Vikings coach Mike Zimmer acknowledged after beating the Steelers on Thursday Night Football that his team somehow finds a way to play up or down to its opponent every week.
The Vikings raced out to a 29-0 lead and then barely held on to win 36-28, and Zimmer joked that the Vikings are good for TV ratings because no one can ever turn their games off early.
“Another fun night,” Zimmer said. “The team that played in the first half was pretty darn good and probably could beat anybody. The team that played in the second half could get beat by anybody. . . . We kept the TV ratings up, too, so that’s good. Every week we do it.”
Zimmer was also asked if there was any point in the second half when he thought, “Here we go again.” Zimmer answered, “Yeah, the whole time.”
The Vikings have played the most one-score games in the NFL this season: In 12 of the Vikings’ 13 games this season, the margin of victory has been eight points or less. The Steelers rank second in the NFL in that category; nine of Pittsburgh’s games this season have had a point differential of eight points or less. So it was probably destiny that these two teams would play a game like that.