Vikings Lose Yet Another Heartbreaker because of Bad Coaching

This sucked. I don't even know if I want to talk about it.

Minnesota:
QB:
K. Cousins 23/35 184 yds 5.3 avg 1 TD 88.3 rtg 1 sack

RB:
D. Cook 18 car 78 yds 4.3 avg 19 long

WR:
A. Thielen 6 rec 78 yds 13.0 avg 1 TD 32 long (9 targets)
T. Conklin 5 rec 57 yds 11.4 avg 31 long (7 targets)
J. Jefferson 2 rec 21 yds 10.5 avg 18 long (4 targets)
KJ Osborn 2 rec 10 yds 5.0 avg 6 long

DEF: 
A. Barr 1 fumble recovery
X. Woods 1 sack, 1 INT
E. Kendrick 1 sack
E. Griffen 1 sack

K:
G. Joseph 3/3 FG (45, 40, 24) 1/1 XP

Game Summary:
Ugh. Just ugh. The Vikings started out hot like usual. They got the ball first and drove it down for the only touchdown of the game, a 20 yard connection from Cousins to Thielen. That is the only positive on the night.
The Vikings then proceeded to kick 3 more field goals, 2 of them needed from long range. I am not even going to describe the game.
Here is the deal. This offense plays way to conservative to win games. The thing is, they didn't always play this way. Mike Zimmer isn't an offensive coach, he is defense. Yet either he doesn't trust Klint Kubiak enough or Klint is just this bad at calling plays. So many plays that made zero sense to run. So many screens run that were doomed from the start. The offensive line did not handle Dallas' defensive line very well. Kirk was running for his life nearly every play. That is the reason he didn't throw many passes downfield. 
The other ailment is Mike Zimmer, between his conservative game plan and insistence on the defense he loses the Vikings games from the sideline every week. His tenure should be well respected in Minnesota, after all he did lead the Vikings to multiple playoff berths while here and even an NFC Championship. But its time for him to go. His defenses were great. But when they weren't, he didn't know what to do. A good coach knows that when one side of the ball might not be able to carry their weight, the other side needs to play more aggressive to pick that side up. The Vikings should not be running the ball on 2nd and 10+ or 3rd and 10+. While Dalvin Cook is a very good running back, he cannot make up that gain especially with his run blocking having a rough night. Maybe throw more protection in there and have Kirk launch the ball? How about open the playbook so that the offense can air the ball out once in a while. 
Not only this, but clock management was abysmal this game. At the end of the first half the Vikings had the ball with around a minute or so to go. Kirk had a medium completion downfield to Smith-Marsette. But instead of using any of the 2 timeouts the Vikings had left Kirk had to run up to the line, wait for the rookie to be set and hike the ball for a quick pass. If I were him I would have thrown my helmet on the field. After the game Kirk said that he was told to trust Zimmer on timeouts at the end of the half. Which makes me scratch my head. First, why would Zim still not trust Kirk after all these years/games? Second, why the hell didn't Zim call the timeout?? Instead the Vikings kneeled the ball and went into the half with no points on that drive. The crowd booed them, rightly so. Then towards the end of the 4th quarter, the Cowboys were driving. The Vikings had just sacked Cooper Rush, about to make it a 3rd and 16 at the Minnesota 20 ish yard line. The Vikings called a timeout to save the clock for the offense. However, Zim then tried to called another timeout after the teams lined up. You can't call 2 timeouts in a row Mike! So the Vikings were assessed a 5 yard penalty to make it a 3rd and 11 from the Vikings 15ish yard line. The Cowboys scored on the next play. One might argue that Dallas' gameplan may have been different after the sack then after the penalty. Thanks for nothing Zim! I have had it with these stupid clock mistakes. Find us a coach that can manage timeouts. 
The stupid thing about this game is that the Cowboys backup QB played, and this is the easiest it will get in the next 4 weeks.

Injury Report
CB Patrick Peterson did not play this week after suffering an injury in the win in Carolina two weeks ago. The Vikings placed him on IR the next day. He will eligible to return in 2 weeks.
DE Danielle Hunter left the game last night with a shoulder injury. It is unknown how long he will be out.

Up Next
Now the Vikings have to hit the road to face the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday. Kickoff is at 12 PM CT.

​#Skol