The uphill climb got even steeper after halftime as the Vikings allowed the Bengals to march down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter before running back Joe Mixon plowed his way into the end zone to stretch the lead to 21-7.
“That was one of the ones where we can and will need to be better.” “Not only do we want to get points, we certainly want to run out the clock so that they can’t get the ball back and do what they did,” Cousins said. Not surprisingly, Burrow made them pay by finding rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase up the right sideline for a 50-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead shortly before intermission. Less than a minute later, the Vikings went three-and-out, and the Bengals got the ball back. It started with a masterful drive in which he converted a couple of third downs, then found receiver Tee Higgins for a 2-yard touchdown pass to tie the score 7-7. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft started to heat up shortly before halftime. That seemed to light a fire under Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the No. “But when we start drives first-and-20, second-and-20, third-and-20 - I think we averaged third-and-20 in the first half, or something like that - we can’t win football games doing that.”Īfter a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings took a 7-0 lead when Cousins found Thielen for a 5-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter.
“I think definitely an emphasis this week is, ‘Hey, if we play clean football, we can move the ball all day,’ ” Thielen said. There were some positives, starting with Cousins continuing to find success throwing the ball to Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson. We’ve still got a long way to go.”įor the Vikings, maybe the most frustrating part of the loss was the fact that they were still so close to victory despite their sloppy play. Then we got a chance to rally and come back, win the game, and we fumble the football (in overtime) and give up a fourth-and-inches throw. “Just way too many mistakes,” coach Mike Zimmer said. That concerning stat leveled the playing field, consistently putting the Vikings behind the down and distance markers, while simultaneously gifting the Bengals solid starting field position. It’s hard not to feel that way after the Vikings ended the afternoon with 12 penalties for 116 yards. “It’s a gut-wrenching loss,” defensive tackle Michael Pierce. Add it all up and the Vikings left Paul Brown Stadium with a 27-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.Īs soon as Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson’s 33-yard field goal split the uprights in overtime, the Vikings retreated to the locker room hanging their heads, left to lament what could have been had they not made mistake after mistake throughout the game. Not a good start for the Vikings, and it got worse from there, highlighted by star running back Dalvin Cook fumbling away the ball in overtime as Minnesota worked its way downfield for a possible winning score. The rest of the opening drive featured a false start from tight end Tyler Conklin, another false start from Ham, and for good measure, a holding penalty on right guard Oli Udoh before, mercifully, the Vikings punted the ball away. CINCINNATI - Truthfully, the writing was on the wall from the very beginning.Īs the Vikings lined up for their first play of the season, fullback C.J.
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