After the Vikings’ loss to Detroit on Sunday, coach Mike Zimmer told reporters the biggest thing for the team right now is to find a way to get a few wins.
After 14 games, the Vikings are 6-8. They play at Miami this weekend before closing out the regular season at home against Chicago.
Zimmer told reporters Monday he thought they played hard and did a lot of things well, but struggled during “crunch time.”
“We didn’t do enough things in the critical areas of the ball game to win,” said Zimmer. “We didn’t handle the fourth quarter well.”
Mike Zimmer most frustrated at lack of execution on last drive.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 15, 2014
Despite being out of the playoff race, Zimmer said he thinks the final two games are important to what the team is trying to accomplish.
“The biggest progress I’d like to see is getting some wins,” said Zimmer. “We are doing so many good things if we can just get over the hump to win.”
Zimmer noted that many of the games in the NFL come down to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, and it’s important that teams know how to execute in those late-game situations.
Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t able to lead the team down the field for a game-winning score on Sunday, though. He has led three game-winning drives already in his young NFL career, and Zimmer said all of that experience will pay off.
“The good thing is that Teddy is getting a lot of these experiences. The on-the-job training he is getting will bode well for him in the future, and for us as an organization and as a team,” said Zimmer.
Bridgewater completed 31 of 41 passes for 315 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Bridgewater and the Vikings took over at their own 30-yard line with just 43 seconds left and no timeouts, needing a field goal to win.
After completing a couple of passes, Bridgewater moved the Vikings to the 50-yard line with one second remaining, setting up Blair Walsh for a 68-yard field goal attempt.
Walsh, who has been able to make field goals in practice from 70 yards out, lobbied the coaching staff for the opportunity to kick rather than attempting a “Hail Mary” at the end of the game.
The kick – which would have been a record had it been successful – came up short. It was Walsh’s third missed field goal of the day.
