5 best Minnesota Vikings road wins of the Mike Zimmer era
By Dustin Baker
2. Green Bay Packers, 2015 (Week 17)
A win for the NFC North crown gets you a seat at the table. This matchup was for all the regular-season marbles. At Lambeau Field, the NFC North title hung in the balance, and the Vikings were conquerors by the score of 20-13.
In his second season with Minnesota, Mike Zimmer took the division. The Vikings were led by second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. In retrospect, this was the last time he started a regular-season game for Minnesota. Bridgewater was bedeviled by a ruinous knee injury eight months later, and that was mostly a wrap for his career in purple.
The Vikings jumped out to a 20-3 lead thanks to an Adrian Peterson touchdown, a pair of Blair Walsh field goals, and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn returning a fumble for a score. And then everyone in the stadium knew what was coming.
Aaron Rodgers propelled the Packers to a mini-comeback and they came within a seven-point striking distance.
Minnesota held serve down the stretch, basically stopped scoring, and played Zimmer Ball. If you are unfamiliar with Zimmer Ball, it is essentially running out the clock while maintaining a lead. But it’s generally a successful tactic, as was the case for the division-deciding contest.