NO WIN SCENARIO

SAINTS 52

VIKINGS 33

I suppose 2020 could not have possibly found a more appropro way to stick it to the Vikings one final time.

In their first game of the calendar year they went to the Superdome and pulled off one of the biggest upset wins in franchise history, where Mike Zimmer spun a defensive masterpiece and Kirk hit all the big throws to take down a 13 win Saints team.

Just shy of 12 months later, in their last game of this godforsaken year, they returned to the Superdome only to surrender the most points they have given up since 1963(😳) and be officially eliminated from the playoffs. On Christmas Day no less.

Typically I do these game blogs and more or less go drive by drive, but this game was just one big blob of defensive ineptitude. Zimmer's patchwork defense, held together for much of the season with scotch tape and baling wire, just completely gave way.

52 points. The most points in 57 years. And honestly it could have been worse if we were facing prime Drew Brees. Frankly I don't really understand why he was playing if he had to protect his recently broken ribs that much. But we did get a couple picks off Brees (Harrison Hand and Hardy Nickerson), and nearly two others. That 52 could have easily been even more ghastly. 

It was really just a non-competitive garbage performance top to bottom. The run defense was especially horrid, as Alvin Kamara ran through gaping holes and couldn't be tackled even if the holes got filled up. We also got routinely gashed by the Tay Train. As usual we couldn't put any pressure on the quarterback. I'm not sure we ever got close. And receivers were wide open all over the field. 583 total yards of offense. 6 rushing touchdowns for Kamara. 

But I'm sorry. I'm not using this as an excuse to tear down Zimmer. I genuinely feel he has done all he can this year. This was the Kobayashi Maru test of Vikings seasons. (Look it up)

I know it may seem nonsensical in a game with this final score, but my ire on this particular day rests with the offense, and the man calling plays for it.

Gary Kubiak had to call plays to compete in a shootout. He had to know that every drive has to be a score, probably a touchdown, and that notions like ball control are absurd.

I know the bar is high, but it has to be. The Saints never let up. Their offense never blinked. Kubiak did. Without poring over every play, I'll just stick to 3 drives right in the middle of the game.

The 1st came after the Hand interception. Down 17-14, this was a chance at a huge momentum swing. This is your chance to take some control of the game, and not have to play catch up all day long. And what does Kubiak do? After a short dump pass, we get a run up the middle and a sack of Kirk on a pocket pass. A 3 and out. The same shit Kubiak pulled after the Dantzler pick last week.

Saints quickly scored to make it 24-14. Then our last drive of the half was a mess as we blew a bunch of time getting guys set. Just like the final drive last week. This is less playcalling, but how is such disorganization a thing in week 16?

Then we blew our last real chance to go blow for blow, as we took the 2nd half kickoff and the drive died quickly cause, again, Kubiak left Kirk to get killed on a dropback.

After this we did get the Nickerson pick and cut it to 24-20 (yeah, Bailey missed the PAT) but we never again had a real chance to match the Saints.

Kubiak has to know what he is doing. When he doesn't call these doomed to fail plays this offense is electric and at times dominant. Why the fuck does he then ALWAYS veer away from the stuff that works, and so often at the most key moments? You can grill the juiciest, tastiest steak imaginable, but then if you drop it on the floor it's ultimately not gonna taste that good. This is a season long pattern from him, and games have either been made far tougher or outright lost due to it.

And no, I do not buy the fan bs that Zimmer is telling Kubiak to call these exact plays. Sure the gameplan is to feed Dalvin a lot, but that is not the problem. The calls are the issue, the timing and execution.

This particular game may never have been winnable anyway, but you cannot have your OC basically throwing away drives on a weekly basis by doing this stupid shit. This was a day Kubiak needed to be at his very best, and instead it was another game where the offense came apart at key moments due to him putting this terrific set of skill players in positions that doomed them to fail. 

They deserved better, because once again Kirk had a terrific game. Thielen, JJ and Irv had big games. Dalvin wasn't super flashy but was solid. Mike Boone got a touchdown.

It's astonishing to compare the personnel we have on the 2 sides of the ball. We have one of the most talented sets of skill players in the whole NFL. Even Tyler Conklin is starting to look like a legitimate passing threat.

Meanwhile on defense we are throwing out things called Blake Lynch and Eddie Yarborough and Dylan Mabin and Chris Jones, who has to be one of the all time worst players to ever play a significant number of snaps on the Vikings.

We didn't stand a chance. I don't at all regret our midseason run into contention, but I never would have been as excited about it as I was had I known that Kendricks injury was coming and that it was going to be the final fatal blow that we just could not recover from.

We were not a playoff caliber team this year. I don't see it as some unforgivable, shameful disaster like some "fans" do. Everything stood against the Vikings this season. This was just a season in which we had no way out.