Vikings coach Mike Zimmer criticizes Soldier Field's clocks
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer criticized the clocks at Soldier Field after losing 21-13 to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the St. Paul Pioneer Press' Tom Powers reports.
Zimmer said the clocks were inconsistent and inaccurate around the stadium, leading to confusion among his players.
"The clocks here are bulls--t." an irritated Mike Zimmer said after the 21-13 loss.
"The two in the end zone were wrong all day," Zimmer said. "The one across on the 50-yard line was accurate, so we had to go from one back to the other one. And then they shut that one off for awhile. Then they put it back on for awhile. Then they put the ones in the end zones on for awhile. It was musical clocks."
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Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who finished with 158 passing yards, one touchdown and an interception, said the clock problems added another layer of difficulty to the game.
"It was tough trying to communicate the time and trying to call a play at the same time when we were working against the time," he said. "It was one of those deals where we had to go out there and execute the calls and trust that whenever it was time to spike the ball the coaches would tell us when."
Daktronics, which operates the clocks, released a statement saying the company could not fix the problem during the game despite having two technicians on site.
The Vikings were outgained 468-243 by the Bears and only scored three points after jumping out to a 10-0 first quarter lead.
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The Vikings dropped to 4-6 with the loss and are tied with the Bears for last place in the NFC North. They host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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