Mike Zimmer Has Gregg Popovich Feelings on First Preseason Game
The Minnesota Vikings second and third-string players were humbled by the Denver Broncos first-teamers on Saturday during the first preseason game of the year for both teams. The Vic Fangio-led Broncos clobbered the Vikings 33-6, connecting on big plays and jumping on Minnesota from the onset.
Led by Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, Denver orchestrated a marvelous start to the 2021 season. Second-year wide receiver K.J. Hamler torched the Vikings while the Broncos front defensive seven ripped through Minnesota’s backup offensive line. Tickets were cheap — as low as $3 before for kickoff — so thankfully the building was not filled to capacity to witness the malarkey.
Unsurprisingly, head coach Mike Zimmer was peeved by the 33-6 beatdown.
Zimmer is noticeably frustrated, channeling a Gregg Popovician level of snark. The San Antonio Spurs skipper is notorious for curt press conferences, usually intermixing sarcasm and exasperation — sometimes directed at the interviewer. Zimmer falls short of that — sort of — and chides his team for a bad day at the office.
The Vikings aren’t sunk, though. This was a single exhibition contest, one of which Zimmer [for some reason] chose to rest 30 of his players. Most of those 30 non-participants were starters. Denver did not rest the bulk of its starters, so a natural mismatch was vividly evident early in the first quarter.
It is unlikely that Zimmer carries this curious approach into the team’s next exhibition. The Vikings host the Indianapolis Colts next weekend, seeking to rebound from the Denver debacle. Worth noting: Vikings games against the Colts have served as ground zero for doldrums in the last half-decade. In 2016, Minnesota clung to teensy December playoffs hopes, but Indianapolis thoroughly eviscerated those aspirations at U.S. Bank Stadium in a Week 15 contest. The meltdown marked Adrian Peterson’s last game with the Vikings and the last time Zimmer and Co. would ever see Andrew Luck.
Then in 2020, Minnesota used a game at Lucas Oil Stadium to really show its buttocks. Nothing worked at Indianapolis on that afternoon — Kirk Cousins was terrible, the defense was inept, and it was back to the drawing board. Indeed, Week 2 of 2020 was one the most lifeless Vikings performances in seven years of Zimmer’s leadership.
So, now the Vikings are tasked with righting the preseason ship versus a team that is historically unkind to them. The preseason format should lessen the underwhelming pattern of play, but that is only a theory for now.
While several aspects of the team were clumsy on Saturday, most can be written off as backup-player solutions. Except for the punter. Zimmer was particularly unhappy with Britton Colquitt’s punting:
Mike Zimmer said the Vikings had "three very poor punts" on Saturday.
Was this a byproduct of a bad punting day or a cause for concern?
Zimmer: "It’s cause for concern."
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 15, 2021
The special teams woes are longstanding for Zimmer — and few things irk him more than bad punting and kicking. Of all misfires from Saturday, this is probably the one to monitor because Colquitt is not a reservist player. His job wasn’t theorized to be on the line. But with Zimmer and punters or kickers, the leash is constantly short. Free agents punters like Thomas Morstead and Chris Jones are available if Colquitt falls by the wayside.
Zimmer’s Popovichian moments are entertaining, but fans will take a solid bounceback game against the Colts. And that will be aided by, you know, some starting players actually seeing action next weekend.
