And then the 4th Quarter disaster happened. Let's be clear about this - the Vikings couldn't stop Alvin Kamara, at all. Their offense was rather moribund, as well.
But I want to get to that Zimmer quote, and what it portends. I don't know if anyone in the Twin Cities or National media is going to talk about this, but here's what I heard when I read that quote: an attack on Vikings GM Rick Spielman.
During the game, Joe Buck and Troy "Heckuva" Aikman talked about Mike Zimmer's honesty and forthrightness in interviews; how he "tells it like it is."
I don't have the access of Fox's Top NFL Team (duh), but I rolled my eyes at that, pretty hard. Zimmer has always struck me as a passive-aggressive asshole who will never take the blame.
And I think that quote in the headline tells me I'm right - note the passive voice. Zimmer is the head coach, but somehow this defense is not his fault. It's the worst one he's had - he talks about it like you or I might talk about a bad taco.
And he went on to talk about all the injuries and could have discussed all the free agents who departed last year, if he wanted to. But he doesn't need to do that, because everyone knows the secondary is a bunch of rookies who may or may not be better in a year or two, but are prone to bad mistakes now. Though, hard to blame the rookie secondary for 7 rushing TD's.
I think this is Zimmer putting a marker down. He never wanted Kirk Cousins - he certainly didn't want him at the price that the Vikings paid. It is a bit odd that this gone down the memory hole a bit, but at the time, it was clear Zimmer wanted to reinvest in his defense, and use a cheap QB.
As a misbegotten fan of the WFT, I can point to many instances in which Cousins' costly brainfarts belied his statistics. Note the time, for example, when he took a knee instead of spiking the ball. I told my friends who were Vikings fans - "You'll love him, until you absolutely hate him." Apparently, Zimmer was in that camp.
Zimmer, by declaring his defense to be the "worst one I've ever had", isn't being a straight-shooter. He's setting up a battle between himself and the man who ruined his defense, GM Rick Spielman. Spielman ruined his defense to get Cousins, and Zimmer is making it clear that what is happening to his team, on his watch, isn't his fault. Now, Spielman is also the guy who hired Zimmer, so this is some Civil War type shit. It is gonna get ugly in the offseason for the Vikings, and Zimmer has done his best, with his honest comments, that either he or Spielman will be gone by the start of next year. But at the same time, they both signed contracts. They are tied together. The Wilfs don't like spending dead money.
