In his first game as an NFL defensive coordinator in 2000, Mike Zimmer’s unit gave up 201 rushing yards to Duce Staley as the Eagles beat the Cowboys 41-14. It was a game now known as the “Pickle Juice” game after the Eagles used the liquid to stem cramping in the Texas heat.
Zimmer had a flashback after watching Alvin Kamara total 180 yards from scrimmage, including 115 rushing yards, in the Saints’ 44-19 win Sunday. New Orleans rushed for 190 yards as a team and averaged 5.8 yards from scrimmage.
“Yeah, I talked to [the defense] for a while,” Zimmer said Monday, via Patrik Walker of the team website. “We watched film together. We talked about things we need to do better, things I need to do better and we’ll just keep working on it. My first game here as coordinator was the Pickle Juice Game. I saw how to fix it after that.
“If I didn’t fix those, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Zimmer took responsibility for the Saints’ six consecutive touchdowns to open the game, blaming the scheme, and disagreed with Micah Parsons‘ assessment that it was an effort issue.
“I don’t know that’s the case,” Zimmer said. “I think we got lined up fine. We were trying to move the front some, and they caught us a couple times, and when they were moving guys, so I’ve just got to do a better job. . . . I said, ‘I’ve watched you guys for over three months now, right? I’ve never seen us at one practice like that. I’ve never seen us [give up] plays in a practice like that.’ I mean, these guys, typically, they are on point and do everything the right way. They play very, very hard. They like to compete.
“Again. I didn’t allow them to use our strength, which is being able to get him into some third down situations and passing situations. So I’ve got to do a better job.”
