Patriots news: Bill Belichick calls Vikings' Mike Zimmer one of the best coaches in the NFL

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick talks about Mike Zimmer of the Minnesota Vikings and how he believes he's among the NFL's elite coaches.

The New England Patriots have in front of them a tough matchup ahead against the Minnesota Vikings, who have thrust themselves back into the playoff picture.

Ahead of the matchup, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had much praise toward Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer calling him one of the best coaches in the NFL, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.

Bill Belichick on Mike Zimmer: "I think Mike's one of the best coaches in the league, no question about it. He's done a great job with that program. He's been one of the great coaches in the league for a couple decades." Belichick said that the Patriots… https://t.co/FsvthDSno0

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) November 27, 2018

Although his tenure didn't get off to a smooth start, he has brought a tremendous amount of stability to the franchise as the team has earned playoff appearances twice in his first four years including in two out of the last three seasons. Minnesota looks to be on track to go that route once again with strong play this season currently sitting in the first wild-card spot heading into Week 13 action.

The Vikings have turned into one of the top teams in the league over the last couple of seasons that began with their strong play defensively that has now seen them become a more potent offensive squad. The team has in place some premium talent on that side of the ball lead by Pro Bowl level talent with wide receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs along with quarterback Kirk Cousins. All of this has seemingly built a highly formidable team for the franchise that could very well be in the picture to contend for a Super Bowl this season and possibly for the next few years down the line.

Beyond that, this is some major praise for Zimmer, especially since it is coming from arguably the greatest head coach that the league has seen. What this also does is set up an even more intriguing matchup this upcoming Sunday between two teams vying for more than making the playoffs that could see them face each other down the line once again.