Vikings fall behind after first loss of the season

No. 3 (down 1 place): NFL Staff, Bleacher Report

The Minnesota Vikings entered Week 7 as the NFC's only undefeated team, largely because they avoided mistakes and were opportunistic on defense.

The latter also carried over to the big duel with the Detroit Lions, when a fumble return by Ivan Pace Jr. for a touchdown gave the team a late lead. But the two-point conversion attempt that would have given Minnesota a three-point cushion was unsuccessful. Sam Darnold forced an ill-advised pass to wideout Jordan Addison, which was intercepted. Minnesota also was 4 of 10 on third down and committed eight penalties.

None of these mistakes, in and of themselves, cost the Vikings the game. But they added up to a two-point loss, and head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters the team needed to clean up to get back on track.

“It's those little self-inflicted (wounds), whether it's a formation, a hold or a pre-snap violation. I have to fix this,” O’Connell said. “If you're trying to win at the level we want to win against whoever we play, there's nothing we can do to give the football teams a chance. We just need to make sure all 11 guys are executing the play pre-snap and after the snap in all three phases in great detail, and I'm going to continue to push this team every day to try to get that done.”

“Despite Sunday's loss to the Lions, the Vikings didn't appear out of place among the NFC's best,” said Bleacher Report NFL analyst Brent Sobleski. “Yes, Minnesota has its first loss in its history. That's okay. No one expected the Vikings to go undefeated. In fact, most people didn’t expect them to start the season 5-1, especially with Sam Darnold at the helm.”

“But Darnold and the team didn’t look out of place against the Lions. Instead, “Minnesota scored well enough to win the game,” Sobleski added. “The Vikings came up just short, but showed that they are clearly one of the top contenders this year.”