Just as the Minnesota Vikings were starting their playoff run to the 2009 NFC Championship Game, their current head coach was learning a lesson about handling a playoff team at the end of the regular season.
Mike Zimmer, then the defensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals, was coaching a team that was 10-5 and set to face the New York Jets on Jan. 3, 2010 in the regular-season finale. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis decided to rest many of his starters for that game and the Bengals lost in ugly fashion, 37-0.
“We were already in the playoffs.