Even more quick thoughts from Minnesota’s win over Pittsburgh
Blood pressure was way too high at the end: Despite the Vikings having a 29-point lead early in the third quarter, the Steelers found a way to only be down by eight points with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Luckily, Minnesota was able to hold for the win or Mike Zimmer probably wouldn’t have made it out of the stadium with a job.
Thursday’s result shouldn’t change Zimmer’s fate: Despite the win on Thursday, the Vikings’ current plan should still be to move on from Mike Zimmer after the season. Minnesota can’t even feel comfortable with a 29-point lead this year.
It was nice for the Vikings to leave the field with a victory over Pittsburgh and remain in the NFC playoff race, but big changes still need to be made in Minnesota after the season.
Vikings get a mini-bye before next game: With this week’s matchup taking place on a Thursday and the next game on their schedule happening on a Monday night, Minnesota is going to have a bunch of extra time to heal and rest up before heading out on the road to take on the Chicago Bears in Week 15.
The extra time off should prove to be beneficial for guys like Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Christian Darrisaw. Games in Chicago are always difficult for the Vikings, so they’ll need all the help they can get to try and get their record back to .500 next week.