Feverish ‘Fire Zimmer’ Chants Cool Off for a Week
One week ago, the oft-circulated “Fire Zimmer” fervor was all over the place – Twitter, Facebook, water cooler chat, and billboards.
Well, it wasn’t on billboards, but you get it.
After the team squandered two 14-point leads in the same game to the Baltimore Ravens 10 days ago, the situation tangibly felt like the Zimmer era was drawing to a close.
That might still be the case, but Zimmer’s win over the then division-leading Los Angeles Chargers last weekend granted a reprieve. For the first time in 2021, Zimmer’s offense, led by Klint Kubiak, played to win and throat-stomp rather than “not to lose.”
It paid off.
The Vikings daggered the Chargers defense late in the 4th Quarter, opting to end the game on purple terms when Zimmer and Kubiak went for it on 4th and 2. Dalvin Cook received a pitch, danced through the line of scrimmage, and picked up the climactic first down.
Game over. Vikings win.
And that’s how it should be done in 2021. The league isn’t the same as it was in 2011, 2001, or 1991. Teams don’t punt the ball late in games to allow good quarterbacks rays of comeback light. Instead, jugulars are hunted on offense, preaching aggressive playcalling to finish off teams, not hopeful defensive suffocation.
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By trade, Zimmer is a suffocate-them-with-defense enthusiast. Hell, it usually works for him. But the Zimmer problem in 2021 is this: Zimmer’s defense is good, yet not good enough to sit on leads less than 21 points. During many Vikings seasons since 2014, leads were safe under Zimmer’s leadership. His defenses were better, though. The 2021 Vikings defense is pretty good – not great. So, when Minnesota tries to run out the clock on a lead, it flops, and the team loses heartbreakers. And there you are, pissed on your couch, chanting “fire Zimmer” at your cat.
Winning quiets termination chants. The Vikings host the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, and those cheesy foes are the only thing separating Zimmer from a refreshed 5-5 win-loss record. Losing at home to Green Bay would not be a fruitful look for a coach on the hot seat. Toppling the Packers and dragging the club back to the playoff conversation would start the hope train all over again.
Zimmer needs to reach the playoffs, win a playoff game, and perhaps more to be fully secure for employment into 2022. If this season ends up mediocre, Vikings ownership will probably audition a new skipper like Byron Leftwich, Eric Bieniemy, Kyle Shanahan, or your current flavor of the week.
Those conversations can hush if Zimmer turns this season around. It’s easier said than done, but he has the roster talent to do so.
If there is no steady win streak, the Fire Zimmer drum-pounding will reignite each week, increasing in volume every step of the way.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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