Why the Vikings should not fire Mike Zimmer before their next game

Zimmer isn’t to blame for a lot of Minnesota’s struggles

Mike Zimmer is the head coach of the Vikings, so ultimately he’s going to get a bunch of the blame for the team’s poor start to the season. It’s just part of the job he signed up for.

But when looking closer at Minnesota’s struggles this year, there several things that have gone wrong that have been completely out of Zimmer’s control.

The Vikings head coach is not in charge of the team’s offensive play-calling and he never has been. Minnesota thought they would be fine with Gary Kubiak taking over as the team’s offensive coordinator this year, but it looks this is a decision the team shouldn’t have made this past offseason.

Kubiak has just called some questionable plays for the Vikings all year long and he’s definitely not the offensive play-caller he used to be when he helped lead the Denver Broncos to a pair of Super Bowl wins.

Zimmer also isn’t the guy telling Kirk Cousins to make terrible decisions this season. Cousins already has 10 interceptions in just six games this year and his decision-making has regressed significantly compared to 2019.

People will point to Zimmer’s defense giving up at least 30 points in four of their six matchups this season. But it’s incredibly difficult for any defense in the NFL to succeed when that team’s offense can’t possess the ball for more than 20 minutes per game.

There’s only so much Zimmer can do to set Minnesota up for success and right now, he’s not getting much help from his players or the guys on his coaching staff.