Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was asked about his team’s issues stopping the run after Sunday’s loss to the 49ers and Zimmer pointed to officiating as a factor in why the Niners were so effective.
Zimmer said “these guys hold all the time” and were “grabbing us around the waist, grabbing our backs” throughout the game. Zimmer said officials don’t want to throw flags every play — Zimmer apparently missed the Raiders-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving — but that the 49ers aren’t going to stop doing it until they do.
49ers tight end George Kittle was told about Zimmer’s comments after the game and said that the Vikings coach should focus more on how his team is playing than the officiating.
“I think if you’re running your feet and your hands inside just because a guy spins and flails his arms, it’s not holding,” Kittle said, via 49ersWebZone.com. “He’s just flopping. You can watch plenty of pass plays; I felt I got a holding call out there on a pass route. I got hugged and tackled. I think there were like three of those out there that don’t get called. It’s football, you know? Refs throw flags, refs don’t throw flags. It’s just the game. If you’re going to sit on the sideline and complain about holding the whole time, I’d tell your guys to make better plays.”
The 49ers rolled up 208 rushing yards and Zimmer will have to get the Vikings to do a better job regardless of how the officiating shakes out in Detroit next weekend.