{"id":95014,"date":"2020-09-20T16:55:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=95014"},"modified":"2020-09-20T16:56:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T20:56:35","slug":"gary-kubiaks-uninspired-play-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/09\/20\/gary-kubiaks-uninspired-play-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Kubiak and His Uninspired Play Calling for the Minnesota Vikings"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s long been clear that the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> defense is entering a transition year. Mike Zimmer<\/strong> has thus been tasked with getting a myriad of young players adjusted to life in the NFL. The defensive transition, at least according to the prevailing wisdom, meant that the Vikings offense would shoulder the burden in the season\u2019s opening weeks. So far, the offense has failed to live up to these expectations. Gary Kubiak<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and his uninspired play calling has been confusing and, quite often, infuriating.<\/p>\n

Gary Kubiak and the Minnesota Vikings Struggles<\/h2>\n

Minnesota\u2019s opening drive, though sometimes clunky, was successful. Adam Thielen<\/a> <\/strong>did a nice job of getting open, and the Vikings kept their offense balanced. Once they got into the red zone, though, the offense stalled, so they settled for a Dan Bailey<\/strong><\/a> field goal.<\/p>\n

Their second and third drives, in contrast, were completely uninspiring. In back to back series, the Vikings failed to get the ball away from their own endzone. On two straight third and longs, Kubiak chose to merely run the ball rather than make an earnest effort to pickup the first down. Fresh off a game where Minnesota\u2019s opponent dominated the time of possession, it was shocking to see the offense so lackadaisical. The main takeaway from the opening three drives rested in how little Kubiak did to incorporate Minnesota\u2019s playmakers.<\/p>\n

Their fourth possession began with around six minutes left in the half. With the Vikings on their own two-yard line, Kubiak smartly called a designed rollout that saw Cousins find Irv Smith<\/a> <\/strong>Jr. for a short gain. Dalvin Cook<\/strong><\/a> then picked up the first down, but offsetting penalties nullified the play. Shortly thereafter, the Vikings gave up a safety (for the second straight week) as Cousins failed to find an open man on third down.<\/p>\n

At this stage, Cousins is what he is. The Vikings\u2019 organization understands this, and they\u2019ve decided to roll with him. The onus now falls on the coaches to put Cousins in a position to succeed. Heading into the half, Cousins was 6\/17 for 59 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. They were one-for-six on third downs. Cook only touched the ball six times.<\/p>\n

Miraculously, the Colts only led 15-3. The Vikings, in other words, still had a shot to win.<\/p>\n

The Second Half<\/h2>\n

The defense held up their end of the bargain to begin the second half. Jalyn Holmes<\/a><\/strong> forced a hold on Braden Smith<\/a><\/strong>. Eric Wilson<\/a><\/strong> then had a tackle for a seven-yard loss. Yannick Ngakoue<\/a><\/strong> then had a strip sack. Facing 3rd<\/sup> and 38, the Colts wisely threw a short pass before punting the ball to Minnesota. Minnesota had favorable field position and some momentum.<\/p>\n

The offense, though, continued their awful play. After an incomplete pass to Thielen on first down, Cousins threw his third interception. While it\u2019s true that the Minnesota receiver had his hands on the ball, Cousins did throw it behind his receiver. Kubiak can\u2019t be blamed for Cousins\u2019 accuracy (or, rather, lack thereof) but he can be blamed for failing to integrate Minnesota\u2019s playmakers, Cook foremost among them.<\/p>\n

\n

Kirk Cousins had a rough game vs. the Colts \ud83d\udc40 @brgridiron<\/a><\/p>\n

11\/26
113 yards
3 INTs
15.9 QBR<\/p>\n

Vikings lost 28-11 pic.twitter.com\/ORXawLUEj4<\/a><\/p>\n

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 20, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n