Vikings Players Go Rogue

[CrazyCarl40]

Talk about losing a team. This is crazy.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18346099/minnesota-vikings-dbs-ditch-coach-mike-zimmer-game-plan-covering-jordy-nelson-green-bay-packers
http://es.pn/2i68XsV

Vikings go against Mike Zimmer's strategy for covering Jordy Nelson

8:26 PM ET

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  Ben GoesslingESPN Staff Writer

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- As Jordy Nelson had a banner day against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, the team's defensive backs apparently devised a strategy to cover the Green Bay Packers wide receiver independent of what coach Mike Zimmer wanted.

After Minnesota's 38-25 loss to the Packers, Zimmer explained that the Vikings had planned for cornerback Xavier Rhodes to shadow Nelson. Rhodes, though, said the Vikings' cornerbacks had decided on a different plan during the week, opting to have Rhodes stay at right cornerback, with veteran Terence Newmanor second-year player Trae Waynes at left cornerback.

EDITOR'S PICKS

• Vikings' defensive discord raises concerning questions

  The decision of the Vikings' defensive backs to eschew Mike Zimmer's game plan was striking considering who was involved and whose instructions were ignored.

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  As the Vikings assess what went wrong in a year that began with a 5-0 start, but will end with a non-winning record and no playoffs, Aaron Rodgers provided a reminder he's as dangerous as ever.

• 

  Rodgers-Nelson hookup sets Packers' TD mark

  Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson etched their names in the Packers record book by connecting for their 58th career TD, then soon added a 59th.

It wasn't until the second half that the Vikings put Rhodes on Nelson, who caught seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

"In the first half, Terence Newman came over and said something to me like, 'I can cover this guy; let me have him,'" Zimmer said. "I said, 'Do what you're supposed to do.'"

Rhodes held Nelson to two catches for nine yards in the second half.

"That's what he was supposed to do the whole game," Zimmer said. "Someone decided they wouldn't do that."

The Vikings refrained from putting Rhodes exclusively on Nelson when he last faced him in 2014, and Rhodes didn't play in the Vikings' first game against the Packers this season. Rhodes, though, had earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl this year by shadowing receivers like Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins and Dez Bryant, and had drawn similar assignments against players like Calvin Johnson and Alshon Jeffery in recent years.

But against the Packers, Rhodes said the Vikings' cornerbacks wanted to play on their typical sides because it was what they had done in the past.

"To be honest, I really don't want to answer that," Rhodes said, before saying, "A matter of fact, forget it," and then deciding to open up.

Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes held Packers receiver Jordy Nelson to just two catches for nine yards in the second half. "That's what he was supposed to do the whole game," Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said. "Someone decided they wouldn't do that." Dylan Buell/Getty Images

"We felt as a team, as players, we came together and we felt like we'd never done that when we played against the Packers," he said. "Us as DBs felt like we could handle him. That's how we felt as DBs that we could stay on our side and cover him. In the beginning, we'd always played against them and played our sides, we never followed, so that's what we felt as DBs. That's what we went with."

Nelson's 154 yards were the fourth most in his career, and his most in a game against the Vikings.

"It's one of those things that, we have multiple guys out there that can make plays, so it's hard for teams to focus on one player," Nelson said. "They started doing it later, but we can all play different positions, so they were able to continue to move around, and we were able to make plays."

[SBBound]

And this is happening to a coach who has been lauded as a very fine coach. Hmmmm

[Beerfish]

As i said in the other thread, the nfl is becoming the nba where the players think they know better than the coaches and get away with it,

If I was zimmer both of the offenders would be sitting out next week, 100% for sure.

[Charlie Brown]

Wow just Wow!!!!

I have never heard of anything like that!!!

[Beerfish]

1 minute ago, SBBound said:

And this is happening to a coach who has been lauded as a very fine coach. Hmmmm

Yeah, in that case I agree Bowles is a quality coach who is not to blame for his roster and should be retained.

