MINNEAPOLIS -- In a game that could turn out to be pivotal for playoff positioning in the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings, who are tied for the NFC North lead, showed at long last they have built a defensive unit that can take a punch and give one back.

On a day when the Green Bay Packers’ defense again was crumbling in Carolina and Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was in the locker room undergoing concussion tests after a nasty hit from Lamarcus Joyner, the Vikings headed into overtime needing something to stop a violent, visceral game from slipping away. They won the overtime coin toss, and coach Mike Zimmer chose to kick off with the west wind at Blair Walsh's back, daring the Rams to drive on his defense and betting the group he had molded would come up with a stop.

"It kind of worked out exactly how he drew it up," linebacker Chad Greenway said. "You get off the field, you punt it, you score and you walk off like you knew what you were doing."

The Vikings' defense, including Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr, has become a unit that can carry the team when needed. Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports

It's been a while since the Vikings have had a defense sturdy enough to back up such a bold move. In 2013, they blew last-minute leads in five games; it was Nov. 7, 2013, when then-coach Leslie Frazier stopped a drive with a defensive timeout to keep it from happening again. Just over a year ago, Zimmer lamented not using the same strategy at Buffalo in a game the Vikings eventually lost 17-16 after Greenway was helping Captain Munnerlyn line up before a fourth-and-20 and didn't backpedal deep enough to break up Kyle Orton's pass to Scott Chandler.

In 2015, though, as Bridgewater develops and the Vikings' offense searches for sure footing, the defense has been made in Zimmer's image. It's a group aggressive enough to pressure quarterbacks 26.8 percent of the time, according to ESPN Stats & Information, but disciplined enough to rank fourth in the league in fewest plays of 20 yards or more allowed (25).

The group has earned enough of Zimmer's confidence that the coach has deferred after every opening coin toss that he has won this year. And the D has won enough of his faith that the coach stuck by his group in overtime, even with two defensive starters out and two other defenders sidelined by injury.

"He believes in us. We believe in him," linebacker Anthony Barr said. "It's a good player-coach relationship. We go out there and play for our coach. We play for our guys. We play for each other. We go out there and win the game for each other."

The group will be tested by Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan before the month is out. It could have back-to-back slugfests with the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals over the course of a four-day stretch in December. But if the Vikings get to Lambeau Field on Jan. 3 poised to claim a playoff spot -- or more -- in the second of two matchups with the Packers, it will be because of a rock-ribbed defense that is becoming exactly what Zimmer believed it could be.

"We're not going to cry because we have injuries. We're going to get the next guy in there, and we're going to go fight," Zimmer said. "I mean, that's just the way it is. I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. You don't feel sorry for me. Right?"