In the first half of the Vikings' 38-25 loss to the Packers on Saturday, Minnesota's secondary was torched by Jordy Nelson for 145 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions. In the second half, they limited Nelson to two receptions and nine yards.
So, what changed? It's simple: The Vikings' defense actually listened to their coach, Mike Zimmer, in the final 30 minutes after going rogue during the first two quarters.
Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes admitted that the secondary intentionally didn't follow Zimmer's instructions in the first half. Zimmer wanted Rhodes to follow Nelson around the field, but the secondary decided to do the opposite in the week leading up to the game.
"To be honest, I really don't want to answer that," Rhodes said, per the Star-Tribune. "A matter of fact, forget it. We felt as a team, as players, we came together and we felt like we'd never done that when we played against the Packers. Us as DBs felt like we could handle him. That's how we felt as DBs that we could stay on our side and cover him. In the beginning, we'd always played against them and played our sides, we never followed, so that's what we felt as DBs. That's what we went with."
It didn't work. Below, Zimmer explained how he found out.
"In the first half when Terence Newman came over and said something to me like 'I can cover this guy, let me have him,'" Zimmer said. "I said, 'Do what you're supposed to do.'"
At halftime, Zimmer made sure the team used his game plan and Rhodes tracked Nelson around the field. And it worked.
"That's what he was supposed to do the whole game," Zimmer said. "Someone decided they wouldn't do that."
So, clearly this is a concerning development for the Vikings. Zimmer isn't just a defensive coach, he's the team's head coach. Nobody should take the news lightly. Zimmer probably won't.
The Vikings are already eliminated from postseason contention, but it'll be interesting to see how Zimmer handles the players who went rogue during the final week of the season. The fallout could be significant.