[SBBound]

Just saying that sometimes a coach can be a good coach and dissension can happen. Locker room harmony and high effort tends to happen when the team is winning and the QB play is solid. When a QB sucks and the team can't win it is virtually impossible for a team to be harmonious - not gonna happen in most cases.

[shawn306]

3 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As i said in the other thread, the nfl is becoming the nba where the players think they know better than the coaches and get away with it,

If I was zimmer both of the offenders would be sitting out next week, 100% for sure.

This....

it is exactly why the NBA sucks and the NFL is very close to entering. 

Mike Zimmer is one heck of a coach who can coach my team any time

[SBBound]

30 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As i said in the other thread, the nfl is becoming the nba where the players think they know better than the coaches and get away with it,

If I was zimmer both of the offenders would be sitting out next week, 100% for sure.

I don't think there is any question about that. The players should be suspended without pay for conduct detrimental.

[SAR I]

45 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As i said in the other thread, the nfl is becoming the nba where the players think they know better than the coaches and get away with it,

If I was zimmer both of the offenders would be sitting out next week, 100% for sure.

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

[dbatesman]

5 minutes ago, SAR I said:

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

This is top-shelf.

[NoBowles]

NFL is on its way down, between the refs fixing games, inmates running the asylum, NFL is done.

[Vader]

1 minute ago, dbatesman said:

This is top-shelf.

glove-side

 

[NoBowles]

7 minutes ago, SAR I said:

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

NHL is by far the best of the 4 major leagues, and its not even close 

[CrazyCarl40]

10 minutes ago, NoBowles said:

NHL is by far the best of the 4 major leagues, and its not even close 

Marc Andre Fleury took a skate and then multiple stitches to the throat the other night. He came back in and saved 40 shots. That would never have or anything comparable in another sport. Hockey >>> everything else. 

[JoJoTownsell1]

20 minutes ago, SAR I said:

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

Truth

[kelticwizard]

**** hockey.

[NoBowles]

6 minutes ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Marc Andre Fleury took a skate and then multiple stitches to the throat the other night. He came back in and saved 40 shots. That would never have or anything comparable in another sport. Hockey >>> everything else. 

Yup, could not agree more.

[CobraVerde]

Let be real they thought they could cover Nelson cause he's white. 

27 minutes ago, SAR I said:

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

Stop acting like those so called role models werent pompous aholes too. Difference today is that you know about it now. You act like they went to battle with swords and sh*t. Players today devour anyone from back in the day. They are twice as big and twice as fast and have all the knowledge and tech available. NFL still losing popularity when most of us gladly watched a beat down...K...

[SAR I]

4 minutes ago, CobraVerde said:

Stop acting like those so called role models werent pompous aholes too. Difference today is that you know about it now. You act like they went to battle with swords and sh*t. Players today devour anyone from back in the day. They are twice as big and twice as fast and have all the knowledge and tech available. NFL still losing popularity when most of us gladly watched a beat down...K...

I don't care about their pompous attitudes, Joe Namath was an arrogant, selfish bastard, he went out whoring and was drunk the morning of the AFL Championship Game, he was recovering from dual knee surgeries and went water skiing and blew both hamstrings and missed a season as a result, and that's the tip of the iceberg.  Trust me, I get the fact that all NFL generations had their aholes.

What we're talking about here is EFFORT, and never before has the NFL seen so many lazy players who think they are entitled to a year off after getting their big pro contract or pull themselves out of games because of a hangnail.  Never before have we seen such utter disrespect towards the coaches or the fans who pay their salaries.  It's tragic what's become of this sport.

What separates teams today has far less to do with the talent on the roster and far more to do with the coaching staff's ability to control these millennials and get them to play hard.

SAR I

[The Crusher]

Only one man is suitable to lead The Vikings.

