'It's not the end of the world': Vikings moving on from loss to Chiefs
Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings is sacked during the first half by the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. ((Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images))
EAGAN - The Minnesota Vikings are saying the right things when it comes to moving on from Sunday’s loss at Kansas City.
But the demeanor and tone of head coach Mike Zimmer at TCO Performance Center on Monday said enough as he talked about his team’s inability to consistently run the ball, make enough big plays and succumbing to the big-play ability of Tyreek Hill and Damien Williams.
The 26-23 loss as time expired, thanks to one of four Harrison Butker field goals, snapped a four-game win streak. It was also a missed opportunity, with the Vikings facing Matt Moore instead of 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes, and the Packers, Bears and Lions all losing.
“We’ll move forward, it’s not the end of the world,” Zimmer said.
Irv Smith Jr., who had four catches for 33 yards and had a catch that would’ve been a first down negated by a penalty, offered a slightly different perspective. The rookie out of Alabama isn’t used to losing.
“Coming from college, you lose one game, it’s the end of the world. In the NFL, you just gotta forget about it,” Smith said. “It’s tough, I hate losing, we hate losing as a team, but it’s something we’re going to build on.”
While it’s true that Sunday’s loss isn’t season-defining, it makes the immediate road ahead more uphill. The third quadrant of the schedule features three out of four games on the road, including facing the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday Night Football and heading to Seattle for Monday Night Football against Russell Wilson, who’s currently in contention to win the NFL MVP.
The Vikings watched film Monday morning, learned from plenty of mistakes and are moving on. That’s the only option.
“I mean no one likes losing but we know that we have to keep pushing forward. So we get it out the way, acknowledge things we need to fix and then now it’s onto the next one,” rookie running back Alexander Mattison said. “We bring the energy, bring the positivity into this next week.”
It was the way the Vikings lost that has Zimmer perturbed. They had two offensive series in the fourth quarter with the chance to win the game, and went 3-and-out on both drives. His defense gave up a 40-yard touchdown to Hill, where he beat Trae Waynes in coverage, and allowed Williams to go 91 yards untouched for a score in the third quarter.
It put the Chiefs ahead 17-16, when just minutes before, it appeared the Vikings had taken control after scoring off a fumbled kickoff return to start the second half.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever given up a run that long in my life,” Zimmer said of the long touchdown run.
He’s right, by all of one yard. Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in Dallas in 2004 when the Cowboys gave up a 90-yard touchdown to then Green Bay Packers’ running back Ahman Green.
Zimmer also lamented the inability of his offense to run the ball against one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL. The Vikings ran for just 96 total yards, and 3.6 yards per carry.
They also got an inconsistent game from Kirk Cousins, who just three days before, was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October. Sunday, he was 19-of-38 for 220 yards and touchdowns to Bisi Johnson, Ameer Abdullah and Kyle Rudolph. But he missed open receivers far too often, and was 0-for-9 passing when under duress.
Zimmer didn’t seem too concerned about that particular stat.
“He missed some throws, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll be alright,” Zimmer said.
They’re also evaluating the health of Adam Thielen moving forward. Thielen left the game after the Vikings’ first offensive series, after Cousins threw behind him for what would’ve been a first down. Thielen went back on the field for one more play before leaving the game for good and told his teammates on the sideline, “I’m done.”
He apparently re-injured the hamstring he hurt in Minnesota’s win at Detroit. Without Thielen, Stefon Diggs managed just one catch for four yards. He had at least two throws to Diggs that would’ve been long completions go for slight overthrows. Cousins was seen leaving the field after a stalled drive in the third quarter yelling, “I’m trying!”
The luxury for the Vikings is that it’s only one game, and none of it matters if they beat the Cowboys Sunday night.
“It was a close game, opportunity that we could’ve taken advantage of. Any time you’re that close and not able to pull off a win, it obviously leaves a sad taste in your mouth,” safety Anthony Harris said. But it’s something that you just go into there, see where you could improve, where could you have gotten better, what could you have taken advantage of or made a play here or there that could’ve changed the course of the game and just move on.”