Vikings’ tie with the Packers puts the spotlight on Spielman’s flaws

Sunday’s tie by the Minnesota Vikings featured several mistakes that could hinder the team when it matters the most in 2018.

During Rick Spielman’s tenure as the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings, his overall body of work has earned a positive reputation.

He’s built a young roster with several impact players while also locking up the younger guys to long-term contracts. Mix in the hire of head coach Mike Zimmer (when few teams would take the chance on him) and Spielman has built an NFC contender that shouldn’t be going anywhere in the near future.

For all the positives that can be celebrated from his tenure, the Vikings’ 29-29 tie with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday was not one of his finest moments.

Much of the blame for the tie publicly rests on the shoulder of kicker Daniel Carlson. The rookie missed three field goals on the afternoon, including a 31-yarder at the end of overtime that could have given Minnesota an improbable come-from-behind victory.

While the angst of Vikings fans should rightfully be aimed at Carlson, Spielman deserves some of the blame too.

Last April, Spielman traded up in the fifth round to select Carlson in an effort to upgrade from Kai Forbath.

While it was a good idea to upgrade the kicker position, the means to do so may have been too aggressive. Minnesota coughed up two sixth-round picks to the New York Jets to draft Carlson and those picks could have been used to upgrade some other weaknesses on the team (say the offensive line?).

The much maligned offensive line of the Vikings didn’t have a day to remember against the Packers as they struggled to give quarterback Kirk Cousins time to throw.

Although Cousins emerged as one of Spielman’s great decisions with a 425-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Packers, life would have been much easier with another capable lineman in the trenches.

Speilman’s other aggressive mistake reared his head on Sunday as Vikings wide receiver Laquon Treadwell also had a game to forget.

The 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft finally scored his first career touchdown this week. But he also had a series of bad drops, including a pass that clanged off his hands and into the chest of Green Bay’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix that nearly buried the Vikings.

Once again, Spielman pushed aside the offensive line and a future All-Pro receiver named Michael Thomas to reach on the Ole Miss wide receiver in 2016. So now, the Vikings are banking on Stacy Coley and Brandon Zylstra to play out of their minds in the fourth and fifth receiver roles.

Of course, these moves could be temporarily rectified this week if Minnesota beat teams like Cleveland and Los Angeles to the available free-agent kickers (hello, Dan Bailey) and the return of center Pat Elflein.

However, there’s also the chance that Spielman’s mistakes could cost this team when it matters the most in 2018.

They did on Sunday, so let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.