PurplePTSD: The Vikings Injuries Have Left Me Lost In Contemplation

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

December 15, 2021

A quick note before we get started: this is not going to be a typical sports article. There is very little actual analysis here. If you want fancy stats, astute phrasing, or coherent thought processes, this may not be the place for you. Instead, this is the ramblings of a madman as he attempts to wrap his head around the beast that is the 2021 Minnesota Vikings. You’ve been warned, so turn back to our home page to find some writing that will suit your tastes, or buckle up for the ride.

It isn’t really anything new, but once again, the Minnesota Vikings have been bitten by the injury bug in 2021. The team has lost multiple stars this year, some for multiple weeks. Just to name some:

That’s nine players who would be key starters on nearly every NFL roster. Because of these injuries, there are some out there who consider this Vikings season a wash, and the team should be given a pass. Others align more with the idea that injuries are a reality for everyone, and an NFL team should be prepared to face them. This calls into question whether or not Mike Zimmer should keep his job post-2021.

You never wish for injuries to happen, but with the bad, there has been a bit of good. These Vikings injuries have limited Minnesota’s lineups at times, but they’ve also allowed us to be introduced to young players that may blossom into stars. There are multiple ways to look at every situation, and this one has me tossing and turning at night wondering what I would do. Beware, the following is a look into the mind of a madman.

On One Hand…

As for me, I’d normally say it’s hard to account for nearly half your starters being out at certain points of the season. It’s even tougher when these players can suddenly be out because of a global pandemic. Things are different with this Vikings team, though.

The 2021 Minnesota Vikings clearly were good enough to overcome these injuries. It became headline news as it kept happening, but the Vikings held at least a seven-point lead in each of their first 11 games, and after Thursday’s last-second win against Pittsburgh, 12 of their first 13. They have a 6-6 record to show for these games.

You see, the Vikings have almost been TOO good to get a pass for these injury issues. If this was a team getting blown out on a weekly basis, it’d be a lot easier to look by and say “well, they just don’t have enough of their key guys”. They haven’t done that, though. They’ve played close, competitive games, and when they’ve lost, it’s been in heartbreaking fashion. Whether it was a fluky Dalvin Cook fumble, one of Greg Joseph’s three field goal misses from under 50 yards, or just bad clock management, this is a team that has proven they are able to play competitive football. They just haven’t come through in the most important moments.

But on the Other Hand…

But, shouldn’t that really be a compliment to Zimmer and his coaching staff? The fact that he is able to keep this team competitive on a weekly basis is something that pretty much any other coach would be praised for. The fact that Zimmer has been in Minnesota for as long as he has seems to be held against him here.

Secondly, if we’re being totally honest with ourselves, a lot of these problems at the end of games don’t even involve Zimmer. It just comes down to guys being able to hold on to the ball, put a kick through the uprights, make a tackle. A lot of times, these simple things have been problems for the 2021 Vikings, and if things went right in these situations, we could be looking at an 8-5 or even 9-4 squad.

In the End…

But come on, we all know why we’re having these conversations. It’s simple. You can’t be the team that loses to (dare I say dominated by, in moments) the Detroit Lions. Even the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger and amidst one of the most inaccurate kicking performances of the season were able to at least hold on to tie them. You especially can’t lose to them after barely squeaking out a win in the first matchup in front of your home fans.

This loss is why we’re having these talks of actually getting rid of Zimmer, and why we come to the conclusion that it is the right choice. Is that really fair? Probably not, but life in the NFL isn’t fair. In the end, I tend to lean towards the reasoning that it’s time to move on (for a lot of the same reasons you probably feel the same), but it still leaves me wondering how much better it actually gets. Sometimes the grass isn’t greener on the other side. All I know is I’m glad I’m not the one that has to make this decision in the offseason.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.