Mike Zimmer 'grouchy' after reviewing Vikings' cornerback play vs. Pittsburgh

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had just watched the replay of Thursday night's 36-28 victory over the Steelers when he spoke with reporters Friday morning, saying, "That's why I'm grouchy right now" after picking apart areas for improvement on the roster.

One of those areas is cornerback play and depth, which were attacked during Pittsburgh's comeback attempt that fell short only when safety Harrison Smith stripped the ball loose from tight end Pat Freiermuth in the end zone.

Cornerback Bashaud Breeland started, but a three-man committee formed in the second half as Breeland exited, vomiting on the sideline, and reserves Cameron Dantzler and Kris Boyd were in and out through penalties and poor play.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdowns in the second half and three passes for at least 30 yards in the fourth quarter. Most were contested grabs. But the errors were widespread, Zimmer said.

"We got [receivers] in wide splits and we're lined up head up on them instead of being inside," Zimmer said. "We didn't tackle a couple of times on the perimeter. The ball got outside the corners a couple times on the perimeter in the run game."

Zimmer added: "Boyd competed really well. He had the one poor penalty. He did a nice job on things like tackling, but if he's on top of [Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson], that [37-yard] ball is not thrown or has to be a back-shoulder fade, which is much, much tougher. And I don't think Dantzler played very good in the red zone."

Breeland returned in the fourth quarter, tripping on Freiermuth's 15-yard touchdown catch and run, and was later flagged for pass interference. Cornerback Patrick Peterson was nearby on a 30-yard touchdown to receiver James Washington. The veteran said their situation was less than ideal.

"That's tough for a defense when you have a three-corner rotation," Peterson said. "You never go into the game thinking something like that will happen. You want to make sure the guys whose numbers are called are more than prepared to come into the game. Pittsburgh, those guys made a bunch of contested catches."

Smith saved the victory, dislodging a near catch from Freiermuth in the end zone as time expired. The All-Pro safety was impressive before and during play.

"He really did a good job disguising [his assignments]," Zimmer said. "Ben does a lot of things at the line of scrimmage where he's checking run or pass, and I thought Harrison did a really nice job."

'This place is about to erupt'

Among the plays made in the Vikings' 36-point effort against Pittsburgh, running back Dalvin Cook pointed to receiver K.J. Osborn's 62-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter as the one that "settled down" the entire team as their lead slipped away. The play accounted for much of Osborn's team-leading 83 receiving yards while he started for the injured Adam Thielen.

"You're coming out of the huddle like, 'OK, this place is about to erupt,'" Osborn said. "After that, you just kind of lock in and execute. That was my first deep ball in U.S. Bank Stadium, that was my first touchdown in U.S. Bank Stadium."

'Mini-bye week' ahead

With 11 days until the next game, Zimmer told players, "See you Tuesday," giving them a three-day weekend and needed rest after playing seven straight games since the bye week. The Vikings play next on Dec. 20, a "Monday Night Football" game at Chicago, when the offense could use the return of injured starters Thielen and left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Peterson views their situation as needing to win the last four games to get into the playoffs.

"We know that's going to be a very, very tough challenge," Peterson said. "But this mini-bye week comes at a very pivotal time for us in the season to make sure that we're ready to roll for this stretch."