year’s disappointing results. The notable lack of passion or leadership is the head coach’s problem whether he likes it or not.