Dead man talking?
Winning a Super Bowl bolsters a coordinator's legacy and earning power. Win it all, and you immediately become a head coaching candidate, perhaps the next Bill Belichick or Kevin O'Connell.
This postseason will work a little differently than that for defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. If the Vikings win the championship, he will have marginally improved his chances of keeping his job.
E_ _'onatell — the D's will be withheld until he earns them back — holds a vital position on a team that won 13 games. It is a measure of the Vikings' thrilling yet pockmarked season that they enter the playoffs with a coordinator needing to perform miracles to remain employed.
Which is why Donatell's weekly news conference, held on Thursday morning, sounded so odd. Donatell is usually cautious. While previewing the Vikings' playoff game against the New York Giants on Sunday, he seemed chipper. Almost cocky.
"It's our time to shine,'' he said.
He also said: "I think you'll like the way we play,'' as if he were selling a cheap suit.
The Vikings' defense finished the season ranked 31st overall, 31st against the pass and 20th against the run.
Donatell noted that the Vikings have improved situationally late in the season. They rank 12th in preventing third-down conversions. They are tied for eighth in turnovers forced, and many of those turnovers have led directly to victories.
"We've been put in a lot of big moments, and it's hardened us,'' he said.
Last time they faced the Giants, the Vikings' defense resembled unrefrigerated margarine.
Daniel Jones passed for 334 yards, only the second time this season he reached 300. Richie James, a reserve receiver, set season bests with eight catches and 90 receiving yards. Isaiah Hodgins set season bests with eight catches for 89 yards and scored a touchdown.
Running back Saquon Barkley averaged 6 yards a carry, produced 133 yards from scrimmage and scored. The Giants outgained a superior Vikings offense, 445 yards to 353, and the Vikings needed 17 fourth-quarter points, including a 61-yard last-second field goal by Greg Joseph, to win, 27-24.
Monday, Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks, typically pleasant in conversation, was asked about his team's defensive statistics in two different ways. His expression changed and he twice said something like, "If we hold the other team to fewer points than we score, we win,'' then turned away.
Kendricks is emblematic of this defense. He is one of many intelligent and accomplished veteran players on a unit that remains in the midst of statistical collapse.
The Vikings ranked first in the league in yards allowed in 2017. Their yearly rankings since then: fourth, 14th, 27th, 30th and 31st.
Mike Zimmer was fired, in part, because he was responsible for the defense. Donatell's defense was worse, at least in terms of gross (and grotesque) yardage.
How does a team with Harrison Smith, Patrick Peterson, Za'Darius Smith, Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, Dalvin Tomlinson and Harrison Phillips get routinely shredded?
There is more than one answer.
They were asked to adjust to not only a new defensive coordinator but a new scheme, the 3-4.
Many of the Vikings' best defenders have dealt with significant injuries and are slower than they were in their prime.
The new regime spent their top two draft picks on defensive backs, Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth, who have not contributed because of injuries.
Donatell has generally played a passive defense, which has led to easy yards for opponents.
Donatell has two things going for him: His defense isn't much worse than last year's, and his defense has made winning plays, often near the goal line.
Earlier this season, I asked Harrison Smith if yardage statistics mattered when his team was winning. "Yeah,'' he said with a smile. "For vanity.''
This defense hasn't been much of a vanity project for Donatell. Maybe he's cheerful because he knows that, come Sunday night, he will either have added a playoff victory to his résumé, or he won't have to spend the rest of this winter in Minnesota.
https://www.startribune.com/ed-donatell-minnesota-vikings-defensive-coordinator-playoff-win-or-pink-slip-nfl-jim-souhan/600243048/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
E_ _'onatell — the D's will be withheld until he earns them back
lolololololilololollolololllooollll
@"AGRforever" said: E_ _'onatell — the D's will be withheld until he earns them backlolololololilololollolololllooollll
Indeed. The D has gone missing and he doesn't know where to find it.
I mean, if you told me Donatell stored top secret government documents in his "locked" garage next to his Corvette, I wouldn't be surprised. That's how clueless I think the man is. The sooner the Vikings move on from E_ _onatell and his 3-4, the better.
I found Kendriks lack of enthusiasm over the direction of the defense especially telling...
I’m hoping the D comes out like the ‘06 Indianapolis Colts defense did in the playoffs. They sucked in the regular season, but turned it on in the playoffs, and took the ball away on turn overs and gave it to the offense.
The ‘06 Colts defense was the worst to ever win a Super Bowl.
