Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Here are three other topics addressed by Zimmer on Wednesday:
1. Defense can and needs to do better
The Vikings allowed 218 rushing yards on 43 attempts, including 15 separate carries by the Seahawks that gained five or more yards, in Monday’s 37-30 loss at Seattle.
That output, which was padded by a 29-yard gain on a fake punt, is the second-most rushing yards allowed by the Vikings since Zimmer’s hire in 2014, trailing only 230 by San Francisco in the 2015 season opener that also was on Monday Night Football.
In 92 regular-season games under Zimmer, there have been 17 occasions of opponents rushing for 150 or more in a game.
“For us to have the ball run on us like that was kind of a misnomer; it hasn’t been like that in quite a while,” Zimmer said. “We’ve got to do a better job, really all the way around. Perimeter run force, being in the right place, being in the right gaps, being more disciplined. We probably panicked a little bit the other night.”
Asked a follow-up about saying “panicked,” Zimmer explained it was more of players trying to press to make a play.
“Sometimes when things aren’t going exactly how you would expect them to go, they start doing things on their own, ‘Okay, I’m going to go make this play. Even though the block tells me to do this, I’m going to go do this.’ That’s kind of what we did, and it happens from time to time,” Zimmer said. “We’ve just got to get back and get settled in and get back to work.”
Seattle now has three of the top seven rushing performances against the Vikings (218 on Monday, 214 in 2018 and 173 in 2015).