Coaching is more than Xs and Os. Mike Zimmer must do a better job of getting inside his players’ heads and jacking them up when they run up against lousy teams.
This is a failing of Zimmer’s that has cost the Vikings two games this season, and almost a third.
The near-miss came Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, when the Vikings needed overtime to win 27-24 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, losers off 11 straight and a team they were favored to beat by 10 points.
The Vikings also were supposed to have an easier time beating the Carolina Panthers, but that win last week needed every second of the clock.
The coaches who regularly have their teams in the playoffs know how to keep their teams from having such letdowns against far inferior opponents. Zimmer should get on the horn with his old mentor, Bill Parcells, whose Giants teams had a killer instinct against good and bad opponents.
“Usually, after you win a game, there’s a lot of hooting and hollering going on in the locker room,” Zimmer said. “The last two weeks it hasn’t been like that. … The last two weeks you come into the locker room and it’s more relieved than it’s excited.”
The way Sunday’s game went, both teams looked as if they hadn’t won in a long while. It was far from a pretty performance, but there are no asterisks that accompany ugly wins.
So now the Vikings are 6-6, improving their playoff prospects after winning five of their past six.
Still, the past two weeks were far more difficult than they should have been. The Vikings trailed the Jaguars at the half and were down by 10 in the early moments of the third quarter when Kick Cousins had an interception returned for a touchdown. They rallied to take an eight-point lead, but the Jaguars tied it up in the final moments.
“You don’t want to win every game like we did it today,” Cousins said.
No, you don’t.
“They know they can play better than they’re playing,” Zimmer said of his players. “I think right now they feel fortunate to be where they are. They understand. I know they understand and I preach it, and continue to preach it, that we have to stop doing things that will cost us games down the road.”
Perhaps Zimmer needs to change the sermon. Or, do whatever it takes to put his players in the right mental state of mind to rout the lousy teams on their schedule. Instead of eke out a win.
It’s easy to mentally prepare for the good teams. Fortunately for them, the Vikings have two tough opponents coming up in their final four games. They play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints — both of which are good enough to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
They also play the Bears and Lions, and usually don’t let down against division rivals no matter how bad they are.
To their credit, over the past two weeks Vikings overcame their stained history of losing to inferior teams. They’ve done that twice this season — losing to an Atlanta team that had been 0-5 and a Cowboys team that came to Minnesota riding a four-game losing streak. And who can forget that game in September 2018 when the Vikings were favored by 17 to beat the Buffalo Bills and lost?
Even though they stunk it up for much of Sunday’s game with too many missed tackles, turnovers and kicking issues, a win can be considered progress.
“If we stop doing those (bad) things and continue to play with heart and fight, we have a chance,” Zimmer said.
And if Zimmer figures out how to get his players to be mentally sharp for every opponent, the chances improve even more.
"exciting" - Google News
December 07, 2020 at 06:32AM
https://ift.tt/2VNGmul
Bob Sansevere: Vikings’ victories elicit relief, not excitement - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
"exciting" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2GLT7hy
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Bob Sansevere: Vikings’ victories elicit relief, not excitement - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press"
Post a Comment