@"supafreak84" said: I mean, if you told me Donatell stored top secret government documents in his "locked" garage next to his Corvette, I wouldn't be surprised. That's how clueless I think the man is. The sooner the Vikings move on from E_ _onatell and his 3-4, the better.I found Kendriks lack of enthusiasm over the direction of the defense especially telling...
Wonder if EK misses Zim yet?
@"greediron" said:@"supafreak84" said: I mean, if you told me Donatell stored top secret government documents in his "locked" garage next to his Corvette, I wouldn't be surprised. That's how clueless I think the man is. The sooner the Vikings move on from E_ _onatell and his 3-4, the better.I found Kendriks lack of enthusiasm over the direction of the defense especially telling...
Wonder if EK misses Zim yet?
Based on interviews this spring, I would say that EK is not a fan of Zim... But EK played better in a 4_3 defense so maybe he misses Zim a little baby bit...
@"IDVikingfan" said:@"greediron" said:@"supafreak84" said: I mean, if you told me Donatell stored top secret government documents in his "locked" garage next to his Corvette, I wouldn't be surprised. That's how clueless I think the man is. The sooner the Vikings move on from E_ _onatell and his 3-4, the better.I found Kendriks lack of enthusiasm over the direction of the defense especially telling...
Wonder if EK misses Zim yet?
Based on interviews this spring, I would say that EK is not a fan of Zim... But EK played better in a 4_3 defense so maybe he misses Zim a little baby bit...
I think the interviews were about a year ago, but yes, that is my point. He didn't like Zim, sounds like that feeling was widely spread, but after playing in the _onatell system, wonder if his feelings have changed a bit.I will say this, the more EK talks, the less I think of him. Barr was a much better leader IMO. Less emotional, more balanced. EK can be a very good player, but he is too up and down and lets little things like this get the better of him. You got a game to play, don't throw the coach under the bus just yet.
Hey E,
@"Riphawkins" said: I’m hoping the D comes out like the ‘06 Indianapolis Colts defense did in the playoffs. They sucked in the regular season, but turned it on in the playoffs, and took the ball away on turn overs and gave it to the offense. The ‘06 Colts defense was the worst to ever win a Super Bowl.I believe their resurgence coincided with Bob Sanders return from injury. Let's hope that Harry will be given more freedom to play up at the line of scrimmage to disrupt what the Giants want to do. My biggest complaint with E.D. is that he doesn't seem to put the players we have in the best position to succeed and make plays. The whole scheme feels like a Square Peg in a Round Hole for the personnel we have.
I agree with the square peg- round hole analogy, and we all knew there were going to be issues from a personnel standpoint because we've been a 4-3 for 30 years! The entirety of this franchise we've been a 4-3 outside of a short one year stint in the 80's. It takes very specific personnel to run this 3-4 scheme effectively and we are going to be investing years of resources trying to get it right which I wanted no part of, especially when our best players on defense are best in a 4-3.
The other issue is we brought in a man who hasn't been good anywhere in _onatell to oversee this huge transition. I said the guy was a shit hire from day one and he has been historically shitty, so even I underestimated him. I'm telling everyone the best thing this franchise could do this offseason is fire Ed, bring in a legit coordinator to transition us back to a 4-3, and let's get back to being proactive instead of reactive on defense.
The big issue I have with Ed is how basic everything is. He is ultra conservative and little is masked or is poorly masked.
I look at the other playoff teams and defense is the difference. It’s not just scheme, it’s aggression, it’s risk taking, and being unpredictable. Ed brings none of that. An exotic blitz is exceptionally rare when we should see several a game. For an opposing QB, our tape has to look awesome. We have good players to be concerned about, but it doesn’t take much to see they are being used in a ultra predictive manner. It makes effective game planning easy for the other team.
We have the personnel to be much better than we are, but the team has to be used with aggression and disruptive unpredictable scheming. Without it, many of these playoff teams will be very hard to beat.
@"Havoc1649" said: The big issue I have with Ed is how basic everything is. He is ultra conservative and little is masked or is poorly masked.Do you cry a little watching other teams defenses and thinking about how thats how people used to think about a Vikings defense? I do, its just so sad how far our D has fallen.I look at the other playoff teams and defense is the difference. It’s not just scheme, it’s aggression, it’s risk taking, and being unpredictable. Ed brings none of that. An exotic blitz is exceptionally rare when we should see several a game. For an opposing QB, our tape has to look awesome. We have good players to be concerned about, but it doesn’t take much to see they are being used in a ultra predictive manner. It makes effective game planning easy for the other team. We have the personnel to be much better than we are, but the team has to be used with aggression and disruptive unpredictable scheming. Without it, many of these playoff teams will be very hard to beat.
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