5 most disappointing Vikings through the first quarter of the 2021 season

Mike Zimmer

When “Fire Mike Zimmer” is trending on Twitter there is definitely a problem with the head coach. Zimmer has been disappointing this season and there’s plenty of reasons why.

The first has to be the performance of the defense so far this season. The Vikings went out and spent a lot of money to improve Zimmer‘s favorite side of the ball. They brought in Patrick Peterson, Mackensie Alexander, Dalvin Tomlinson, Everson Griffen, Nick Vigil, and also got Anthony Barr and Michael Pierce back from injury.

Despite the huge improvement in personnel, Minnesota’s defense continues to struggle. They can’t stop the run, and while it has been better in recent weeks, the secondary has had problems slowing down any passing attack they’ve faced as well. When the talent is better but the play remains the same, only the coaching can be blamed.

Zimmer’s clock management skills have also been head-scratching. He squib kicked to a dangerous Arizona Cardinals team in Week 2 that had time outs remaining and 40 seconds on the clock.

He also has failed to try to put up points when the Vikings’ offense is in a similar situation. The team has continued to give up a ton of points inside the final two minutes of the first half, not learning from their previous blunders.

He also has been making poor personnel decisions. He tends to stay with struggling players instead of replacing them with better options. Bashaud Breeland has been awful all season, yet he continues to get starts over Cam Dantzler.

Garrett Bradbury continues to get overpowered, but there has been no attempt to see if Mason Cole is a better option. He is also on the verge of making the same mistake with Rashod Hill and Christian Darrisaw. The rookie left tackle looked light-years better than Hill when they were rotating last week, and if Hill continues to get the starts, it will just be another example of Zimmer’s stubbornness to make a change.

The Vikings are 2-3 and a big part of it has been because of the disappointing performance and decisions of their head coach.