Minnesota Vikings winning the NFC North is just a step

Jan 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer calls a play in the fourth quarter during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer calls a play in the fourth quarter during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer says that the team winning the NFC North championship on Sunday is just a step toward reaching a much bigger prize.

The Minnesota Vikings surprised quite a few experts on Sunday Night Football when they defeated the Green Bay Packers in week 17 of the 2015 NFL season to capture the NFC North championship. That was a prize that had seemed to be firmly in the hand of the boys from Wisconsin, who had won the title 4 years running prior to this year.

Although winning your division means that you get to host a playoff game, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a guy that never seems to be pleased. While some coaches might be content in winning a division during an 11 win season in their second full year as a head coach, the Vikings leader is ready to keep his players pushing on.

In a recent article on the ESPN website, Zimmer was discussing how a division title is just one step toward winning the much bigger prize at the end of the tunnel.

"“I hope this is just a step,” Zimmer said. “I hope there’s a lot more on the horizon. I hope there’s a lot more things to accomplish. I’ve been blessed with a lot of good coaches — I’ve been with a lot of good coaches, we’ve got a lot of good coaches here. But as I said before, players win games.”"

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Winning is something that the Minnesota Vikings will want to do quite a bit more of. Since they are a part of the playoffs and don’t get a first round bye, they will need to defeat three teams in a row to reach the Super Bowl, with two of those teams being the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and the Arizona Cardinals.

Still, it’s hard not to be excited about this young Vikings team. Mike Zimmer found out that quite a few of his friends were watching the game when he approached the podium for his post-game conference with the media and he was showing a big grin from something on his phone.

"“It was from a lot of people that I don’t hear from very often, as well,” Zimmer said. “It was just nice, because most of them watched the game, obviously. I think they just liked how we played.”"

Hopefully, Zimmer will like how the Minnesota Vikings play against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at noon central time in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Check your local television listings for time and availability.