No defense for Cottrell

By Krupka  |   Wednesday, November 02, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

Minnesota Vikings
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article!
On January 14, 2004 the Minnesota Vikings, in what has been a failed attempt to fix their defense, named Ted Cottrell the defensive coordinator. Cottrell came in to replace George O'Leary who left after only one season to take the head coaching job and the University of Central Florida. In O'Leary's one season at the helm, his defense was aggressive, and was first in the NFC and second in the NFL forcing 28 interceptions. Safeties Corey Chavous and Brian Russell had career years, with Chavous picking off 8 balls, and Russell tied for the league lead in interceptions with 9.

O'Leary's defense ranked 17th against the run, 26th against the pass, was ranked 23rd in total defense, and was third in the NFC with 35 takeaways. O'Leary left and Cottrell took over. Since Cottrell has taken over the defense, the Vikings have spent a lot of money to bring in better players. The Vikings signed cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Fred Smoot, safety Darren Sharper, linebacker Keith Newman, defensive tackle and prolific run stuffer Pat Williams. They traded for linebacker Sam Cowart. They drafted speed rushing defensive end Kenechi Udeze from USC, defensive end Darrion Scott from Ohio State, and linebacker Dontarrious Thomas out of Auburn.

Cottrell, with more talent than O'Leary ever dreamed of having, hasn't been able to come close to matching what O'Leary was able to do with the defense. In Cottrell's first season as defensive coordinator the Vikings posted a rush defense that ranked 21st, a pass defense ranked 29th, and a total defense ranked 26th. The defense only had 22 takeaways.

In this Cottrell's second season things haven't gotten any better. After seven games the rush defense is ranked 29th allowing 137.6 yards per game, the pass defense is ranked 23rd allowing 224 yards per game, and the total defense is ranked 27th allowing 361.6 yards per game.

If those numbers weren't bad enough, players are starting to question Cottrell's scheme and ability. One player in particular who has voiced his opinion is cornerback Antoine Winfield. Winfield mentioned how the team isn't aggressive enough, ripped Cottrell for not implementing the game plan they practiced all week, and ripped Cottrell for not making adjustments after Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was shredding the Vikings pass defense.

Winfield is exactly right and that's the big problem with Cottrell. Cottrell isn't aggressive enough and often fails to make in-game adjustments. Steve Smith embarrassed fellow Viking cornerback Fred Smoot in last Sunday's game. There is no reason that the coaching staff shouldn't have made an adjustment to double cover or bracket cover Smith after he began torching Smoot.

Cottrell was brought in to rebuild a struggling defense. All he has done is destroy it more. In the past season and a half, since taking over as the defensive coordinator, players have repeatedly lined up in the wrong positions, the blitz is essentially non-existent, and the takeaways have dramatically decreased, while the talent level has increased. Cottrell isn't doing his job, and he has begun to lose faith in his own players as shown by Winfield's comments. Cottrell has only himself to blame. At the end of the season, head coach Mike Tice should and probably will be gone, and so should Cottrell. Zygi Wilf needs to bring in an aggressive defensive-minded coach and defensive coordinator that can gameplan to the strengths of his team. There is no reason the Vikings shouldn't have a top 15 defense with the players they have. It's time for a change.
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article! (0)

Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report