Mike Zimmer

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(01-10-2022, 07:42 PM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: No way imo. He's been a HC for a while now, no guarantees he comes back and is a good DC again. While they were definitely usually good units, I still think 'that Mike Zimmer defence' was often overrated as well. Maybe stats prove me wrong, but I never really felt like they'd take over a game when it mattered the most. Don't turn to the past to find a new path forward for this team. Outside of about 2-3 games, our defence has been pretty decent this year, no reason not to stick with Lou imo.

You're wrong and they do. Here's the scoring defenses he's been a part of with the Bengals/Vikings...

BENGALS
2007: 24th
- - Zimmer Arrives - -
2008: 19th
2009: 6th
2010: 24th
2011: 9th
2012: 8th
2013: 5th
- - Zimmer Leaves - - 
2014: 12th

VIKINGS
2013: 32nd
- - Zimmer Arrives - -
2014: 11th
2015: 5th
2016: 6th
2017: 1st
2018: 9th
2019: 5th
2020: 29th
2021: 24th

Vikings D fell apart at the end, but that was because in 2020 they lost all 3 of their starting CBs (we took 2 of them) and they had to roll with two 2020 rookies and a 2019 7th rounder. Then in 2021, Kirk Cousins had a $31m cap hit, and they had $25.6m in dead cap in a year where it shrank $16m.

Either way, in a 14 year span he had 9 top-10 defenses with two of those 5 where he didn't have one being the years he showed up. Tack on 6 of those years being top-6. That's really damn good.

Meanwhile there's people in this thread happy with Lou Anarumo having the 25th, 22nd, and 17th scoring defenses despite a TON of money spent bringing in high quality FAs.

The Vikings won a playoff game with Case Keenum as their starter and Latavius Murray as their #1 rusher. They were a missed 27 yard FG away from winning a playoff game a different year with Teddy Bridgewater as their starter.