Zimmer Views Sunday’s Win As A Building Victory For The Vikings
(Credit, Cliff McBride/Getty Images)
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By Joseph Gunther
The Minnesota Vikings built a reputation as a team that could not hold a close lead late in the game last season. They allowed five game-winning or game-tying drives in the fourth quarter, but had at least 30 seconds remaining in three of them to reclaim the lead.
In those games, the Vikings were 0-4-1, including one loss with four seconds remaining after taking a lead with 45 seconds left. While the defense let the team down twice, the offense failed to overcome the defense when they needed to do so.
Last week, the Vikings were able to overcome a fourth quarter collapse by the defense. The Vikings allowed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to score 13 straight points to take a 13-10 lead with two minutes and two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater led the Vikings offense on their best drive of the game in the final two minutes to tie the game on a 38-yard field goal as time expired. Fellow rookie Anthony Barr redeemed himself after allowing the go-ahead touchdown to Austin Seferian-Jenkins by stripping the opposing tight end, picking up the fumble and racing into the end zone to end the game.
“(Sunday) was a good victory for us,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said during his Monday press conference. “I think it is important for our team that we win games like this. We fight. We come back from a tough situation and score. We’re trying to develop a mind set of a smart, tough, physical football team that will step up to any kind of adversity we can. When we can have opportunities to take steps like that, I think it is good not only for our mind set, but the way we continue to practice and work.”
The Vikings look to continue the momentum in Week 9 against the Washington Redskins at TCF Bank Stadium.
Odd moments in Sunday’s win
There were a few things that anyone paying attention to the game would have been confused by what was happening.
The first came on the opening drive of the game. Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon completed a pass to Bobby Rainey for six yards on third-and-seven. The referees spotted the ball just short of the Buccaneers 44-yard line when a measurement was taken. The Buccaneers needed to get just across the 44. When the ball was spotted for play it was placed with the nose of the ball touching the 44. By the time center Evan Dietrich-Smith had his hands and the ball in position to snap it, the ball was half a yard from the 45-yard line. Glennon ran a quarterback sneak and was credited with a two-yard run to the 45, but he may not even have gotten to the spot where the snap came from.
The second came in the final drive of regulation. Greg Jennings caught a pass from Bridgewater on second-and-10. He was pushed out of bounds after gaining 10 yards, but the clock continued to run costing the Vikings at least 25 seconds of game time. The entire play from the snap to the next snap was 36 seconds, which left the Vikings with 46 seconds on the clock. Ben Goessling, the ESPN NFL Nation Minnesota Vikings beat writer, reported after the game that Zimmer said the officials ruled forward progress on the play was stopped in bounds.
Both plays probably left many people scratching their heads, but it is a moot point for everyone. Neither had a hand in the outcome of the game.
For more Vikings news and updates, visit Vikings Central.
Joseph Gunther is an avid fan of Minnesota sports, including football, hockey and baseball. He covered a wide variety of sports while attending Hastings College in Hastings, Neb. While at Hastings College, he was a part of the first collegiate media group to broadcast a national tournament via television, radio, internet and newspaper at the 2004 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament. He grew up in the Twin Cities playing three years of varsity football in high school. Joseph is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com.