Zim Says He’s Still Confident in Vikings; Should He Be?

Earlier this week, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer reiterated his confidence in his squad. The more skeptical among us would probably reply, “Well of course he says that! The man is fighting for his job; he needs to at least pretend he thinks he has a good team!” Those who lean toward optimism might be inclined to focus on the positives we’ve seen in spite of our 1-3 record. We beat Seattle – a team we never beat – and lost the other games by a collective 11 points.
The question I’ve been asking is if Zim should really be confident in his squad. I tend to take him at his word when he says something, so I do think he’s sincere in his confidence. What have we, as fans and writers, learned after four games that could lead us toward optimism or skepticism?
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The Minnesota Vikings, Mike Zimmer, and Purple Confidence
First, the basic stats.
On offense, we’re in the middle of the pack in terms of average yards per game: 382.5. The first place team is the Arizona Cardinals with a little more than 440 yards a game. We are similarly average in terms of points per game: 23.5. Perhaps the most disappointing number is our rushing average, a mere 112.3 yards per game. For a Mike Zimmer football team, it’s imperative for us to get this total higher.
The defense has shown improvement over these past six quarters. They made several mistakes against Cleveland (which is to say nothing of Mayfield making life considerably easier by missing several throws) but they weren’t the reason we lost. For the season, the defense’s totals are also modest. We’re surrendering an average of 389 yards (135.5 of which from the opposition’s rushing attack) and 23 points per game.
Circle back and re-read those statistics.
We’re putting up 23.5 points per game and surrendering 23 per game. We’re accumulating 382.5 yards but surrendering 389. Our margin for error is razor thin. We’ve all seen what can happen when a few bad plays (and maybe even a bad call from the refs) can do to our chances. For us to be successful, we’ll need to widen the margin on those basic statistics.
If we hop over to PFF, we can take a peak at how individual players have performed (at least according to their system). They tell us that we have an elite QB and receiver (Jefferson) to partner with average to below average players throughout the rest of the offense. On defense, Hunter and Tomlinson receive exemplary grades. Cameron Dantzler is sixth overall in their CB rankings. Otherwise, it’s average to below average rankings.
Again, we’re left without a clear picture. Some players have done wonderfully. Several who are elite – Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith – will very likely be elite in their rankings by the end of the season. Even with some improvement from these players, is there enough talent throughout the rest of the lineup to make it all work?
The Takeaway
Is Mike Zimmer misguided in his confidence for the Minnesota Vikings? Truthfully, it’s hard to say. There is obviously potential; we could very reasonably be 4-0. We haven’t yet played a game where we were obviously the inferior team. We’ve just made too many boneheaded mistakes.
Patrick Peterson largely affirmed Zim’s perspective: “I agree with Coach fully. I really do think we have a really, really good team. [But] as a team we have to find a way to be clicking on all cylinders at the same time.” Brian O’Neill spoke of better execution: “We certainly have higher standards for ourselves as an offense and as a team. We need to do better; that’s obvious.” In other words, the team’s leaders seem resolute in their belief that the answer rest within. If Minnesota can take care of their own business, they can be a good team, one that can make the playoffs.
A Week 5 game against the Lions awaits. If we can’t win this one, it’ll be time to lose confidence in this team.