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          NFL Nation

          No concern from Vikings on Blair Walsh

          • Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterDec 14, 2014, 08:50 PM ET
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              Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
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          DETROIT -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the Minnesota Vikings' 16-14 loss to the Detroit Lions:

          Supporting Walsh: Place-kicker Blair Walsh was wide right on a 53-yard attempt, had a 26-yard attempt blocked and was short on a potential game-winning 68-yard attempt. Walsh, who before last week had never missed two field goals in one game, has now misfired on five of his past six attempts.

          "I have not lost any confidence in him," coach Mike Zimmer said.

          To be fair, three of the six attempts have come from beyond 50 yards. Entering Week 15, the NFL average from 50 yards and beyond was 65.4 percent. Walsh said he hit a field goal of about 68 yards during pregame warm-ups. He has hit 70-yard attempts in practice.

          All positive: Zimmer made no effort to hide his displeasure last week at his team's performance in an overtime victory over the New York Jets. Sunday, Zimmer flipped the script and told the team -- and reporters -- that he couldn't have asked for much more.

          "I'm not into moral victories," Zimmer said, "but these guys fought and played and scratched and clawed and gave it great effort today. I thought we did a lot of awful good things. …

          "I said last week [that] I wasn't happy with our performance. This week we played well enough to win. We just didn't win on the scoreboard. Hopefully this will springboard us into the kind of football team I want to have. Without the loss, obviously."

          Xavier vs. Megatron: For the most part, the Vikings matched up emerging cornerback Xavier Rhodes with Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, a departure from what the Vikings have done under Zimmer this season. Zimmer said he informed Rhodes last Monday that he planned to match him up with Johnson for most of the game. The Vikings typically haven't matched up in Zimmer's first season, but he said: "It's good to be able to have a guy that feels comfortable. I called him on Monday and said, 'I need you to go with this guy this week.' He said, 'I'm ready.'"

          Rhodes, who got some safety help, limited Johnson to one catch in the first half. Johnson finished with four receptions for 53 yards, with a long of 23 yards.