The Vikings have been hyped up as a potential playoff team by both the local and national media. But the visitors looked far from it last night as the 49ers rumbled over them in a 20-3 victory in Santa Clara, California.
"Everybody has been talking about us for 11 months and maybe we thought we were a little bit better than what we were," coach Mike Zimmer said.
The offense struggled for a myriad of reasons. The offensive line did not perform well. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater uncharacteristically lacked poise and accuracy. Running back Adrian Peterson, who averaged 3.1 yards per carry, said he didn't feel comfortable running out of the shotgun.
And the Vikings run defense that allowed 5.9 yards per carry? That was "terrible," according to safety Harrison Smith. And Zimmer concurred.
"In 17 ballgames here, that did not look like the football team that I know," Zimmer said. "It was a disappointing effort. A lot of credit goes to San Francisco. They were much more physical than we were. That's more of the [kind of] team that I would like to be like."
Zimmer didn't think the Vikings came out flat. "I think we were ready to go," he said. However, he did say it would be fair to wonder if the late kickoff time in the Pacific Time Zone had an impact on the team's play.
Zimmer had another theory, though, for this dud of a performance
"You know, maybe we're just not ready for primetime yet," he said.
