3 most disappointing Vikings in the Week 15 loss to the Bears
By Nik Edlund
Gary Kubiak – OC
Gary Kubiak’s play-calling left a lot to be desired against the Bears. In the first half, he opted to not attack Chicago’s banged-up secondary. Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen were scarcely targeted and Kubiak seemed content running the football right at Akiem Hicks over and over again.
Kubiak also had some strange play-calls on fourth down. He called a slow-developing handoff on a critical fourth down when Mike Zimmer gambled and went for it on his own 35-yard line.
When the Vikings needed to drive down the field following Cameron Dantzler’s interception late in the game, Kubiak really faltered in his calls. He ran it twice up the middle and then called a dump-off to Dalvin Cook.
The drive ended when Kirk Cousins threw an incomplete pass in the direction of Tyler Conklin. Not once in that series did Kubiak utilize his magnificent receivers. He had Jefferson who was having a huge day and Thielen against a banged-up Bears secondary and opted to dump it off to his running back and third string tight end instead.
Kubiak could use a shot of creativity and maybe some urging from his head coach to attack a team’s weakness with some of your best weapons, especially in critical situations. While Minnesota did put up 27 points, they could’ve had more had Kubiak called a better game.