EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was asked the dreaded “must-win” question Wednesday – four days before traveling to Tampa Bay to play a Buccaneers team that has the league’s worst defense and the NFC’s worst record (1-5).

Typically, when a coach is asked to declare a “must-win” situation, his team is falling rapidly behind in its division and has recently experienced some blown opportunities.

Check and check. The Vikings are 2-5, three games behind the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in the NFC North, and have lost to both division leaders. They also are coming off a stunning defensive collapse that handed the Buffalo Bills a 17-16 win in the closing seconds of last Sunday’s game.

So, what does the coach believe? Must win?

“I hate getting into the ‘must win’ things, but it’s important for our football team that we win,” Zimmer said. “It’s probably more important the process of playing well, doing things right, eliminating penalties, the things we did last week that didn’t allow us to win the football game.”

A year ago, the Vikings were 1-6. So not much has changed record-wise since Zimmer replaced the fired Leslie Frazier, who’s now the Bucs’ defensive coordinator. The Vikings are still struggling in three key areas: Getting off the field on third – and, heck, fourth – down, turning the ball over at the quarterback position and protecting the quarterback.

The area that is most concerning would be the latter. The Vikings are last in the league in sacks allowed per pass play. They’ve given up 19 sacks the past three weeks and, overall on the season, left tackle Matt Kalil is tied for last in sacks allowed (eight) and pressures (27).

“Some of it is we are getting beat (on the line) physically,” Zimmer said. “It’s not so much the stunts and the games, I don’t believe. It’s sometimes the protection breaks down because of other factors, if that makes sense.

“I mean sometimes guys get beat, that happens all of the time. Sometimes the protection might be turned the way and a guy turned too far, wasn’t necessarily that he got beat but he went further than he was supposed to go. I can go through a ton of them. One time a guy a stepped on another guy’s foot and it caused him, so there are a multitude of things that happen and to try to pin it on one thing is not, I don’t believe, the right way.”

The Bucs’ defense ranks 25th in sacks per pass play while no defender has more than two sacks. Overall, the Bucs rank last in the league in yards allowed (422.8) and points allowed (34.0) per game.

So while it’s not yet “must-win” time, another loss on this particular weekend certainly will increase the field of those questioning the direction the team is heading.

–TE Kyle Rudolph, who has missed the past four games because of hernia surgery, did not practice Wednesday and is still a few weeks from returning to practice.

–OLB Gerald Hodges, who missed last week’s game because of a hamstring injury, did not practice. Hodges played most of the Lions game on the damaged hamstring two weeks ago, so his recovery has been slow. His exit coincided with starter Chad Greenway re-entering the starting lineup after missing three games because of broken ribs and a broken hand.

–C John Sullivan, who left Sunday’s game with a concussion late in the first quarter, did not practice. He passed the first stage of the NFL’s concussion protocol and is expected to play on Sunday. If he doesn’t play, the Vikings have a capable backup in Joe Berger, a 10-year veteran.

–DE Corey Wootton, who missed Sunday’s game because of a lower back injury, was limited in practice. With him sidelined last week, rookie third-round pick Scott Crichton got eight snaps, his first action since the opener.

–DT Sharrif Floyd, who played Sunday despite being listed as questionable because of an elbow injury, now has an ankle injury that caused him to be limited in practice. If Floyd can’t play, the Vikings have a viable option in Tom Johnson, who has been a head-turner in limited action in the nickel rush packages.

–G Vladimir Ducasse, who left Sunday’s game with a knee injury in the first quarter, was limited in practice. He’s expected to play.

–CB Jabari Price was limited because of a hamstring injury. He played one snap at corner and saw time on special teams a week ago.

–S Antone Exum, one of the team’s busier special teams players, was limited because of an ankle injury.

SERIES HISTORY: 54th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead series, 31-22. The Buccaneers have won the past six meetings, going back to the 2001, the last year the teams were together in the NFC Central. The series is tied 13-13 in games played Tampa.

GAME PLAN: The Vikings’ main priority is protecting rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who has been sacked 13 times the past two weeks. They’ll start by trying to duplicate their running performance against Buffalo’s then-No. 1-ranked run defense (29 carries, 158 yards, 5.4-yard average). If they can do that while protecting Bridgewater and winning the turnover battle like they did last week (4-2), they should be able to beat a weak Bucs team even on the road.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Bucs DE Michael Johnson, who is tied for the team lead in sacks with only two, vs. Vikings LT Matt Kalil, who has struggled for most of the season, particularly the past two games. Kalil was punished for 1.5 sacks against the Lions’ Ziggy Ansah two weeks ago and 1.5 more sacks by Jerry Hughes last week in Buffalo.

Bucs WR Vincent Jackson, who has a team-high 25 catches for 344 yards and two touchdowns, vs. Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes, who has played well with a team-high seven passes defensed but was beaten for two critical completions in Buffalo’s game-winning, 80-yard drive in the final three minutes. Poor technique cost Rhodes from making a better play on the ball on a deep ball to the 2-yard line and also the game-winning 2-yard touchdown to Sammy Watkins with 1 second left. Jackson is a veteran who will test Rhodes’ relative inexperience.