To Win Again, Vikings Must Rediscover Their Identity
Austin Belisle
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The Minnesota Vikings face a bit of an identity crisis. The team that started the regular season 5-0 is suddenly 5-3, stuck in the middle of an ugly three-game losing streak.
Minnesota’s vaunted defense isn’t just bending, it’s breaking. The offense, mired in mediocrity, is making the slow transition from Norv Turner to newly-minted offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. And head coach Mike Zimmer, for all his acclaim, can’t seem to right the ship.
It’s not that the Vikings were a bad team simply squeaking by; at one point, the defense was compared to the vaunted 1985 Chicago Bears. And it’s not that the roster is full of holes; general manager Rick Spielman’s long been praised for his ability to draft, develop, and maintain a deep collection of talented players.
No, it’s that the Vikings have lost their identity.
From the moment he set foot in Winter Park, Zimmer’s been the center of the Vikings’ collective persona. They’re a tough, hard-nosed bunch that wins with smothering defense and solid special teams play. It’s classic, old-school, talk-with-your pads football; no-nonsense, on and off the field.
Zimmer’s a coach that doesn’t make excuses. He builds a game plan and sticks to it. He’s spent decades in the NFL, developing a strategy and philosophy all his own. His defenses pressure the quarterback, stuff the run, and aggressively attack opposing offenses on third down.
That formula carried the Vikings to five straight wins, but it’s become increasingly susceptible in recent weeks. When a team plays with such speed and aggression, it’s imperative each player puts himself in the right position and tackles well. From Anthony Barr to Xavier Rhodes, that hasn’t been the case.
Outside of players underperforming, Zimmer’s struggled as a leader on the sidelines. His clock management on Sunday was questionable at best, allowing the Lions enough time to drive down the field and tie a seemingly out-of-reach game. “I messed up the last 27 seconds of the ballgame,” Zimmer said, per Chris Tomasson.
More than that, though, he seemed to second-guess himself as a play-caller.
Early in the game, on Detroit’s first offensive drive, the Vikings found themselves in a manageable third down situation. Zimmer, as he often does in such situations, lined the defense up in a double A-gap look, bringing six players to the line of scrimmage.
Play No. 1
Andrew Krammer broke the play down at the Star Tribune, sharing some valuable insights on the Lions’ 42-yard run play. He spoke with linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, who credited Matthew Stafford for calling the perfect audible in the face of Minnesota’s fearsome blitz look.
“They knew we were in a split look,” Lamur said. “It was one of those deals where we’re like ‘wow, gosh, that was a good play.’ They made a check and they just executed, it happens. It’s something we’re going to remember. Now we know.”
At the time, Zimmer likely expected the Lions to pass, and maybe when they broke the huddle, that was the plan. According to Krammer, Detroit averaged the third-fewest rushing attempts per game heading into Sunday. A run seemed unlikely, but Stafford out-schemed Zimmer and exploited Minnesota’s own aggressiveness.
The result was another long run against the Vikings, reminiscent of Jordan Howard’s early gashing of the Vikings on Halloween Night. Zimmer stuck to his guns, only to have that gun backfire in his hands. Detroit pulled the right guard across the formation, “trapping” Lamur and taking a looping Tom Johnson out of the play.
On the front side, the center easily reached Anthony Barr, driving him out of the A-gap and into the second level. Riddick easily slipped through the void, breaking through Johnson’s arm tackle to burst into the secondary. Both Andrew Sendejo and Harrison Smith reacted late, allowing Riddick to pick and choose his next move.
He showed enough patience to set up Smith and bounce outside, resulting in a huge gain that eventually set the Lions up for a first quarter field goal. Obviously, the Vikings missed Eric Kendricks at middle linebacker, but sometimes, offenses one-up defenses. It happens, but rarely does it affect an opposing coach’s tried-and-true strategies.
I can’t definitely say it rattled Zimmer to the point where he’d adjust his approach completely, but look no further than the play below for such evidence.
Play No. 2
In a situation where Zimmer almost always rushes four or more, he called off the dogs. The Lions, facing near-impossible odds to drive the field and tie the game, sent five four receivers down the field. The Vikings, meanwhile, had eight defenders in coverage. The numbers favored the Vikings, but not when a quarterback has all day to assess the defense and make a throw.
Stafford hit his receiver in a giant void of the secondary, setting up Matt Prater for the tying field goal. The lack of a pass rush gave Stafford a chance to navigate the pocket, give his receivers a chance to settle between zones, and put his full effort into the throw. After the game, Zimmer lamented the call, pointing the finger at himself for the mistake.
“We haven’t practiced that particular coverage in about 2 1/2 weeks, and we didn’t line up very good in it. So consequently we played poorly there.”
Playing “prevent” defense is fine, but not when it goes against everything that makes the Vikings defense the Vikings defense. Any fan watching expected the Vikings to send the “house,” rattle Stafford, and force him into a contested throw down the field. But Zimmer faltered, admitting just as much after the game.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would probably rush four and try and get it that way. He scrambled around and made a play, that’s how it goes.”
Maybe the spotty officiating forced Zimmer to remain conservative in fear of a ticky-tacky holding call. Maybe Zimmer didn’t trust his pass rush to get home, seeing as they’d only sacked Stafford once all game. Or maybe, Zimmer didn’t want to make the same success twice, sending a blitz only to have it hurt his defense.
On the day, the Vikings allowed the Lions to convert 7-of-14 third down opportunities. And in overtime, the Lions went 4-for-4 on third down. It was a sloppy day punctuated by uncharacteristic mental lapses, both from the players and the team’s head coach.
These Vikings looked like the Vikings in Mike Zimmer’s first year at the helm; a team with tremendous talent that couldn’t seem to finish games. Think back to the last-second loss to the Buffalo Bills or the collapse late against the Miami Dolphins; don’t those teams more closely resemble Sunday’s squad than the group that started the season 5-0?
Fortunately, all of these mistakes are correctable. Clock management is the bane of every coach’s existence, and even the game’s best make mistakes every now and then. Zimmer’s flip-flopping, from being too aggressive to playing too conservatively, was a bit concerning, but that’ll likely change once Kendricks returns and Zimmer can unleash the full playbook.
We know who the Vikings are, but can this team rediscover its identity and get back on track?
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