Former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and quarterback Kirk Cousins tried to play their shoving match after Minnesota beat Detroit on a last-second field goal as an intense celebration.
Skepticism followed.
Now, Minnesota broadcaster Paul Allen suggests that everyone who thought the moment was a microcosm of the deteriorating relationship between coach and quarterback was 100 percent correct.
Vikings broadcaster believes Mike Zimmer “cracked” over Kirk Cousins’ shove
“Back to like the middle of the season. Home game and it’s a win. Yeah, Zim snapped when Cousins pushed him,” Allen said on KFAN. by Bring Me Sports. “And looking back, the former head coach had that sidelong glance and anger was coming out of his nose. And he wanted to go. But then he didn’t want to go. Kirk sensed a free throw during the working relationship and he put one in.”
That’s definitely not how Zimmer and Cousins portrayed the incident after the fact, but it makes a lot more sense than the explanation they offered.
It all came crashing down in October when the Vikings nearly blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against the visiting Lions. D’Andre Swift scored for Detroit with 37 seconds left, while a two-point conversion put Detroit ahead 17-16.
Cousins led a quick series to put Minnesota within field goal range. Greg Joseph made the rest from 54 yards out to take the win.
The tension between Zimmer and Cousins had been evident since the summer when the head coach used media availability to express his frustration with the quarterback over his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine. The whispers suggested the two were even more misaligned when it came to how the offense was run.
Cousins’ decision to turn and grab Zimmer after that field goal was meant to show it, as Allen says.
That working relationship is now over. Zimmer was fired after the conclusion of the 8-9 season. Cousins, often questioned, can now move on in Minnesota, preferably without the on-field outbursts, under new head coach Kevin O’Connell.
