There was a point in the Vikings’ 2016 season when things went from rough to ridiculous.
“When our head coach missed a game,” recalled tight end Kyle Rudolph, over the phone Wednesday night, as he got ready to board a redeye for London. “It was just hard. You know how much it means to him, and how much he wants to be out there with us. And talking to him that week, I could see how much it bothered him. It’s one of those things you can’t control. That was definitely the low point.”
Mike Zimmer’s absence for that Thursday nighter against Dallas came after—and pay attention, because there’s a lot here—the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater to a freak, non-contact injury in August, lost their two starting tackles for the season, saw the tailback who was the face of their franchise go down for the year in September, and switched offensive coordinators in October.