Mike Zimmer was nearing the end of his seventh season with the Minnesota Vikings, a squad that was unable to overcome its own obstacles.
The Vikings finished 2021 with an 8-9 record, but they were a defense-phobic club who had no idea how to play good defense.
Given that Zimmer has long been regarded as one of the NFL’s top defensive coordinators, this made him sick. The Vikings’ squad, which was ranked 30th on defense, kept losing and dropped farther in the standings. The previous season, the Vikings had one of their worst defensive games in team history and were 27th in yards allowed.
That was the 2020 Christmas Day matchup with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints were the hot knife, and the Vikings defense was the butter.
Not everything about New Orleans’ 52-33 victory was about the score. The Vikings lost their defensive confidence until this season after giving up seven running touchdowns, six of which went to Alvin Kamara.
The Vikings’ defensive woes persisted until 2023, when they brought in Brian Flores to turn things around. For around three-quarters of the season, he performed just that.
However, Zimmer is now given another opportunity as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. When the Dallas season begins, Zimmer will be 68 years old, but this could be his once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a championship. He
That might have a significant impact on Zimmer as the 2024 season goes on.
The Cowboys took advantage of the Philadelphia Eagles’ devastating collapse in the last stretch of the season to secure first place and win the NFC East last year.
The squad lost badly to the young Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round despite being the No.
2 seed in the NFC and seemingly headed for a clash with the San Francisco 49ers.
The NFC’s seventh-seeded club caught head coach Mike McCarthy and his team off guard, and many analysts predicted that McCarthy would be fired by Jerry Jones.
McCarthy’s employment seemed unachievable, but the Cowboys managed to retain him.
After leading his team to an 8-0 record at AT&T Stadium during the regular season, Jones witnessed his team lose handily at home in the playoffs.
How could he return to that coach? The Packers dominated the Cowboys 48–32, although it was actually far worse than that.
The Cowboys trailed 48–16 at the beginning of the fourth quarter before scoring two pointless touchdowns.
The Cowboys went 4-5 away from home throughout the regular season, losing to the Cardinals, 49ers, Eagles, Bills, and Dolphins in addition to that game. They were completely outclassed by the 49ers because they were ill-prepared to play Arizona, one of the poorest teams in the league.
Jerry Jones will not be able to handle much more.
With an average of 29.8 points per game, the Cowboys were the league’s best offensive club the previous year.
For a squad with that caliber of talent, the amount of losses and subpar performances ought to have been deemed unacceptable.
If McCarthy keeps failing at the worst possible times, Zimmer might end up winning out.
It won’t be necessary, but the former head coach of the Vikings is a guy of character, and he wouldn’t be the kind to turn on the current head coach in order to advance.
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