Vikings’ coaches are dumb

Being a Minnesota Viking fan can drive a person crazy. Only the Chicago Cubs can be a more difficult team to root for.

 

Sunday’s 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys is just another excruciating loss for the Vikings. What is hard to understand, as usual, is the thinking of the coaches. Why defensive coordinators slack off at the end of games when they have a lead is beyond me. They allow the opposing team to march down the field and score seemingly at will. Why not just keep playing the same way the entire game. Rushing more guys and keeping pressure on Tony Romo would have made more sense than trying to cover all the Cowboys receivers, especially since the Vikings were missing safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Chris Cook to injuries.

 

Why would head coach Leslie Frazier opt to try the Cowboys offsides on a 4th down, instead of letting kicker Blair Walsh try a 54 yard field goal? The fact that Walsh pushed an extra point attempt wide does not matter. Walsh is recovered from his hamstring injury and has made field goals over 50 yards look routine. It would have made more sense to just let the offense go for it on that 4th down instead of trying to draw the Cowboys offsides.

 

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave continues his conservative play calling, making us wonder what he’s thinking. Tackle Phil Loadholt is 6’8″ and weighs 345 pounds, yet can’t move anyone off the line.

 

Defensive coordinator Alan Williams said last week he wasn’t “changing anything” despite the fact the Vikings’ defense is at the bottom of the league in most statistical categories and the team is sporting a 1-7 record.

 

Rick Spielman and his scouting staff have obviously swung and missed on some players – Josh Robinson, Brandon Fusco, Charlie Johnson, John Carlson, Toby Gerhart, Erin Henderson, and Mistral Raymond to name a few – haven’t amounted to much and are some reasons why the team has only won one game so far this season.

 

If Frazier and his crew don’t win some games during the second half of this season, it’s time they, along with Spielman, be shown the door in January, and Vikings fans will have to once again look to the future for some hope.

Vikings GM Spielman Deserves Some Credit for Team’s Opening Day Victory

Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman took a risk when releasing veteran kicker Ryan Longwell in favor of rookie Blair Walsh in the offseason, but it worked out well on Sunday

I haven’t been a huge supporter of Spielman in the past, but a decision he made in the off season seems to have paid off on Sunday. In the spring the team released veteran kicker Ryan Longwell after selecting Georgia’s Blair Walsh in the sixth round of the NFL draft in April. Finding a reliable and consistent placekicker can be difficult, so relying on an untested rookie can be a pretty big gamble.

But in the Vikings’  26-23 overtime victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Spielman’s faith in the strong-legged Walsh paid off. Under pressure with the team down 23-20 with twenty seconds left to the end of the game, the rookie boomed a 55 yard field goal that had room to spare, sending the season opener into overtime. Three minutes into overtime, Walsh calmly booted a 38 yarder to win the game for the Vikings.

In the off season Spielman had to defend his decision to part ways with the veteran Longwell in favor of Walsh, as skeptics pointed to the rookie’s inconsistent senior season at Georgia. But for Sunday at least, Spielman looked like a genius, especially when you throw in Walsh’s three touchbacks on his six kickoffs. Minnesota fans are hoping the kicker’s opening day success continues through the upcoming months.