Vikings Need to Fire Everybody After Gifting Lions First Win

The Minnesota Vikings had probably the most embarrassing loss of the 2021 NFL season on Sunday, when they somehow allowed the hapless Detroit Lions to beat them. Worse yet, Detroit won on a last-second play after the Vikings made a 14-point comeback to take the lead. Sunday's loss should be the last straw. The Vikings are now 5-7 this season, and it's time to fire everyone and go for a reset.

Let's be real, the fact that the Vikings allowed Jared Goff to pick them apart in a game-winning two-minute drill is a complete humiliation. It took the Lions 1:50 to go 75 yards on 14 plays, and it culminated with Goff hitching up with receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for an 11-yard touchdown in which Minnesota's defense offered little resistance.

The Vikings rushed three and dropped eight and somehow none of those guys in coverage managed to cover the goal line. On the final play of the game. When facing a terrible team. Seriously, what was that?

Mike Zimmer is in his eighth season as Minnesota's head coach and has reached the playoffs three times. He's won the NFC North twice and reached the NFC Championship Game in 2017. But the last two seasons have been a mess, as the Vikings went 7-9 in 2020 and are 5-7 this year and going nowhere. There has been little consistency, except for the the offense, led by Kirk Cousins, which is consistently maddening despite a wealth of talent.

As for the defense, Zimmer's forte, there have been too many displays like the final series of the Lions game. The Vikings entered Week 13 with the third-worst defense in the NFL, yielding 376.8 yards per game. That's just unacceptable from a defense-first head coach, especially one whose had years to build his system up with players that fit.

Things are not working in Minnesota. It's time for the Vikings to just clean the slate and fire everyone.