MINNEAPOLIS -- A reporter mentioned to Mike Zimmer on Monday that the previous seven Minnesota Vikings teams to travel to Chicago -- six of them coached by men other than him -- had lost at Soldier Field, and Zimmer smiled like a cat about to pounce on a canary.
"I was hoping you'd bring that up," Zimmer said.
In his first two years as head coach, Zimmer has proven he can hit his players' buttons with the precision of a marksman. Sarcastic quips are a favorite tool of his; perceived slights and negative statistics -- even if they're factual -- are treated as fuel for the furnace.