Is Mike Zimmer to blame for the Vikings’ kicking game circus?
By Adam Patrick
What’s Next?
As the Vikings quickly approach their first matchup of the 2019 regular season, they still aren’t 100 percent set on who will be their kicker for the year.
Minnesota re-signed Dan Bailey during the offseason and most assumed that they would just roll into Week 1 with him as their kicker. However, Bailey has experienced some struggles during this year’s training camp, so the Vikings went out and traded for a guy who can kick field goals and punt in Kaare Vedvik.
Whoever ends up opening the season as Minnesota’s kicker, it would likely be best if Mike Zimmer stayed away from throwing the guy under the bus in public if he ends up missing a kick or two in a game.
100 percent of the blame for the Vikings’ recent kicking struggles definitely shouldn’t be put on the shoulders of Zimmer. But it’s pretty naive to think that he hasn’t played at least a small part in the disaster that has been Minnesota’s kicking game since he became the team’s head coach.
Zimmer likes to speak his mind and this is a big reason why many Vikings fans love him. But there are times when he has to do better with who he goes after in public.
Like it or not, a lot of kickers are easily rattled and it can result in some struggles out on the field. Some of Zimmer’s past remarks have seemed to affect Minnesota’s kicking situation and this is something he needs to work on doing less of.
Must Read. 5 Vikings who increased their stock during the first preseason game. light
For the Vikings’ sake (and for Zimmer’s blood pressure), let’s hope that whoever opens the upcoming season as the team’s kicker just goes out and makes almost all of their field goal attempts this year.