on january 15, 2014, the vikings announced the hiring of the cincinnati bengals' defensive coordinator mike zimmer as head coach, and in his first year at the helm, the team finished at 7–9, just missing the playoffs. the vikings again improved to 11–5 in 2015, beating the green bay packers in week 17 to win the nfc north for the first time since 2009 and snapping a streak of five consecutive titles by green bay; however, they went on to lose to the seattle seahawks in the wildcard round of the playoffs. after going 5–0 to start the 2016 season despite a slew of injuries, the team won just three games after their bye week and finished 8–8. in 2017, zimmer led the team to a 13–3 record and a first-round bye on the way to the nfc championship game against the philadelphia eagles, who won 38–7, leaving the vikings just short of becoming the first team ever to reach a super bowl played in their own stadium.