Vikings' Zimmer on AFC Championship: 'I don't think the balls had a lot to do with it'

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is the latest person to weigh in on the "Deflategate" scandal surrounding the New England Patriots.

"I think it was like 41-7, right?" Zimmer said Wednesday, referring to the score of the AFC Championship Game (which was actually 45-7), according to NFL Media's Conor Orr. "I don't think the balls had a lot to do with it."

While Zimmer isn't concerned about whether the Patriots under-inflated balls during the title game - as a report by ESPN's Chris Mortensen indicates they did - he did take exception to some of the formations they used during the divisional playoff round.

In the third quarter of that game, the Patriots lined up only four offensive lineman along the line of scrimmage and used another player as an ineligible receiver.

"That'll be the deal this year," Zimmer said. "The only thing I didn't like about it was that one time you say the guy is eligible and another time you say he's ineligible. So now I gotta listen for who is eligible ...

"But I'm sure they'll talk about it at the league meetings this year."