Vikings Territory: Weird Stuff Always Happens To Mike Zimmer

Press release from Vikings Territory:

August 5, 2021

Like annual clockwork, something quirky transpires to affect Mike Zimmer’s Minnesota Vikings season. Usually, the event is before the season, so a wee bit of time is allowed to make contingency plans.

Since arriving Minnesota, Zimmer has engineered a win-loss record of 64-47-1 (.576), which is the eighth-best in the NFL since 2014. It’s bedfellows with the Baltimore Ravens (.598) and Buffalo Bills (.554). To a degree, that means Zimmer is winning ballgames in spite of the oddities.

The maiden voyage of Mike Zimmer was beset by the antics of Adrian Peterson. The Vikings eventual Hall of Fame tailback was suspended for all but one game – a Week 1 drubbing of the St. Louis Rams by the Vikings, 34-6. After that, Peterson was disallowed from participation in the 2014 season due to child abuse allegations. Peterson was reinstated the following season.

Admittedly, this one is a bit of a stretch. No preseason or regular-season malady derailed the Vikings. In fact, the team won the NFC North for the first time since 2009 as Zimmer’s defense really hit stride. Bridgewater was empowered by that defense, leading the Vikings to a surprise 11-5 record.

The Vikings nearly made it out unscathed. Instead, Blair Walsh egregiously missed a 27-yard field goal that would have sent Minnesota to the Divisional Round for a meeting with the Arizona Cardinals. But nope. Walsh unbelievably missed the game-winner, and Zimmer was snakebitten by strangeness for a second time.

Well, Bridgewater ravaged his knee in practice so dangerously that rumors suggested it was almost near the requirement of amputation. Good Lord. This was a week and a half before the regular season started.

Few complaints exist about this campaign. The Vikings were absolutely marvelous – against all odds.

But no big deal – the Vikings won eight consecutive games thereafter, securing homefield advantage for a fateful rendezvous with the New Orleans Saints that would turn miraculous.

This is the most tragic abnormality on the list. In the summer of 2018, the Vikings offensive line coach, Tony Sparano, passed away. He was revered leaguewide and worked wonders (relatively speaking) for the Vikings offensive trenches in 2017. It was the last time to date that Minnesota’s pass protection wasn’t terrible.

Oh, and the RB1 missed most of the season. Again.

Diggs was flustered by a lack of targets early in the season. As a result, he disappeared for a day – ensuring that Minneapolis, Minnesota, was ground zero for discontent. The Minnesota media absolutely seized on the event, pointing fingers at Zimmer and Cousins as the culprits for irritating Diggs.

One season ago, the Vikings had no homefield advantage as most NFL teams were without fans in stadiums (until late-late in the year). Danielle Hunter was hurt in the summer and did not practice. That spiraled into a season-ending neck injury in which he missed all 16 games. Then, Michael Pierce, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, and Mike Hughes all missed time, too.

Vikings players are not collectively sold on the efficacy of the COVID vaccine. Unvaccinated players could miss no games whatsoever – or they could miss the most pivotal game of the 2021 season. These are the stakes.

While the vaccine malarkey might die down when Cousins returns, the team could be affected by players missing time because of its low vaccination rate.

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