Sunday's game for the Minnesota Vikings was all about an incomplete effort and missed chances.
Minnesota played well at times but didn't finish when needed. From the offense's struggles to capitalize on turnovers, not finishing drives or the defense folding at the key time, the Vikings missed too many opportunities in Sunday's 17-16 loss at Buffalo.
The grades offer a split, having to take the good with the bad. But the result was another loss, the third in the row for Minnesota.
Here's how the Vikings graded out in each phase on Sunday:
The passing game featured the biggest gap between quality moments and inefficiency. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater connected with receiver Greg Jennings for 38 yards on third-and-7. Jarius Wright caught a 28-yard pass at the sideline in the fourth quarter. In between, there wasn't enough to sustain Minnesota's offense.
The Vikings were 5 of 16 on third down. Bridgewater finished 15 of 26, passing for 157 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked five times for 39 yards, leaving Minnesota with 118 net yards passing. Bridgewater held the ball too long at times, but also was pressured quickly on the two biggest sacks of the game.
After reaching the 7-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Buffalo's Jerry Hughes beat left tackle Matt Kalil quickly on first down and then defensive tackle Marcell Dareus beat right tackle Phil Loadholt on a stunt on second down, Loadholt spinning around in the process.
Bridgewater did recover a bit from the two interceptions. After throwing interceptions on two straight passes, Bridgewater was 3 of 8 for 21 yards, a sack and two interceptions midway through the second quarter. The rest of the game Bridgewater went 12 of 18 for 136 yards, zero interceptions and a touchdown.
Bridgewater's first career passing touchdown was a 4-yard pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson finished with two catches for nine yards. Greg Jennings gave Bridgewater a consistent target. Jennings had six catches on seven targets for 77 yards. Jennings had two big catches on the drive after Bridgewater's second interception which helped set up Patterson's touchdown.
Rookie Jerick McKinnon got the bulk of the workload in the backfield for the second straight game and provided another spark. Minnesota's offense finished with just 276 total yards, but the running game has to be considered a bright spot. Buffalo had allowed only 67.5 rushing yards per game previously as the league's top run defense.
McKinnon became the first back to go over 100 yards with 19 carries for 103 yards. He also had a 29-yard run, the longest attempt of the season against the Bills. Fullback Jerome Felton actually became the first back with a 20-yard carry against Buffalo this season, taking a handoff 21 yards in the first half. Matt Asiata added 24 yards on six carries as the Vikings ended with 158 rushing yards.
Minnesota also was able to handle the Bills' strong defensive line minus two offensive linemen. The Vikings lost center John Sullivan and right guard Vladimir Ducasse on the same play in the first quarter. Joe Berger replaced Sullivan and tackle Mike Harris played out of position at guard as Minnesota ran well.
This grade is average and looked much better until the final three minutes, but the final breakdowns can't be ignored. The Vikings led 16-10 with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left. Bills quarterback Kyle Orton then took his team 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
With one second left, Orton found rookie receiver Sammy Watkins for a touchdown. On the drive -- which was done completely through the air -- Buffalo converted first downs on fourth-and-20, third-and-12 and second-and-20. Orton was 8-of-13 passing on the final drive.
The finish overshadows a game of big plays from the defense. Until the final drive, Minnesota held Orton to 160 passing yards. The Vikings had six sacks, including two on the final drive. Minnesota generated four takeaways, one interception and three fumble recoveries. Robert Blanton had his first career interception for the Vikings.
Again, Minnesota has to swallow the bad with the good. The Bills ran 19 times for 118 yards. But C.J. Spiller accounted for 53 of those yards on one play. Buffalo averaged 3.6 yards per carry on its other 18 rushes for 65 yards.
Spiller's run did help the Bills finish a drive with a field goal. Of course, Buffalo lost both Spiller and Fred Jackson during the game. Jackson had three carries for 12 yards before leaving with an injury. And Spiller suffered a collarbone injury and was carted off after his 53-yard run. Third-stringer Boobie Dixon had 13 carries for 51 yards and didn't have the same big-play ability as Spiller or Jackson.
Minnesota's special teams were solid on Sunday, posting an overall strong game after a couple of poor outings. There was nothing unusual on Sunday, and punter Jeff Locke was the bright spot.
Locke had struggled last week, but he came back and averaged 47.3 yards per punt on Sunday with a long of 54 yards. Locke averaged 41.0 net yards per punt as Leodis McKelvin had two returns for a total of 18 yards.
Kicker Blair Walsh was perfect on three field-goal attempts, including a 55-yarder. Three of Walsh's five kickoffs were touchbacks and the other two were returned for 33 total yards as Spiller muffed a return.
Kickoff returner Cordarrelle Patterson had two returns for 40 total yards. Punt returner Marcus Sherels had two returns for 23 yards but inexplicably fair-caught a punt at the 6-yard line while going backwards.
On the surface, Minnesota deserved better. Generating four takeaways on the road, holding down Buffalo's limited offense through 57 minutes and running the ball on offense wasn't enough for the Vikings.
After the game, coach Mike Zimmer focused on the positives and said his team improved on Sunday. There are plenty of instances to show Zimmer's point. But failures with prime opportunities, plays left on the field and another poor passing game held Minnesota back.
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