
While many marveled at the spectacle of the Rams' 54-51 victory over the Chiefs during the 2018 regular season, it was enough to make a hardcore defensive coach a little grumpy.
"It's not my cup of tea. Might run me out of football," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said last year when asked about it. "I think you have to have a well-rounded team, but I don't think that you can give up 51 points or 54 points a lot of times and win games, in my opinion."
OK, that last part isn't an opinion. Giving up that many points is a recipe for disaster. But what about giving up a more reasonable total – like, say, 20 points?
Coming into this season, that benchmark has been almost as important for Zimmer's Vikings. Including playoff games they were 9-26-1 from 2014-18, his first five years as head coach, when allowing an opponent to score 20 points or more.
The Packers' record in the same span, by contrast, when allowing 20 or more points: 28-32-1 (and yes, the tie for both teams was against each other last year).
The Vikings' mark was an especially unsightly 1-7-1 last season, with untimely defensive lapses combined with the offense's inability to overcome them dooming the Vikings to being over-reliant on one side of the ball. They were 7-0, after all, when allowing fewer than 20 points.
This year, at least so far, has been a little different. The Vikings are 2-1 when allowing 20 points or more – and neither of the two wins were cheap: 38-20 over the Eagles, with two late touchdowns turning back a Philadelphia rally and 42-30 over Detroit, with a late TD sealing Zimmer's second win as a head coach when the Vikings allowed 30 points in a game.
Even if the Vikings don't face Patrick Mahomes on Sunday – the Chiefs haven't officially ruled him out yet, a ruse as old as coaches pining for ball control – there are a lot of offensive playmakers on both sides.