We Could Be In the Final Stages of This Brand of Vikings and Not Even Know It
Onlookers of the Minnesota Vikings could be 87 days from a brave new world with leadership, and they may not even fully realize it.
Although never expressly spoken by anyone involved with Minnesota’s front office, head coach Mike Zimmer likely needs to reach the postseason – and do something there – for his continuation as head coach into 2022. Zimmer has coached the team since 2014, making this eighth season a “just win for God’s sake” type of campaign. The feeling of stagnancy for the Vikings has existed for a little while now, chiefly because Minnesota never strings together back-to-back successful seasons. It’s always playoffs, mediocrity, playoffs, mediocrity. For that cycle – as weird as it may be – this season was supposed to be of the playoff variety, based on roster talent and the rotating annual calendar under Zimmer.
Through four games, it is not.
The Vikings are 1-3, owners of soul-crushing losses to the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals. Then, they just looked like rubbish against the Browns, failing to achieve any offensive competence after the first offensive drive. One speck of optimism occurred in Week 3 when the Vikings finally derailed the Seattle Seahawks after seven consecutive losing attempts.
Therefore, Zimmer has an unspoken ultimatum. The Vikings must win now, hitting stride and making a season-changing run [like right now]. Or – the 2021 season progresses into a playoff-less, disappointing experience, almost assuredly ushering in a new coach for the Vikings in January or February.
And that means while you’re awaiting the Week 5 game against the Detroit Lions or planning a trip to North Carolina to see the Panthers showdown, you could very well be in the final three months of this version of Vikings. That’s particularly noteworthy because of Zimmer’s longevity. Zimmer has been in charge since before LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the second year of the second term in Barack Obama’s presidency, and the TCF Bank Stadium era. Eight seasons is a long time.
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This article does not formally predict the Vikings finish the season with a whimper – 13 games is an eternity in sports. The Zimmer Vikings have got hot before when no one foresaw such a streak. In 2017, nobody believed Case Keenum was worth a damn, Dalvin Cook was lost for the remainder of the season, and Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen didn’t quite feel like Pro Bowlers yet. And most of that came to a head in Week 4 — the spot on the calendar right now. The 2017 bunch won eight straight games, sprinting to the NFC Championship inside one of the most memorable Vikings seasons ever. Stranger things have transpired than a 2021 Vikings team getting hot and winning ballgames.
If they do not, however, then Vikings enthusiasts will spitball “what do with Cousins” and the merits of general manager Rick Spielman’s resume. Losing seasons bring out the nastiness but are also the catalyst for change.
Despite the day-to-day excitement of hoping and planning for a season turnaround for these Vikings, a ticking clock could very well be reading out 87 days or so. That’s Black Monday.
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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