Mike Zimmer was angry after Sunday’s defensive performance vs. Miami. Visibly angry.
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After watching his team surrender almost 500 yards to the Dolphins, including 377 through the air, Zimmer vowed to get to the bottom of the team’s defensive issues no matter what (via ESPN):
"“Throughout most of the season, the defense has done what they’re supposed to do,” Zimmer said. “And for the most part, good things have happened. But those things bother me: mistakes bother me, penalties bother me, selfishness bothers me. I’m trying to preach that being a team is important, understanding your role and understanding where you’re supposed to be, and everybody else understanding. That’s why we have this (team meeting room), so that we can all understand what we’re trying to get done.“Our guys care. Both sides of the ball, this football team cares. They didn’t perform defensively yesterday. … At some point in time, I’ll get this defense fixed. It may not be this week, it may not be until the middle of the year, but it’ll be fixed. You can bet your butt on that.”"
Zimmer talked a lot about mental miscues, players not lining up in the right places, players making mistakes. One player who has been notably prone to such mistakes is cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, a player I suggested the Vikings should seriously look to get rid of this offseason.
But if you think the Vikings’ defensive problems all come down to a few players who can’t keep their heads in the game, you are wrong. The truth is that the Vikings have significant talent issues on defense.
These talent issues have been covered up at times thanks to scheme and thanks to some outstanding individual efforts in certain situations. But at other times the talent gap has become exceedingly obvious. At times, certain Viking players simply look physically overmatched.
You can compensate for a bad match-up here and there but when you have several of them, it becomes tough for other players to pick up the slack. Players feeling the need to do too much could actually be contributing to some of these blown assignments and “selfish” plays.
Fixing the Vikings’ defense isn’t just about Zimmer getting through to the guys who aren’t listening, it’s about Rick Spielman dealing with this bothersome talent gap.
The only way to fix the talent gap is by getting better players. This will mean making some tough decisions on players, some of whom have become fan favorites over the years.
If I were making recommendations to Rick Spielman, there’s a list of players I would consider either getting rid of or relegating to the bench for 2015.
That list begins with Captain Munnerlyn, who has not only been mentally unfocused this year but physically over-matched a lot of the time.
Munnerlyn’s fellow cornerback Josh Robinson has made some strides in his technique but his deficiencies have become more obvious as the year has gone on, and he has been continually exposed in coverage by bigger players.
Safety Robert Blanton has looked adequate at times this year but he is another player whose lack of physicality has proven to be a huge liability. The Vikings have some good pieces in their secondary but for them to take the next step they must find bigger corners to team with Xavier Rhodes and a second athletic safety to line up alongside Harrison Smith.
The linebacker corps is another place where the Vikings must look to upgrade their talent. Chad Greenway is a fighter and an admirable man, and he is not without his value as a veteran leader, but he is clearly coming to the end physically and the Vikings must make a tough decision on him for next season.
Notwithstanding his stupid unnecessary roughness penalty against Miami, Gerald Hodges has shown that he deserves a chance to start at Will linebacker when the Vikings finally elect to move Greenway on.
The middle linebacker position is another area the Vikings must address heading into next season. Jasper Brinkley is a backup-level player at best and I see no one else on the roster who is suited to take over that position on a starting basis.
With Anthony Barr and possibly Hodges on the outside, and a better MLB in between, the Vikings could have a nice linebacker corps next season.
Moving on to the defensive line, it’s harder to find weak links in terms of athletic ability, with players like Everson Griffen, Sharrif Floyd and Tom Johnson making good contributions all year, and Linval Joseph finally starting to come on the last few weeks.
However, if there’s one D-lineman who has not gotten it done, it’s Brian Robison. The long-time Viking left end still has value as a situational pass rusher but his lack of power shows up big time against the run.
The Vikings’ decision to draft Scott Crichton showed their desire to get a more powerful player in at left end, and after a tough rookie season, Crichton might be ready to take over that role next year. If it’s not Crichton, the Vikings will have to find someone else to give them more of an anchor on the left side of their line.
That is a lot of positions to address in just one offseason. On the plus side for the Vikings, they do have some very good players at other positions. If they can build around their potential Pro Bowlers – Griffen, Floyd, Barr, Smith and Rhodes – they will have the makings of a top 10 defense for years to come.
It won’t be easy, but that’s why Rick Spielman gets the big bucks. If he’s really the wizard GM some people think he is, Spielman should be able to get a lot of these holes plugged this year through the draft and free agency. And there are still some untested players on the roster who, with more coaching, could step up and take over some of these positions.
Mike Zimmer’s presence gives you confidence that this defense can become a great unit. But it won’t happen unless Rick Spielman gets Zimmer the people he needs.