[flgreen]

1 hour ago, SBBound said:

And this is happening to a coach who has been lauded as a very fine coach. Hmmmm

This is a league problem.  Not just this incident, but a general attitude.  Think the NFL is at a peak, it's losing touch with a lot of fans.

I kind of sensed that on the Jets.  

[flgreen]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

This is the reason the NFL is losing popularity. 

The players used to be warriors, our role models, our heroes. They are now a bunch of spoiled brats who lay down like dogs the moment they get paid or hit some adversity. 

First it was baseball, now it's football. Thank God for hockey, those guys truly care and play hard on every shift. 

SAR I

Couldn't agree more.  Good post!!

[dbatesman]

I wish I could hook this thread directly into my veins

[CanadienJetsFan]

I went to read a football thread and a hockey thread broke out! 

[BurnleyJet]

Wow lets see what Zimmer does with this Rogue activity. If it was BB he would cut him this morning.

[Snell41]

Wow lets see what Zimmer does with this Rogue activity. If it was BB he would cut him this morning.

Hey, Rogue activity saved the universe from the first Death Star!


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[FidelioJet]

League is quickly devolving and becoming unwatchable...

[NoBowles]

Hogs get fat and pigs get slaughtered, why the NFL is dying

[Xtina]

9 hours ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Marc Andre Fleury took a skate and then multiple stitches to the throat the other night. He came back in and saved 40 shots. That would never have or anything comparable in another sport. Hockey >>> everything else. 

That's why when Cespedes got hot in the knee with a baseball and couldn't play, Vignault made a comment about if it were hockey the player would have stayed in. He was right, I wish he hadn't apologized 

[NYDreamer]

Curious to know if there is written language in their contracts about something like this.  They should Suspend without pay.  There actions are detrimental to the team.

[T0mShane]

I would also like to point the finger at the influence of rap music for eroding the fabric of American society.

[Smashmouth]

12 hours ago, SBBound said:

And this is happening to a coach who has been lauded as a very fine coach. Hmmmm

this has more to do with Players going out of ******* control. I think sh*t happens with players more than we think and this is what happens when you pay these punks e ungodly amounts of money they are making. This league is going in the trash. TBH I have never seen such terrible football like I have seen this year.

Just look at the things these morons say on twitter does anyone think they really give a flying fcuk about their team anymore ? They run off an dance and celebrate on their own and the team concept is going in the trash more and more each year. This league is heading into the toilet and its doing it at break neck speed

[dcJet]

I blame the fans.   If they just cheered louder and.....

[SAR I]

2 hours ago, dcJet said:

I blame the fans.   If they just cheered louder and.....

Exactly.

I'd cheer until my lungs bleed if only the Jets would play in a similar fashion.  Used to be that way.  No more.

SAR I

[SAR I]

4 hours ago, NoBowles said:

Hogs get fat and pigs get slaughtered, why the NFL is dying

It's time we recognize what this is:  Union interference at its finest.

When I was a kid I worked for a large department store chain, was a department manager in one of their stores that was run by a union.  Not all their stores were, but this one was.  And the kind of lazy, unmotivated, negative, no-urgency stuff you see out of NFL locker rooms is exactly what I experienced back then.  We'd have a busy sales day, clothes on the floor, associates were on the registers, as an executive I'd supervise the floor but if I wanted to pick those clothes up off the floor and hang them up I'd get reported on by the register associates, they'd narc me to their union officials, written warnings, the works.  Like cleaning up the floor so a customer doesn't get hurt or so all of us-  union or not-  could make a bonus was a crime.

When people have a union telling them their managers are the enemy, when they make rules that aren't good for business, they create a culture that is toxic and puts priorities in the wrong place.  Look at the NFL with the too low or too high salaries, the contract issues, the ridiculous practice limitations, each player trying to create a "brand", disrespect for rules, 'look at me' Tweets, it's got to end.  Or the sport will.  I mean that.  These players are this close to losing me.

SAR I