Vikings Coaching Staff Loses Second Half

Thanks to a friend, I was at the Vikings game on Sunday. No thanks to the coaching staff, the Vikings lost that game.

Heading into halftime, the Vikings held a great lead. The Vikings were then outscored 24-3 in the second-half.

I firmly believe that the second half is controlled more so by the coaching staff than it is by the offense and defense. In the first half, you have a game plan already firmly established and the talent is in the position where it is their responsibility to carry the team towards a win. If you have an effective game plan that is poorly executed, the talent is at fault. When the plan is executed, the team should be competitive if not ahead. The Vikings were the latter.

During halftime, the coaches quickly review film to see what happened in the first half - what worked and what didn't, what we did and what they did. From there, the coaches should be determining what will work in the next half. This is where a bit of game theory comes into play. Because our coaches review film, they should assume the rival staff is as well and take that into consideration when creating a second-half game plan. The Buccaneers did that. The Vikings did not.

The Bucs figured out what the Vikings were doing in the first half and formulated a plan to counteract and stop the Vikings in the second. The Vikings didn't change one thing and it cost them the 'W'.

I'm disappointed in Leslie Frazier. We need to have a better plan if there is any hope at salvaging our 0-2 start. I think he is a strong coach that has the blessing of good talent, no matter how young (or old) that talent is, but that's where the coach-player contact has to strengthen during halftime.

Talent runs the first half. Coaches run the second.