During his postgame speech to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Mike Zimmer told his team they won’t be playing a postseason game outside of U.S. Bank Stadium.
Mike Zimmer knows what it takes for a team to get to the Super Bowl. As he was the defensive backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys when the team won the big game back during the 1995 season.
Now as the head coach for the Minnesota Vikings, Zimmer is attempting to lead the franchise to their very first Super Bowl win. Considering this year’s game will be played in Minnesota’s own U.S. Bank Stadium, a Super Bowl victory for the Vikings in front of their home crowd would make the win even more gratifying.
With their Week 17 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Minnesota clinched the second seed in the NFC and a first-round playoff bye. The Vikings’ victory also guarantees them at least one home game during the postseason, but Zimmer believes the team will be playing at home more than just once in the playoffs.
Minnesota Vikings
During his postgame speech to Minnesota’s players on Sunday, the head coach reminded his team just how unique of an opportunity they have this season.
"“I’m proud as hell of this team. You’ve worked your rear ends off for six months to get to this spot. To give us the opportunity to do what we want to do now. You gotta believe fellas. We’re staying in this place the rest of the way.”"
Despite the Vikings not having home-field advantage for the upcoming NFC playoffs, Zimmer obviously does not believe the team’s road to a championship will leave the state of Minnesota. And based on the recent play of the NFC’s top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles, there are not a lot of reasons to dispute Zimmer’s thinking.
Next: Vikings' ups and downs from Week 17 win
But before anyone begins to look too far ahead, the Vikings must take care of business during their divisional round playoff game in two weeks. With their opponent either going to be the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams, or New Orleans Saints, Minnesota maintaining focus will be vital during the team’s upcoming week off.