Dan Bailey Decision Makes Mike Zimmer Look Weak

Being a kicker in the NFL is no easy job. However, it is expected of those players to be consistent and make kicks when it matters. That is not what Minnesota Vikings kicker Dan Bailey has done lately, but head coach Mike Zimmer is sticking with him.

Bailey struggled just about as much as a kicker can on Sunday, missing three field goals and an extra point attempt in a 26-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In total, he has missed seven kicks over the past two weeks putting his team in really tough positions.

Mike Zimmer in midseason form this morning. Will Dan Bailey be the kicker on Sunday? "We'll see." Adding another option? "We'll see." Later said, "I don't think we have a kicker we can't depend on...guys make mistakes." Unless #Vikings have kicker in testing now, it's Bailey.
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) December 16, 2020

Zimmer remains high on the veteran and repeatedly stated how much he appreciates Bailey's approach to the game of football. The team released their practice squad kicker this week, which leaves Bailey as the only kicker left on the entire roster. Barring something drastically changing, he will have a chance to turn things around in Week 15.

Ultimately, this decision does not make Zimmer look very competent. In fact, it makes him look rather weak. Would a player at another position struggling that much be granted the same treatment? Zimmer needed to at least bring in some competition and make Bailey feel the pressure since the Vikings are fighting to stay alive in the NFC Playoff race. Instead, he didn't really do anything.

Bailey has proven he can be a reliable kicker as he hit 93.1% of his field goals last season, but he can't keep getting away with subpar performances. Zimmer is an old school coach, but it will be very interesting to see what he does next week if Bailey continues to cost the team points.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.