Sometimes the best thing about sports is being able to talk about sports: All of us Joe Schmoes throwing our opinions at other people’s faces like we actually know what we’re talking about.
Sunday night’s Seattle game presented another all-time opportunity for the sports know-it-alls. As Alexander Mattison dove into the offense line and came up short on 4th and inches dads and uncles across the state of Minnesota lept to their feet and dove headfirst into their Ted Talk on whether Mike Zimmer just made the correct gutsy decision or a brutal idiotic mistake.
Despite the lack of coaching background — or for that matter even having been on a football field since the eighth grade — most of us continued our passionate discussions throughout the week debating with coworkers, friends, and family.
That’s how these things usually go, and then when another important moment comes up we forget about this one and move onto that one. We very rarely get to be right or wrong. We very rarely get any sort of closure.
But this week is different because this week Russell Wilson appeared on Bill Simmons’ podcast and slammed the door on the issue.
In between being sounding like a youth group leader crossed with a motivational speaker who wears jewelry, Russell Wilson dropped this nugget.
“It’s raining, and if they miss (the field goal), they’re in trouble,” he said. “But also, if they get it there, they obviously get the first (down). I think the move by the coaches is honestly a sign of respect, them just saying, ‘Hey, listen, we got to end this game.’”
There you have it. Case closed.
The best quarterback on earth through the first part of the season thinks Mike Zimmer made the right call. Maybe he knew his defense was struggling against the run. Maybe he hated the idea of having to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to go to overtime. Or maybe he just plain and simple recognized the correct moment for a coach to have confidence in his offense.
Whatever the reason, quarterback royalty has weighed in, and this isn’t a valid place for your Zimmer frustrations.
So let’s enjoy this moment because for once some of us can prove we were right. Do you hear that uncle Jeff? I was right and you’re an idiot! See you next week when we argue about whether or not the Vikings should’ve started Ezra Cleveland.
