Sometimes you exit the playoff race in one incredibly dramatic moment, and sometimes you drop out so quietly even the head coach doesn’t know it.
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Last night the Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention in the quiet way. They went so quietly that Mike Zimmer didn’t even know it happened until he was told by reporters on Friday.
Mike Zimmer didn't know the Vikings have been eliminated from the playoffs. Now he knows it.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 12, 2014
The Vikings of course were a huge long-shot to get in anyway. With no way of surpassing the other NFC Wild Card contenders either in record or most reasonable tiebreaker scenarios, the Vikings were counting on a wildly improbable series of events that required the St. Louis Rams to finish 9-7 and give the Vikes a strength-of-schedule advantage.
With the Rams’ loss to Arizona last night, a defeat that dropped St. Louis to 6-8 on the season, the Vikings lost their last very slim hope of sneaking in.
It’s hard to be too disappointed with this news given how slim those hopes really were. When told about the elimination on Friday, Mike Zimmer said nothing would change for his team in terms of approach.
Clearly, the Vikings were not thinking playoffs at all themselves, but were simply preparing for each game as it came. They will play Detroit this week and if they win they will get back to 7-7 on the year.
If they finish 8-8 or even 9-7, you would have to call that a hell of a season. But frankly, record doesn’t matter at this point. The progress shown by the defense and by Teddy Bridgewater over the past couple months has already made this a successful season for the Vikings.