Vikings fire offensive coordinator
The Vikings, seeking to salvage a season that started with Super Bowl designs, made a last-ditch move to capture a mid-December spark by firing offensive coordinator John DeFilippo on Tuesday.
Head coach Mike Zimmer made what he called an “extremely difficult decision” on Tuesday, following a 21-7 loss at Seattle on Monday night. DeFilippo’s first season on the job ended after 13 games, amid a sharp decline in production by the offense in the past six weeks.
“I went round and round and round and round about it because I feel like, ‘I hired him. It’s my job to try to help him to continue to get better,’ ” Zimmer said. “I obviously didn’t do a good enough job there.”
The Vikings (6-6-1) have been held to under 300 total yards in four of their past five games. They’ve scored an average of 12.8 points in those four games. DeFilippo previously worked as an assistant coach with the Raiders and San Jose State.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are still in control of the second wild-card spot with three games to go. Gordon questionable: Melvin Gordon wants to suit up for the Chargers’ game Thursday at Kansas City, but he says his status likely will not be decided until 90 minutes before kickoff. The fourth-year running back has missed two games after spraining the MCL in his right knee during the Chargers’ Nov. 26 win against Arizona. Roethlisberger update: Ben Roethlisberger’s ribs are bruised but not broken. The Steelers’ quarterback believes he’ll play Sunday when New England visits Heinz Field. Pittsburgh has lost three straight, including a 24-21 decision at the Coliseum on Sunday. Roethlisberger missed most of the second half after taking a shot to the ribs. Rams’ moves: The Rams placed running back Malcolm Brown and cornerback Dominique Hatfield on injured reserve. Salary cap to rise: The salary cap will increase by roughly 6 percent in 2019 to a threshold of up to $191.1 million per team, the league announced. The 2018 cap is $177.2 million. Next season’s cap will be “in the range of $187.0 million to $191.1 million,” the NFL tweeted.