Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had a plan to make wide receiver Jordy Nelson a non-factor in their matchup with the Green Bay Packers Saturday.
But defensive backs Xavier Rhodes and Terence Newman had a plan of their own for dealing with Nelson, and it failed miserably. Nelson torched the Vikings secondary for 9 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns, the bulk of which came in the first half when Rhodes and Newman conspired to split time covering Nelson, going against Zimmer's wishes that the younger Rhodes cover Nelson at all times.
According to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Newman told Rhodes that he could cover Nelson, which would allow the two cornerbacks to stay on their respective sides of the field, rather than flip-flop.
That obviously didn't work out, and by the time Zimmer confronted the pair, Nelson had already begun having his way. In the first-half alone, Nelson caught seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. After ditching their own gameplan in favor of Zimmer's in the second-half, Rhodes held Nelson to just two receptions for nine yards.
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In his comments to the media on Monday, Zimmer refrained from blaming the defensive backs.
"I talked to them all yesterday. We changed a couple calls later in the week, I probably wasn't specific enough in the things I was asking them to do," Zimmer said. "...they played the coverage that was called, but they might have messed it up. I can think of one specifically. There was one where we were playing a man within a zone, and both guys played zone, and we turned a guy loose. There's things like that, but that happens every day."
Despite reports to the contrary, Newman also denied that he and Rhodes did their own thing, saying, "It was a miscommunication...that's it."
