Category: Minnesota Vikings

Mike Zimmer is the best in Vikings locker room speech

After the team’s win over the Cowboys, the Vikings coach put his comedian hat on.

The Vikings beat the Cowboys, 28-24 on Sunday night, earning a huge statement win over another playoff-caliber team.

The win was important for the Vikings, who moved to 8-3.

It was also special for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer who was with the Cowboys from 1994-2006.

Zimmer had his postgame locker room speech and as you’d expect from Zimmer, there were a few swear words. But he also dropped the ultimate dad joke, telling the team he would see them on Monday morning for practice.

Then, like a true comedian, he paused. He was just kidding!

Check out it. This team clearly respects Zimmer, and Zimmer clearly loves his players. Good stuff all around.

FiveThirtyEight gives Vikings 87 percent chance to make playoffs

The Vikings are coming off an impressive 28-24 road win over the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

The Vikings had themselves a statement win on Sunday night against the Cowboys in Dallas, winning 28-24.

That win moved the Vikings to 7-3 and in pretty good position for the postseason.

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Vikings have an 87 percent chance to make the postseason. Minnesota has a 34 percent chance to win the NFC North, a 25 percent chance to get a first-round bye and a (wait for it . . . ) seven percent chance to win the Super Bowl.

Up next for the Vikings are the 3-6 Denver Broncos in Week 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings should win that game and move to 8-3 going into their Week 12 bye week.

This is how the rest of Minnesota’s schedule shakes out:

  • Week 13 at Seattle
  • Week 14 vs. Detroit
  • Week 15 at Chargers
  • Week 16 vs. Packers
  • Week 17 vs. Bears

There is plenty to like about how the Vikings are playing right now, but there’s still a lot of football to be played. We’ll see if they can keep it going.

Looking ahead to Vikings vs. Broncos in Week 11

The Vikings should be able to keep their momentum rolling in Week 11 against an underperforming Broncos team.

Denver Broncos (3-6) at Minnesota Vikings (7-3)

Sunday, November 17, 1 PM ET, U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN

Broncos’ keys to victory: Vic Fangio’s defense has done its part, ranking in the top 10 in both yards and points allowed. If Denver can get anything that resembles an offense clicking, that could be enough to steal a game from the up-and-down Vikings. That’s pretty unlikely, though. Denver has scored more than 20 points just twice this season. The good news, however, is that the Broncos were able to do it in their last game, with QB Brandon Allen at the helm. It actually probably works against the Vikings that QB Joe Flacco (neck) won’t play in this game.  

Vikings’ to victory: If the Vikings just play their game, they should be just fine. That means controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. RB Dalvin Cook is one of the best running backs in the NFL, but a big question mark continues to be overall team health. The Vikings could really use WR Adam Thielen, who missed two of the past three games with a hamstring injury. The offense gets stagnant without him, as there just aren’t many receiving weapons for QB Kirk Cousins outside of WR Stefon Diggs.

Matchup to watch: Vikings DE Danielle Hunter vs. Broncos QB Brandon Allen. I would expect Vikings coach Mike Zimmer to throw a lot at Allen. There will be plenty of blitzes to keep Allen on his toes — or on his back. What makes Zimmer’s blitzes so effective is that he has two Pro Bowl-caliber defensive ends in Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen. There’s a good chance Hunter will have his second-straight season with 10 or more sacks before this game is over. Last season, he finished with a career-high 14.5.

Who wins? It will be difficult for the Broncos to slow down the Vikings’ offense, and it seems highly unlikely the Broncos will be able to put up points against Zimmer’s stingy defense. The Vikings should be plenty hungry considering they’re fighting for playoff positioning. Vikings 31, Broncos 13