The Vikings’ start to the 2018 season has certainly not been ideal. Minnesota could easily be 3-1 at this point, but some obvious coaching blunders have resulted in the team only having one win after their first four games.
New offensive coordinator John DeFillipo has not exactly lived up to all the hype that surrounded him during the offseason. While the Vikings’ passing offense has been impressive, the team’s rushing attack has taken tremendous strides backwards under the guidance of DeFillipo.
Some of the faults on special teams this year have to be put on the shoulders of Mike Priefer.
Minnesota Vikings
While he’s not the one making the kicks or returning the football, Priefer is the guy who is responsible for his players making smart decisions on the field like when to return a kick out of the end zone, when to call for a fair catch, or who to block when lining up to punt. All areas of the special teams that Minnesota needs to improve as the season continues on.
Head coach Mike Zimmer definitely has some adjustments to make if the Vikings want to have any sort of a chance at ending the year in the Super Bowl.
Under Zimmer’s leadership, Minnesota was clearly underprepared for their Week 3 matchup against a winless Buffalo Bills team. The team will never admit it, but it was very obvious that the Vikings and their head coach didn’t plan as well as they possibly could have for the Bills and it resulted in an embarrassing loss.
But the Vikings’ head coach does deserve credit for his team coming out in Week 4 and giving the undefeated Los Angeles Rams a run for their money.
Even though they didn’t get a win against the Rams, Zimmer and Minnesota kept the game close and reminded the rest of the league that they are very capable of beating anyone at anytime this season.
(For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.)