NFL: Vikings know playoffs are out of reach without road wins

By Chris Tomasson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Mike Wallace once played on a Pittsburgh team that played well on the road. He figures if his Vikings want to make the playoffs, now is a good time to start doing the same.
The next two games for the Vikings (3-2) are at Detroit (1-5) on Sunday and at Chicago (2-4) on Nov. 1. The Bears are the only team the Lions have beaten this season. Victories there would essentially make the NFC North a race between the Vikings and Green Bay (6-0).
But the road hasn’t been much fun for the Vikings, who are 2-15-1 outside of Minnesota since the start of the 2013 season.
“We know you can’t go to the playoffs without winning on the road. You just can’t do it; it’s not going to happen,” Wallace said Monday. “And if Green Bay doesn’t slow down, we would have to go on the road for our first playoff game. So what better time to get ready than now, right?”
Wallace was with the Steelers when they went 7-1 on the road during the regular season in 2010 and made it to the Super Bowl, so he can tell his many young teammates plenty about how to win away from home.
“I think the main thing, obviously, is just keeping your composure, knowing there’s going to be ups and downs in a game and don’t let the downs get the best of you,” Wallace said.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer also knows something about winning on the road. He was an assistant on a Dallas team that went 6-2 away from home in 1995 and won the Super Bowl.
“Probably start fast would be a good one,” Zimmer said of keys to the Vikings winning on the road. “I think we’ve started fast at home pretty good. I think if we will continue to start fast, I think that helps. But again, handling the crowd noise, making sure we don’t turn the ball over. We’ve got to protect the quarterback better than what we’ve done on the road.”
In his second season in Minnesota, Zimmer is still searching for road success: He is 8-3 at TCF Bank Stadium but just 2-8 on the road.
Minnesota is 0-2 this season away from home. As Zimmer mentioned, a big issue has been protecting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who has been sacked 12 times on the road and just three times in three home wins.
A problem since 2013 has been blowing leads on the road. The Vikings last year gave up leads in heartbreaking losses at Buffalo, Detroit and Miami.
“We know we’re 0-2 on the road right now, and that’s not a good feeling,” said cornerback Captain Munnerlyn. “It’s something we’ve got to learn is how to finish games. We know the crowd is going to get into it. The home team is always trying to stay around if they’re down, but we just got to learn how to finish.”
If Minnesota can find a running game, that would help, too. In two road games this season, the Vikings have averaged just 92 yards on the ground.
Then again, Minnesota had just 84 yards on 34 carries at home in Sunday’s 16-10 over Kansas City. Adrian Peterson managed just 60 yards on 26 attempts. So it’s paramount for the Vikings to get a running attack going for a pair of road games against division foes.
At least Peterson was solid the last time the Vikings saw Detroit. He rushed for 134 yards on 29 carries in a 26-16 win Sept. 20 at TCF Bank Stadium.
“I have confidence in our running game,” Zimmer said. “I have confidence in Adrian.”
If confidence can help get the Vikings earn a pair of road wins the next two weeks, it could set them up nicely to make the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
“They’re very important games,” Wallace said. “You tell me how important the difference is between 3-4 and 5-2? It’s a chance to go to the playoffs or a chance to go home early. Which one do you want?”
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