Questions Answered: Future of Cousins and Zimmer, Jefferson’s Frustration, Packer Week
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today’s is the December 28th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Change is probably coming. Do you think the general manager, head coach, and quarterback all leave the franchise this offseason?
A: No.
VikingsTerritory believes Rick Spielman will be retained — and he’ll have a monumental decision to make in two weeks (if he hasn’t made it already) on choosing between Mike Zimmer or Kirk Cousins. One will go; one will stay.
Spielman, although not universally revered, has made several good decisions with draft picks while swinging and missing from time to time. That’s the way it goes for a general manager. Any executive can be scrutinized when every draft pick is examined.
Because he’ll likely be left in charge of the organization, he’ll opt for an organizational shift, parting ways with either the head coach or quarterback. We predict he’ll terminate Zimmer and extend Cousins for an extra year, shortening the pain on the $45 million cap hit while giving the new head coach one or two years to make Cousins work within the confines of the system. And then, if Cousins does not pan out with the new coach’s tutelage, he can groom Kellen Mond or a rookie from the 2023 NFL Draft.
Q: Should we read a lot into Justin Jefferson asking for the Vikings to be more aggressive in the redzone?
A: Yes, but not in a doomsday manner.
Jefferson was pissed the Vikings lost — plain and simple. So were you. Even with a poor redzone performance against the Rams in Week 16, the Vikings rank sixth in the NFL for redzone touchdown percentage. They’re not a bad team in the redzone — at all. Period.
Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook played sparingly or didn’t play at all on Sunday. Those two men are wizards in the redzone. When the wizards aren’t around — of course the production dips. Imagine trying to determine why a Rams defensive line wasn’t quite as disruptive without Aaron Donald or Von Miller if they didn’t play. Not rocket science.
Jefferson wanted to win badly, a wonderful trait for a competitor. Minnesota lost, and Jefferson said, “Hey, let’s be more aggressive with the game on the line.”
The episode does not mean he’ll “pull a Diggs” and skip town.
Q: Will the Vikings beat the Packers this weekend?
A: No, they will not.
The Vikings have never won back-to-back regular season games at Lambeau Field with Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Since Favre took over the team, Green Bay holds the top homefield advantage in the NFL.
While it was season-saving for Minnesota to defeat Green Bay at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 11, lightning probably won’t stick twice. The Packers are playing for the coveted 1st-Round bye. It felt semi-fluky for the Vikings to win in Wisconsin last year — the Packers will remember it.
But, note for the rest of the week: If the Vikings do find a path to victory, they’ll be right in the thick of the seventh-seed playoff hunt, needing the Saints and Eagles to lose one game apiece to an NFC opponent. That would put the Vikings in the January dance.
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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