Despite a laundry list of injuries on both sides of the ball, there was no reason the Minnesota Vikings should’ve lost to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. But they did, falling 29-27 on touchdown pass on the final play of the game.
Had it been Scott Mitchell to Herman Moore or Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson for the game-winning touchdown, it would’ve been somewhat acceptable, but this was Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Goff entered the game with a 30.9 QB rating, which ranked 29th of 32 starting quarterbacks, and St. Brown is a rookie who had never found himself in the end zone with the ball prior to the final play of Sunday’s game.
The loss puts the Vikings at 5-7, one game behind the Washington Football Team (6-6) and 49ers (6-6) for the last two playoff spots in the NFC race. But the Eagles (6-7) are also in front of Minnesota.
With five games to go the Vikings are far from dead in the water, but they’re in a position that they really shouldn’t be in if they had the ability to close games and perform in the clutch on both sides of the ball.
- Dalvin Cook’s fumble robbed them in OT against the Bengals
- Greg Joseph’s missed 37-yarder cost them at Arizona
- Lost at home to backup QB Cooper Rush and the Cowboys
- Blew a two TD lead and lost in OT to the Ravens
Those are four games that should’ve been wins. Some simple math says the Vikings should be 9-3 and competing with the Packers for the NFC North title and one of the top seeds in the NFC, but that doesn’t look at the other side of the story in three wins where the offense saved the day after the defense laid an egg.
Against the Lions, the Vikings kicked a game-winning field goal after the Lions scored and went for two to take the lead in the final minute; against the Panthers the Vikings needed a game-tying field goal to ultimately win in overtime after Sam Darnold led the Panthers on a 96-yard drive to tie the game; and the offense got in position for the game-winning field goal against the Packers after the defense was killed by a 75-yard Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass.
All of those could’ve easily been losses, meaning the Vikings are just as close to being 2-10 as they are 9-3. But they’re 5-7, largely because the defense, which is guided by Zimmer, has been putrid.
The defense has gone 0-for-8 this season in situations where they are tasked with preventing game-winning or game-tying drives.
2021 Vikings defense vs game-winning or -tying drives:
❌ CIN 46 yards, FG in OT
❌ ARI 55, GW FG late 4Q
❌ DET 20, TD (+2) to lead
❌ CAR 96, TD (+2) to tie
❌ DAL 75, TD last minute
❌ BAL 75, FG in OT
❌ GB 75 in 1, TD to tie
❌ DET 75, walkoff TD0 for 8 — not one stop.
— Krauser (@Krauserrific) December 5, 2021
If the Vikings were in the AFC they would be the 14th seed, but 5-7 in the NFC keeps hope alive. Whether Minnesota’s hopes rise or fall after Thursday night’s game against the Steelers, at least a strong segment of the fan base appears ready to see the team move on from head coach Mike Zimmer.
Here’s a sampling of the “fire Zimmer” tweets that were trending on Twitter Sunday.
Fire Mike Zimmer and Fire Zimmer are both trending! So…. pic.twitter.com/jeJU8wLCBc
— Kyle Rayner 🇮🇪🇭🇺🇵🇭 (@Every1SayIMBoss) December 5, 2021
Mike Zimmer was gonna resign after last week’s horrible loss and was like “Screw it, what if I coach the dumbest game of 2021, lose to the winless Lions and just get fired?”
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 5, 2021
Mike Zimmer and the #Vikings coaching staff needs to be fired for that entire final possession alone. Massive strategic incompetence on display all the way down the field.
— B-List Ryan (@BrianHalverson) December 5, 2021
OMG!!!!
FIRE ZIMMER!!!!
— 𝙂𝙋𝙇 🏒 (@GopherPuckLive) December 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/Davecscott/status/1467604114632757257
He put them in prevent all the way down the field, then called a timeout before the final play AND STILL didn’t change the defense. Pretty poor coaching from a defensive guru. It’s been past time for him to go, and I don’t see how he comes back from this. Fire Zimmer. #SKOL
— Kyle Ashton (@beefdaddy4) December 5, 2021
This is the worst Vikings season of all time. Not the worst team – but the most painful season to sit through. Blow it all up. Fire Zimmer, Kubiak and anyone higher up who’s backed them this far through the season. We need change and this fanbase deserves change. #Skol
— EnglishViking💜 (@TheEnglishViki1) December 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/Kirbs356/status/1467572519318265864
All I want for Christmas, is for the @Vikings to fire Mike Zimmer 🤞🏻😒 #SKOL
— JD (@JDissetteIII) December 5, 2021
