Monday night’s game was a great example of how not to run an offence, courtesy of a season-long determination to avoid running the football at all costs. Seattle moved the ball almost at will, but didn’t have the points to show for it until late in the game. Minnesota played as if they were afraid to take any kind of risk at all. The Vikings ran zero plays in Seattle territory in the first half, and went into the locker room down 3-0, but the way they’d been playing, it felt like a lot more than that.

The Daily Norseman‘s Ted Glover did his usual Stock Market Report after the game:

Blue Chips:
None. The offense is as fun to watch as a traffic jam stacking up in front of you, the defense gave up 200 yards rushing, and I literally laugh every time Dan Bailey trots out to kick a field goal, because a Choose Your Own Adventure book has less possible outcomes. This team is heading south faster than a flock of migrating birds, and as amazing as it seems, with few exceptions no one on the Vikings plays like they care about what happens right now.

Solid Investments:
Dalvin Cook, RB. Cook looked decent running the ball, although once again he only got 13 carries in a game that was within one score well into the fourth quarter. He also had the Vikings lone touchdown which yay I guess.

Anthony Harris, S: Harris looked like he was one of the few guys going all out on every play, from the first snap.

Holton Hill, CB: I thought Hill played a solid game in place of Trae Waynes, and had a big pass break up in the end zone.

Junk Bonds:
John DeFilippo, OC: The play calling is something right out of a Dystopian Fever Dream where your playbook consists of shit you draw on napkins, and you’ve managed to spill drinks and ruin all the napkins but about two or three, and yeah hey maybe this one will work this time. For example, on fourth and one in Seattle territory, everyone knew in the stadium the Vikings were going to hand the ball off to Latavius Murray. Loss of a yard, turnover on downs. The calls down on the goal line when the Vikings were stopped were questionable, and when Laquon Treadwell has more targets well into the third quarter than Adam Thielen does, something has gone horribly wrong.

Mike Remmers, RG: Remmers was dough tonight, and the the Seahawks were a rolling pin.

Kirk Cousins, QB: Kirk Cousins tonight, in one picture.

I don't know, Thielen probably wasn't open enough. pic.twitter.com/pNcBBq6vu5

— Cian (@Cianaf) December 11, 2018

Yes, that’s the guy making $28 million dollars turning his back to the line of scrimmage and throwing a forward pass … backwards … to Latavius Murray. While completely ignoring a wide open Adam Thielen 20 yards downfield. It’s so amazing in many ways I feel that if someone paints this in oil it will one day hang in the Louvre.

Last week, after the Vikings’ sad effort in New England, I wrote:

At one point, the broadcast talking heads (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman) were making noises about just how good a job the Vikings offensive co-ordinator had done this season and how he (John DeFilippo) would certainly be a top candidate for one of the head coaching openings after the season is over. I nearly choked to death. Of course, so did the Vikings offence. If what we’ve seen of his body of work is accurate, I think the team should do everything in its power to encourage him to become head coach of another franchise (Green Bay? Can it be Green Bay? Please?). The sooner the better. The man seems to know even less about running a modern NFL offence than I do!

Earlier on Tuesday, the DN News and links post included this, which I fully agreed with:

My yelling was mostly directed at the Vikings’ offensive coordinator. His tenure is a beautiful example of how the national sports media knows very little (the same could be said for the national media in general, I suppose). A narrative gets started somehow, then gains steam, then before long, all the parrots are repeating the same thing. Take the post-season buzz about John DeFilippo. We all heard that John DeFillipo (I have used many other names for him this evening) was a genius, and will be NFL’s next great head coach, and that we were lucky to get him as our offensive coordinator. Well, I have to say that I think they were wrong. I’m not normally prone to over-reaction, but this guy is not good at what he is being paid to do, I see no reason to think that will change, and he is ruining the chances for a very good team to do very good things. He seems inflexible, incapable of adjusting mid-game, and his situational play calling is baffling. 1st and goal from the two? Three straight plays from the shotgun, then the failed attempt on fourth, which I can’t recall right now, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he sent everyone deep. How many third-and-short plays were roll-out plays to the right that wound up being throw-aways? A lot. and if Green Bay still wants to hire him as their head coach, I say they should hitch up the buggy, load it up with a few days’ supplies, and come get him. I’ll be in town Saturday, I could help him pack.

On Tuesday, the team parted ways with DeFilippo, and will replace him (at least temporarily) with quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski:

John DeFilippo is a bright offensive mind and he might someday become a great offensive coordinator, but something had to change for the Minnesota Vikings.

After being shut down on national TV in Seattle, the Vikings dropped to 6-6-1 in large part because of the 20th ranked scoring offense. They nearly went six quarters without a score — a streak that was only ended by a garbage-time touchdown at the end of Monday night’s loss.

[…]

While an OC change at this point in the game may seem like a panicked move, there is precedent. In 2012 the Ravens fired Cam Cameron in favor of Jim Caldwell. They went on to put together one of the best performances by a quarterback in postseason history and win the Super Bowl.

The way the Vikings defense is playing, an offensive turnaround could give them a chance to achieve the goals they set out to accomplish in training camp. They allowed just 72 yards passing to Russell Wilson and only six points late into the fourth quarter. The defense has repeatedly given the Vikings a shot to win big games, including against the Saints and Patriots.

Certainly Stefanski isn’t a cure-all. The offensive line is still going to limit what the Vikings can do on offense, but in order to have a shot the Vikings don’t have to be elite on offense, just effective. They haven’t been anywhere close to effective lately.

Zimmer picked the right week to make a change. The Vikings come back home against a competitive, but not great, Dolphins team. They need to prove a winning team can be defeated in order to avoid a complete season meltdown.

Before Tuesday, nothing pointed to a turnaround. Now at least there is a chance.