After the Vikings defense weathered a rough patch to start this season, coach Mike Zimmer said simplifying things helped turn it around.

On Monday, Zimmer wondered aloud if the offensive playbook has "a little bit too much volume" under first-year coordinator John DeFilippo.

When asked if the Vikings offense is still learning how to play together, Zimmer said: "I don't know if learning to play together is quite the thing. We do have a lot of guys going in different spots, but it might be — what's the best way to say this — it might be a little volume maybe, a little bit too much volume."

Through 10 games, the Vikings offense has been mediocre at scoring points (24.1 per game, ranking 15th). That average has dipped to 19 in the past three games (1-2 record).

On Sunday night, the Vikings were shut out until the end of the third quarter in a 25-20 loss in Chicago.

"Let's just play football," Zimmer said. "You run a really good out route, run the out route. He runs a good curl, you run the curl. You know what I mean? Maybe we just need to focus a little bit on not trying to trick the other team quite so much."

A better commitment to the rushing attack is ideal, Zimmer said. But he also alluded to Vikings players being unable to execute some of the plays.

"You want to add new plays every week," Zimmer said. "[But] if you're not executing them, it might be the best play in the world — Vince Lombardi might've designed it — but if you can't execute it, then it doesn't do you any good if you can't protect for it or whatever it is."

Andrew Krammer