It's time for the Vikings to overhaul their defense, they can start by firing Ed Donatell

Five years after the Minneapolis Miracle, the 2022 Vikings proved that they were the Minnesota Mirage.

Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, they were shredded by the New York Giants' previously mediocre offense, losing 31-24 in the first round of the playoffs.

Ludacris performed at halftime. Ludicrous described the Vikings' defensive performance before and after.

The Vikings became the second team this season to allow 30 points to the Giants. The other: the woeful Colts.

This aging, plodding Vikings defense allowed Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to produce 379 yards, his second-highest total this season. Only the Lions, the one team who finished behind Minnesota in total defense, allowed him to produce more.

Once the Vikings' new brain trust congratulates itself on an impressive debut season and slaps a few backs, they need to fire defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

Two names on their list of replacements should be Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, if he is fired, and Wade Phillips, father of Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and current XFL head coach.

Staley is coming off a terrible performance in Jacksonville in the Chargers' playoff loss, but he is close with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. He's also young and bright and would fit into what the Vikings are trying to build.

Wade Phillips is 75 and tends to have a three-year shelf life wherever he coaches. He's also a Hall of Fame-caliber defensive coordinator and could put the Vikings defense on the right path in a year or two.

The Vikings could hand the defense to assistant head coach Mike Pettine or inside linebackers coach Greg Manusky, both former NFL defensive coordinators. Or they could look to Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who has worked with O'Connell and Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

As poorly as Donatell performed, this defense didn't fail merely because of subpar coaching.

It was Donatell's fault that this defense was predictable and passive.

It was not his fault that this defense can't cover ground or receivers.

This group is old and slow at too many positions, and the only way to fix it will be to jettison a number of highly popular and formerly productive players.

Which means that next season, in what should be an improved division filling up with offensive playmakers, the Vikings will have difficulty defending their NFC North title.

"Just didn't do enough to win the football game," O'Connell said. "We'll have to take a long, hard look at that — every aspect of what we do — to make sure we give ourselves the ability to continue to strive to compete at a championship level, and that's what we'll begin working on immediately.''

O'Connell hinted that he was displeased with Donatell's defense in December. While he chose not to delve into specifics on Sunday night, he did nothing to quash the notion that he'll be hiring a new defensive coordinator in the near future.

In addition to mentioning the "explosive" plays the Giants made, he noted that his offense didn't get to take advantage of its full capabilities because New York dominated time of possession (33:36 to 26:24).

O'Connell also noted that Jones' running was certain to be a key to the Giants' game plan. "We wanted to try to keep him in the pocket," O'Connell said. "We wanted to try to get a rush, to change the game with some of our playmakers up there, but not let him get out and have an impact.''

Jones had his fourth-best rushing total of the season, with 78 yards.

O'Connell hired Wes Phillips as his offensive coordinator after the two worked on the Rams' staff during last year's Super Bowl run. That made sense.

Donatell always felt like a generic, store-brand defensive coordinator who was hired because O'Connell didn't have better options.

Donatell is being ridiculed for saying that the playoffs would be his defense's "time to shine," and that fans would "like" what they saw.

If he had assigned a linebacker or safety to shadow Jones, those words might not sound so silly today.