Belichick went 0-2 in his career at U.S. Bank Stadium
Legendary football coach Bill Belichick had glowing remarks for the atmosphere at the Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium.
Speaking on his weekly Coach Podcast, Belichick said the Vikings’ home stadium is a “tough place to play.”
“They have the light show and then the 40-second clock is right there on the field so those pass rushers can get off on any of those late snaps on the 40-second clock. That’s a great environment too,” continued Belichick. “Those fans are extremely loud and, obviously, supportive of the Vikings. And they should be, they have a great team this year.”
During his career, Belichick coached in games at U.S. Bank Stadium twice, both losses. In 2017, his Patriots took on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, losing 41-33. He then lost to the Vikings, 33-26, on Thanksgiving 2022.
“I think that’s one of the more unique places to play, right now,” Belichick’s co-host, former Lions head coach, Matt Patricia said when commenting on the Vikings’ home stadium. “The pregame, we’ve talked about that, I remember during one of our games and all the light shows — they go on, they go off — and you’re sitting there trying to adjust everything that’s going on. It’s a fun environment, for sure.”
Patricia was on the Patriots’ staff that lost the Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium before he took over as head coach of the Detroit Lions. During his three-year stint as the Lions coach, Patricia’s teams went 0-3 when visiting the Vikings.
The Vikings are set to host Patricia’s old team in a battle for the top of the NFC North on Sunday. Minnesota will put their undefeated record on the line against a 4-1 Lions team that has scored 40+ points in each of its last two games.
“That’ll be a good football game. Old-fashioned, hard-hitting game. Minnesota really physical on defense, this will be good,” said Belichick.
“(Brian Flores) will have the defense ready to go against a really high-powered Lions offense,” Patricia said. “That’ll be an interesting matchup up front. I think he’s going to have to do some things structurally to try to slow them down and slow some of the groups that they’re going to give them.”