*Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer *

I thought it was a good team win yesterday. I was impressed with the offense the way we moved the football, the way we got some shots down the field. Offensive line did a nice job in protection. Obviously, we have to get better inside the five-yard line. We moved the ball well enough to score a lot of points, we got 25. There's some other areas, we've got to quit trying to extend the football over the goal line like we have. That happened twice and the ball came out both times, actually. We have to do a better job in those areas. I thought special teams, we blocked two kicks, we had a big return, forced them into four penalties. So, we flipped the field position pretty good in that way. Defensively, disappointing we gave up those penalties there on the drive. We've got to correct those things and start going forward.

Q: What allowed the success with the down-field plays?

A: I think, first of all, I think the coaches did a really good job in scheming the things that they did. Then, obviously, the players executed it. We moved him in the pocket some. We had some play-actions off of some of the things. Tried to get them to bite a little bit on some of the run looks. I thought we mixed it up well. 

Q: Did you see things in the week leading up to the game that led you to believe you could hit those shots downfield?

A: We were trying to, yeah. In practice we did. We try to get some of those in practice every week.   

Q: Has there been an adjustment to the offensive line's techniques or has it just been better play?

A: Not so much technique, I mean we're working on the technique every day. When T.J. [Clemmings] has his bad plays, it's because he has bad technique. When he has good technique, he's a pretty good player. When he has bad technique, it's pretty ugly. There was a couple times that happened the other day. The one play that he got the holding call, the guy actually grabbed his facemask and twisted him around. So, that one probably should have went the other way. The one where [Sam] Bradford got stripped and he picked the ball up and threw it to Jerick [McKinnon], he had poor technique on that play. It's just something you keep working on with him. You watch the offensive lineman in college and they all do the same thing. We've got to get it corrected against good pass rushers. We have to fix that. I thought we did a good job of changing up protections throughout the game and then better technique.

Q: How do you go about improving the goal line struggles?

A: We've been emphasizing the third downs. We've been emphasizing the red zone stuff, the third-and-one's, so now we've got to go in there and emphasize that a little bit more. The fourth-and-one, would have been a walk-in, Zach Line knocked his guy six yards deep into the end zone, we got beat on the back side of the play. Which we've seen it on tape and it shouldn't have happened. The guy, we just didn't get it out far enough to get him blocked. It's some of those things, one time on the goal line they brought in a different personnel group than what we had the play called for, so that was a bad matchup situation. It's a combination of things, we're going to have to look at it.  

Q: Is having Linval Joseph on the field for those plays again off the table?

A: No, not really. We had him in there and he was hurting, so we kind of took him off that for awhile. Might have to put him back in.  

Q: With your injured eye, is there part of you that wants to lead by example?

A: I need to be there for me. I don't know about for them. Since the day I walked in the building here I've talked about toughness. There's a sign up there somewhere that says, 'Take ownership in something bigger than yourself.' I want to do good for the fans, the fans we had down there in Jacksonville, they were unbelievable, and for the organization and the players. If you're going to preach it, you need to walk the walk, too.

Q: Do you pay attention to the different playoff scenarios?

A: There's really nothing we can do other than take care of our own business. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm hoping for some other teams. If we don't win, it doesn't really matter. All that we can do is do what we can do. I think if we continue to win, good things will happen.   

Q: Did something happen that triggered Sharrif Floyd being put on IR?

A: Not really, it was just, we kept hanging around and hanging around. We may need the roster spot at some point.

Q: Did he have another procedure on his knee?

A: No.

Q: With all the injuries in his career, can you assess Sharrif Floyd as a player?

A: Yeah, I think I can assess him.   

Q: What is your assessment?

A: I don't really want to assess him to the media. I'll assess him to Rick [Spielman] when we sit down and talk.   

Q: Do you like the team's chances to make the playoffs?

A: I know everybody says we need to win out. I just want to beat Indianapolis this week. Then we'll worry about the next game and the next game after that. If we start thinking about down the road and this and that, all these different scenarios, then we're not doing what we're supposed to do. I'm always of the understanding that you kick it off, you win as many as you can, you count them up at the end and you see what happens.

Q: Do you think there's any chance Adrian Peterson plays this Sunday?

A: I don't know.

Q: Were you encouraged that you were able to pull out a win with penalties and mistakes?

A: I think the good sign to me was that, you go back and look at the first Detroit game, the offense went down the field and scored. We didn't win the game, but they went down [and scored] the go-ahead [touchdown]. The Dallas game, they went down at the end and tied the ball game at the end. We didn't win, and we didn't tie, and then against [the Jaguars], yesterday, we were able to have some success. They go down there again, score, put the game out of reach, really, at that point, and now, they're kind of seeing some of the benefits from that. So, I think that's good thing. I think, offensively yesterday, we played together as a unit. Guys were fighting together, not being independent contractors.

Q: How did Anthony Harris do in place of Harrison Smith?

A: He did OK. The touchdown pass was his, and he made a tackle on the third-and-one on the check down to the back. He was a little late in one of the runs getting over there. We had pressure that he should have been there, and then he missed a tackle. So, it was kind of an up-and-down day.

Q: You said you liked seeing Sam Bradford use his legs a little bit. How do you walk that line with him? Do you want him to take some chances when they're there?

A: I think, even the first play of the game, he moved in the pocket well. I think when you can just sidestep a little bit and move a little bit – he got hit on that play – but I think it helps buy a little bit of time as you continue moving forward. It was really a good play by him. There was a man-coverage blitz, and everybody's back was turned and there's nice opening there for him. So, I thought it was a good play.

Q: The defense has 13 sacks in the last four games. Have there been adjustments to make the pass rush more effective?

A: More effective? No, we're always trying to be effective.

Q: What do you think the key has been to get home to the quarterback?

A: Well, this week, we rushed them the right way. We rushed the quarterback the correct way. Everybody kind of did their job, and that was important. And then, you have to win some one-on-ones, but I think the biggest thing was that we did the things that we … I'm trying to think back to some of the others games….I don't remember.

Q: What happened to Laquon Treadwell? Did he get hurt on a route or blocking?

A: It was on a special teams play.

Q: What have you seen out of Nick Easton?

A: There are some things he's doing good, and he got beat across his face a couple times yesterday. He had a couple wrong calls that we've got to get corrected. So, I think yesterday was kind of an up-and-down day for him. There were some times, I think he had six people he knocked on the ground, and then he lets a guy beat him across the face two or three times during the game. So, there are some good things, and there are some things he really needs to clean up quickly.

Q: Some of the players were saying that you were tougher on them last week than you have been. Do you have a sense of when you need to be tougher on them?

A: Yeah, we were losing. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of penalties. I'm tired of not living up to our ability. I'm tired of it. I'm not going to stand for it.

Q: Did you get a sense that Joe Berger will be able to come back this week?

A: I don't know. He's in concussion protocol. I'm not supposed to talk about it.

Q: With Adam Thielen, why do you think he has been able to make such a big step forward as a receiver?

A: Well, one of the things, Adam's kind of sneaky with his routes. A lot of times as he comes off the ball, he'll lean into it and break the other way, or lean out and break in. I think he has a good feel of running off the defenders leverage. Even on the quick throw that he made, the 19 yards or whatever it was, he caught the ball and ran to the middle of the field. He gave the guy a little juke and headed back to the other way. On the long ball, he got in good position on the guy. The guy tried to shove him out of the bounds, and he stayed in bounds. So, I just think he's improving with understanding his route running off leverage.