Who does Mike Zimmer blame for the Vikings defensive collapse?
By Adam Patrick
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer recently talked about the team’s defensive struggles.
If you are a fan of the Minnesota Vikings and you are currently under the age of 55, you have never witnessed such an embarrassing defensive performance from the franchise like the one they delivered last Friday against the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints came away with a 52-33 victory last week and the 52 points were the most allowed by a Vikings team since 1963. Mike Zimmer was 7-years-old when Minnesota last let an opponent score at least 52 points.
It was just a terrible performance and Zimmer certainly wasn’t shy about his feelings after the conclusion of the debacle in New Orleans.
Minnesota Vikings head coach blames himself for Week 16 defensive failures
On Monday, Zimmer took questions from reporters for the first time since the Vikings’ loss to the Saints last Friday. He had a few days to look over the film and figure out what ended up going so wrong for Minnesota on the defensive side of the ball.
Some might have expected Zimmer to deliver blame to his players for the ugly performance, but the head coach didn’t hesitate to take full responsibility for the collapse on defense last week.
"“They can play way better than what they played (in New Orleans). I put that on me more so than on the players. So that’s my job and I need to get it done better.”"
Early in his tenure with the Vikings, his answer might have been a little different and a bit more blunt. But Zimmer has learned over the years that sometimes it’s just better to take the blame for the team’s failures and move on to the next week in an effort to avoid alienating any of his players or assistant coaches.
Minnesota’s head coach likely won’t be able to make any significant changes to the team’s defense with only one game left to play this season. Any success the Vikings have against a bad Detroit Lions team next weekend should be taken lightly anyway.
But expect Zimmer to be more motivated than ever to fix Minnesota’s defense during the upcoming offseason and transform the unit back into one of the NFL’s best.