After the Vikings went from being up 29-0 to holding off the Steelers 36-28 on Thursday night, their head coach Mike Zimmer joked that the team’s penchant for playing games that come down to the wire is a good thing for the NFL’s television ratings.
It’s not great for the team’s stress levels and Zimmer addressed that angle during a Friday morning press conference. Zimmer said he saw the team start to feel like “here we go again” as the Steelers began cutting into the lead in the second half and said that he thinks the team gets away from their fundamentals in those moments of games.
“I really feel like if we start being more disciplined in our alignments, our techniques, where we’re supposed be and what we’re supposed to do,” Zimmer said. “We don’t have to make it like this. That’s what I’m going to stress to our players.”
Zimmer promised that the players will get a “full dose” of that message when they return from a few days off after Thursday night’s win and they’ll try for a more comfortable outcome against the Bears on Monday night in Week 15.