It was a rough day for Dan Bailey, and now Mike Zimmer had weighed in with how he feels about it.
The Minnesota Vikings’ playoff dreams are all but dead, and fans are looking for someone to blame. Regency bias will lead them to Dan Bailey, who missed every single kick he attempted on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bailey missed an extra point to start the day and then missed a field goal that would have brought the Vikings within a score of the Bucs to end his day. In between that, Bailey missed two field goals and left 10 total points on the field in a game the Vikings lost 26-14.
It’s not the first time Bailey has had crippling issues kicking the ball, and Mike Zimmer seems to have had enough.
Mike Zimmer reacts to Dan Bailey’s four missed kicks in Week 14
“At this point, we’re not really worried about feelings any more,” Zimmer said when he was asked about Bailey’s missed kicks.
That sounds like a pretty cut-and-dry judgement of his kicker, but Zimmer lightened up slightly when elaborating on how much blame for the loss should be placed at the inaccurate foot of Bailey.
“If you guys want me to fire guys for making a mistake here or there, we wouldn’t have any players. Let’s not put this all on Dan Bailey.”
Bad kicking is something Zimmer is no stranger to. Five years ago the Vikings season infamously came to an end with a missed chip shot field goal by Blair Walsh, and it seems all these years later the same problem is nagging Zimmer amid yet another season that appears as though it will end well short of a Super Bowl.