Vikings Still Trying To Save Season

After the Minnesota Vikings fell to 2-9 after a loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday (feel free to begin snickering at their misfortune here), it became apparent to some coach Leslie Frazier doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Of course, that’s something that’s been apparent to us for a while, but the interesting thing coming from Minnesota is that Frazier is still trying to salvage the season. At a time when most coaches would have put their young players on the field to at least see if they have a future in the league, the Vikings keep trotting out washed-up, injured and overused veterans.

At 2-9, the Vikings should be playing for the future. But… Frazier is selling out to salvage something from the now.

That’s why Benny Sapp continued to play out of position and out of shape on Sunday when rookie Brandon Burton could have taken over for injured Asher Allen.

That’s why Tyrell Johnson got another start in place of Husain Abdullah until an injury finally got rookie Mistral Raymond on the field.

That’s why Jared Allen continues to play most every snap when common sense says it’s worth lightening the load to protect an expensive investment.

That’s why Frazier quietly relieved defensive coordinator Fred Pagac of some duties in last week’s loss to Oakland and was sending in at least a chunk of the play calls again on Sunday.

The question now seems to be whether the Vikings make some changes to their leadership. The team obviously needs to rebuild and they have some tools to do that with — quarterback Christian Ponder, running back Adrian Peterson, receiver Percy Harvin and Allen, to name a few.

You’d think the Vikings would take a look at Frazier, but considering the franchise still has to pay Brad Childress, it’s unlikely that dimwit will be going anywhere, which is great news for the Green Bay Packers and the rest of the NFC North.

What the mess in Minnesota likely means is other parts of the coaching staff will be altered, much like the Chicago Bears did two offseasons ago when they forced Lovie Smith to hire a defensive coordinator and change offensive coordinators.

Another possible outcome is the Vikings will get rid of director of player personnel Rick Spielman, who is the Vikings general manager in theory, and bring in someone to run the football operations definitively. Both Frazier and Childress have had a great deal of input on personnel decisions and you can see how that’s worked out.

It’s time to rebuild in Minnesota. Your organization is, predictably, a mess.

Although it looks like the Vikings are going to be bad for a number of years no matter what they do, and that warms my heart.