The Minnesota Vikings have had a lot of close calls so far this year. They’ve gone to overtime in five games and been within the final minutes of many others, but they haven’t won. However, coach Mike Zimmer is not panicking just yet…
Mike Zimmer has definitely had enough of his Minnesota Vikings’ close calls. The coach is fed up with the team’s inability to convert in the clutch, and he is finally ready to make a change.
It may be cliche to refer to professional football players as gladiators, but if you were Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer after his squad transformed a 29-point laugher into yet another nailbiter, you were probably screaming, “Are you not entertained!”
Ben Roethlisberger and rookie tight end Pete Freiermuth almost connected on a 12-yard touchdown that would have given the Steelers a shot for a game-tying two-point conversion with no time remaining in regulation in Thursday night’s 36-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
All of this came after the Vikings jumped out to a 29-0 lead late in the third quarter.
The Vikings are on the verge of breaking a franchise record for tight games.
Mike Zimmer | Photo courtesy of Getty Images/Gregory Shamus
According to Pro Football Talk, Zimmer stated, “Another fun night.” “The first-half squad was really dang good, and they could definitely defeat anybody.” Anyone may defeat the squad that played in the second half. That’s excellent, too, since we kept the TV ratings up. We do it once a week.”
Zimmer’s final remark was not exaggerated. The Vikings have won by eight points or fewer in 12 of 13 weeks this season, a streak of one-possession games that threatens to set an NFL record.
The Vikings will shatter the 14-game record established by the New York Giants in 1994 and the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 if they play three one-possession games in their last four games.
“I really believe that if we begin to be more disciplined in our alignments, tactics, where we’re meant to be, and what we’re supposed to do,” Zimmer told PFT. “We don’t have to do it this way.” That’s something I’ll emphasize to our guys.”
The Vikings have lost a number of tight games, including some heartbreaking losses.
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For the Vikings, the litany of near calls has been distressing.
They’ve gone to OT three times and lost both times. Greg Joseph led the Vikings to overtime in their first OT defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 with a game-tying field goal with no time remaining in regulation, a premonition of what was to follow the rest of the season.
The Vikings won in overtime against the Panthers in Week 6, but only after squandering an 11-point lead in the last five minutes. Then there was the Cooper Rush game against the Dallas Cowboys, which ended with Amari Cooper’s Coop-to-Coop coup de grace with 51 seconds remaining.
The most agonizing defeat occurred only four days before the Steelers almost squandered a 29-point lead. The Vikings had come back from a 20-6 halftime deficit to take a 27-23 lead with 1:50 remaining in regulation the previous Sunday, only to enable the previously winless Detroit Lions to score a touchdown pass with no time left — emphasis on “previously.”
Seattle Seahawks supporters should have seen their season was in serious peril in Week 3, a full two weeks before Russell Wilson broke his finger. After all, in 2021, how horrible do you have to be to lose by 13 points to the Vikings?
‘Here we go again,’ as the Vikings managed to hold on to a 29-point advantage this time.
Ironically, the Steelers have now played nine games this season in which the outcome was determined by a single possession.
Even if it seemed difficult to believe after the Vikings thrashed the Steelers 23-0 at halftime behind an amazing effort by running back Dalvin Cook, who returned early from a shoulder injury and carried for a franchise-record 153 yards in the first half, finishing with 205 yards for the game.
However, when the Steelers scored 20 unanswered points in a five-minute stretch towards the close of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, Zimmer mourned yet another journey to his own dreadful Groundhog Day.
“Here we are again,” Zimmer expressed his displeasure.
Despite all of the cliffhangers and close calls, the 6-7 Vikings are still in contention for a wild-card place in the NFC, behind both the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Football Team by only a half-game entering the weekend.
It doesn’t get much closer than that.
Pro Football Reference provided the statistics.
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The “vikings record 2020” is a headline that has been trending on the internet. The Minnesota Vikings have had too many close calls and it’s time for Mike Zimmer to have enough.
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