Miscue-Filled Final Drive Haunts Vikings Defense…
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MINNEAPOLIS — Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer didn’t mince words late Sunday night.
“This was a tough loss tonight. We had a good crowd; it was loud,” Zimmer said after the Vikings fell 20-16 to the Cowboys on Halloween night. “Home, prime-time game. And we had plenty of opportunities to win that football game and we didn’t do it.”
Zimmer will certainly look at his defense — the unit he takes pride and joy in — as a big reason for a stunning and gut-wrenching defeat in Week 8.
For the third straight week, the defense took the field late in the fourth quarter with the lead and a chance to close the game out.
It didn’t happen at home against the Lions, even if the Vikings eventually rallied for a win.
It didn’t happen on the road in Carolina, as Minnesota needed overtime for that victory.
And it didn’t happen again on Sunday Night Football, as a national television audience watched the Cowboys (with backup quarterback Cooper Rush) drive for a game-winning touchdown in the final three minutes.
“We haven’t finished all year,” said Vikings safety Xavier Woods. “Defensively, we haven’t finished all year, and that’s been our Achilles heel.”
https://www.vikings.com/news/xavier-woods-defense-cowboys-prime-time-loss
