2021 Season Finale & What Lies Ahead

Zimmer also kept his locker room speech on focus, too, keeping the same mantra and not getting emotional above it.

Here is what he said during the 27-second speech:

“That’s a hell of a second half, fellas. Made some big plays on offense, made some big plays on defense. Interception for a touchdown, seven sacks on their guy, it was a hell of a job, all right? So tomorrow we have a team meeting at 9 o’clock, OK? Everybody good? OK, here … Vikes on 3. 1, 2, 3…”

When you listen to Coach Zimmer talk about Anthony Barr being a special person, or Dalvin Cook talking about grinding and loving his coach and teammates, why would anyone want to change this coaching staff? These kids strike me as being very self-supporting, and having bought into the Zimmer coaching in addition to the Wilf ownership.

While the ownership, general manager and coaching staff will have introspection into their organization this offseason, it appears to me that it would be foolish to change coaching staff or general management.

Between COVID, coaching losses, and general management loses, all of these things have hurt this team in the past few years. Continuity is a good thing in the game which requires players to buy into the system. Go Vikings!

— Bruce from Orono, Minnesota

I don’t think anyone is denying the respect Zimmer has for his players, and the way that they, in turn, feel about him, too.

This quote from Barr after Sunday’s game both addressed speculation about Zimmer but also showed the respect he has for the man who has been his only NFL head coach.

“We’ve always been on the same page where we don’t say a lot,” said Barr, who was Zimmer’s first draft pick back in 2014. “But I think our relationship has grown and evolved over the past few years. I love Coach Zim’.

“I know he’s catching a lot of heat, but players play the game, too,” Barr added. “I think you can point the finger at us as much as you can point it at him.”