Minnesota Vikings 2011 Debacle: Leslie Frazier in Trouble?

With a little more than half of the season in the books, the Minnesota Vikings are sitting quietly at the bottom of NFC North. For that matter, they are sitting equally as quiet at the bottom of the entire NFL. After the embarrassingly lopsided 47-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, things are quickly headed in the wrong direction.

With that, one might ask oneself if there's ever been a season in which the Vikings have played such abysmal football. While the direct answer to that question tends to depend on your own personal opinion of what separates a season from being bad as opposed to downright embarrassing, it's blatantly clear the 2011 campaign falls into one of those two categories.

A little revisionist history might take some on a road trip to seasons of horrors past. Take the 2001 season, for instance. Finishing the season at 5-11, the Vikings logged one of their worst seasons to date. Even going as far as to fire veteran coach Dennis Green before the season even ended, things seemed as bleak as bleak could be for anything having to do with the Minnesota Vikings. 

Then look at the 1983 effort. In what is considered by many to be their worst season ever, the Vikings managed to win a total of three games. On pace to match that number, the 2011 campaign is shaping up to equal or surpass that season in terms of it being an all-time low point for the Minnesota Vikings' storied franchise, as well as their die-hard fan base. 

Through all of those seasons to forget, one thing managed to be as consistent as the losses themselves: A coaching change would inevitably follow soon after. Mike Tice took over for Dennis Green after his '01 debacle, who was replaced by Brad Childress after a rough stretch and a boat scandal to boot, and finally Leslie Frazier stepped in for Childress after last year reached all-time low standards for an otherwise-proud Vikings team.

One thing to acknowledge, however, is that without exception, each of those coaches had four or more years to change the culture in Minnesota. When it came time then to make a change, it was easy to see each coach had his day in the sun. The same, though, can't be said for Leslie Frazier, who finds himself in odd territory after only coaching 15 games.

After all, the NFL can be a cruel place. What you did yesterday rarely matters, and what you're doing now is the only thing anyone cares to look at. It's easy to imagine that with a few years under his belt, Frazier has the gusto to turn this team into the playoff contenders they were as recent as 2009. However, with the stadium issue hanging in the balance, and whispers of relocation growing louder with each loss, one might suspect that time is something Frazier does not have on his side.

Sure, Frazier is a new coach, and it's almost impossible to ask any coach to step right in and turn things around within one calendar season. Moreover, Frazier himself has acknowledged that he essentially inherited Childress' team. Most can even recognize that Frazier is facing an uphill battle that consists of an aging roster, a juggernaut of a division and the growing pains that come with starting a rookie quarterback.

All of these things have aided in what may go down as the worst season in the history of the Vikings franchise. Is that enough, though, for owner Zygi Wilf to consider making another coaching change before the 2011 season comes to much needed conclusion? After all, like the switch from Donovan McNabb to Christian Ponder before, the new and unknown is always more exciting than the same old story.