Vikings beat the Bengals, but Mike Zimmer not impressed by the win

Mike Zimmer just met with reporters after his Vikings beat the Bengals, 17-16, in their preseason opener here in Cincinnati. The coach started his press conference by stating, "Every time we go out, we want to win. And it was good to be able to win the ballgame." But………

"There were some good things, but we've got a long way to go," Zimmer said. "We're not ready to go where we need to yet."

No, Zimmer was not very happy with how the team played, specifically his starters and top backups on defense. They didn't allow a point on the first two Bengals drives, but that was because the home team missed a long field-goal try and couldn't put points on the board after what felt like the longest drive in NFL history (it was 22 plays and 12-plus minutes).

"Not good enough," Zimmer muttered. "Soft in the running game. Poor in 3rd-and-1 situations. Not good enough. Soft with the linebackers."

Also, he was not very pleased with the Bengals' 80-yard punt return for a touchdown that made it a one-point game late in the fourth quarter.

"We kicked it too far, No. 1. We don't want to kick it 65 yards. So that wasn't a good punt," he said. "And then we missed a bunch of tackles."

Inconsistent punter Jeff Locke was the one who outkicked his coverage.

One might have also expected Zimmer to grumble about the play of his starting offensive line after quarterback Teddy Bridgewater would have been sacked twice on the opening series had he not stiff-armed a Pro Bowl defensive tackle. But Zimmer stood up for his five guys up front.

"I think they played better in the second series," Zimmer said. "[The Bengals] were blitzing on almost every snap. First play of the game they blitzed. They blitzed a lot. Sometimes those things are going to happen."

It was not all doom and gloom for a coach that may be taking an advantage of an opportunity to take his confident team down a peg or two. He did find some positives, including that deep ball that Bridgewater completed.

"There will be some good things when we dissect the game," he said.