As you read this, there’s a perfect storm brewing in Vikingland. Nine days from now it just might touch down and wreak havoc.
In 2010, Brad Childress brought his Minnesota Vikings and their 3-6 record into a matchup with the hated Green Bay Packers. The on-field issues were matched by off-the-field distractions. Talks of a schism filled the local newspapers. Brett Favre and Randy Moss were beginning to take shots at their head coach. Things were already bad, and then they got worse.
An absolute thumping to the tune of 31-3 in front of the home crowd was enough to make the Wilfs make a decision. Childress was gone.
Zygi Wilf and his brother Mark are anything but impulsive. They appreciate and enjoy stability. So to fire a coach mid-season the year after an NFC Championship run, it was going to take a whole lot. Childress gave them that much and more.
As the 2021 Vikings stumble towards a Week 10 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, the Wilfs again find themselves in a difficult spot. Mike Zimmer may not have lost the locker room yet — that we know of — but he has certainly lost the fanbase as a “Fire Zimmer” sentiment rips through social media and nearly every Vikings fan conversations. When you combine the current on-field frustrations with a COVID outbreak and Dalvin Cook’s domestic violence situation, things are seemingly starting to spiral out of control.
A loss to the Chargers would put the Vikings at 3-6 and Week 11 would bring the Green Bay Packers to town.
The Packers will arrive in Minnesota with one of the league’s best records and one of its best and pettiest quarterbacks. I wonder if Aaron Rodgers, the poster child for vengeance, has any reason to have a giant chip on his unvaccinated but totally immunized shoulder?
As outlets from everywhere attacked Rodgers with full force for his vaccination status and his comments on the Pat McAfee Show, he’s been happy to sit back, play the victim, and plot his next great destruction.
The reigning MVP won’t somberly rejoin the Packers amid this playoff push. He’s not going to walk in the building with a humble, apologetic attitude. It’s not the way he’s wired. He will almost certainly charge in and make his presence known. After a tune-up against the Seattle Seahawks to shake the rust off, he’ll have the perfect opportunity to assure all that he once again has control. The same control that Zimmer is watching slip through his tight grasp in Minnesota.
On November 21, half of U.S. Bank Stadium will likely be filled with a disgruntled and disillusioned Vikings fanbase who’ve grown weary of their once-beloved leader. The other half with exuberant Cheeseheads enjoying their Last Dance and ready to watch their vendetta-driven superstar prove himself once again in front of the world.
Aaron Rodgers might very well end the Mike Zimmer era.
