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Another miraculous comeback was not to be for the Minnesota Vikings.

The defense, needing to stop the Colts one more time, failed to come through.

Too many mistakes, and one costly turnover spelled the doom for the Vikings.

The mistakes should be expected from a very young team, with only three players older than 30.

For those Vikings' fans who had the team winning more than six games—this was one of their easier opponents on the schedule. 

Now five wins could be a stretch, especially with how porous the defense continues to look.

0:18 seconds left in the game: I hate the prevent defense.

With 2:50 left in the game, and the Vikings trailing the Colts by a touchdown, the fans of both teams are waiting for something bad to happen.

This is a game where someone has to lose, not necessarily a game that either team has stepped up and won, up to this point.

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5:28 left in the game: The Vikings are facing a 4th-and-4 from the six yard line.

If Adrian Peterson is not on the field, then someone needs to have a very good explanation.

This is the game...

In an incredibly luck play, Christian Ponder's pass is knocked into the air, off the hands of tight end Kyle Rudolph to Stephen Burton.

It may be a little too late.

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10:10 left in the game: The Colts have come close to picking off Christian Ponder a couple of times.

Now is the time to prove the defense is better than last season. The Vikings need to score quickly, so they won't be looking to hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson who's longest run has only been six yards.

12:40 left in the game: It's funny to listen to former NFL head coach Brian Billick talk about the Vikings need to pick up the tempo of the game. 

When he was the offensive coordinator under Dennis Green in Minnesota there was plenty of criticism about clock management.

Thomas J. Russo-US PRESSWIRE

3:05 left in the third quarter:  Discipline seems to be one thing the Vikings are missing.

Far too many mistakes and stupid penalties from both sides of the ball. This time a personal foul on rookie Matt Kalil.

This is all on head coach Leslie Frazier.

Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

7:06 left in the third quarter:  The Vikings should feel fortunate to find themselves down only 14 points at this point in the game.

It's time for Christian Ponder to step up and the Vikings to use their weapons.

Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin need to be involved.

Also, it might be nice to see a tight end catch a ball.

A costly personal foul penalty on Jared Allen keeps the Colts opening drive alive.
Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

10:54 left in the third quarter: Has anyone seen the brains for the Vikings defense?

After the offense shot itself in the first half, the Vikings defense has helped to extend the opening drive of the Colts. 

Two stupid penalties and 30 yards have really helped the Colts.

Will we finally see A.J. Jefferson in the game?
Thomas J. Russo-US PRESSWIRE

Halftime:  It's time for the Vikings defense to step up and make a play.

Andrew Luck has used both his arm and his legs to extend drives. He leads the Colts with 20 yards rushing.

Stopping the run has been the Vikings strength, now the they need to find a way to stop the pass.

For the Colts, with an 11-point lead, they just need to keep moving the ball on offense.

1:23 left in the the second quarter: After escaping their turnover by yielding only a field goal, the Vikings offense fails to answer and gives the ball back to the Andrew Luck and the Colts.

Now both defenses have a three-and-out.

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6:10 left in the second quarter: The Vikings offense shoots themselves in the foot again.

After the defense held the Colts to a three-and-out on their second possession, quarterback Christian Ponder fumbles the ball on a second consecutive sack.

Cory Redding recovers in Minnesota territory.

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10:07 left in the second quarter: FINALLY - a punt in the game.

This has become a battle of rookies—Blair Walsh for the Vikings and Andrew Luck for the Colts.

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11:33 left in the second quarter: Now it's the Vikings' turn to try and stop the Colts' offense.

It's going to be up to the front four to put some pressure on Andrew Luck.

0:43 left in the first quarter: The offenses have been able to do pretty much what they want.

If not for the penalties it could be a tied game.

The Colts' defense has the first chance (again) to pitch the first punt in the game. 

Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

The Vikings score first.

After converting two third-downs, the offense shoots itself in the foot with back-to-back penalties resulting in the team backing up 15 yards.

Good thing Blair Walsh can kick the ball a ton.

He saves the drive with his second 50+-yard field of the season.

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The Minnesota Vikings' offense will get the first crack to set the tone with Adrian Peterson and Christian Ponder.

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The Colts have a three-game winning streak against the Vikings, and hold a 7-15-1 edge in the series.

The Vikings had not beaten a Peyton Manning-led team and are 2-3 since the Colts moved to Indianapolis.

In the games before Manning the Vikings had won five in a row.

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This game is going to come down to the play of the defenses.

The Colts will need to limit the effectiveness of Adrian Peterson and the Vikings need to make sure Andrew Luck doesn't get on a roll.

So with the kickoff less than 10 minutes away, who wins?

With a boost to the secondary with A.J. Jefferson and Peterson wanting to prove last week was no fluke, the Vikings will prevail, again with the help of their rookie kicker.

Vikings 24, Colts 20.

Tom Pelissero of 1500espn.ocm Tweeted on the Colts' deactivations.

#Colts deactivated Winstron Justice. Jeff Linkenbach to start at right tackle instead. Look out. They're down 2 starting OL.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero)

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From Colts.com the following players have been deactivated for today's game against the Vikings:

Chandler Harnish (QB), Austin Collie (WR), Delone Carter (RB), Pat Angerer (LB), Winston Justice (OT), Joe Reitz (OG) and Dwight Freeney (LB).

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Just posted on Vikings.com are the inactives for today's game:

QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson, WR Jarius Wright, CB Brandon Burton, S Robert Blanton, LB Marvin Mitchell, LB Audie Cole, and OL Mark Asper.

This means that cornerback A.J. Jefferson will be making his debut for the Vikings.

Unfortunately for Burton, that is why second-year corner is inactive.

Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Adrian Peterson is a freak.

In a little more than eight months from having reconstructive knee surgery, Peterson returned to the starting lineup and did what he has been doing since joining the league in 2007.

Since 2007 no one has scored more rushing touchdowns than Peterson who is the Vikings franchise leader with 66.  In 2009 he led the NFL with 18 touchdowns, and since then has 44. Arian Foster of the Texans is second since 2009 with 31 touchdowns. 

After Week 1 Peterson has declared himself 100 percent and ready to go against the Colts.

This is a matchup of strengths against weaknesses. 

It's the Vikings' fourth ranked rushing offense from 2011, with the NFL's best running back in Adrian Peterson against the Colts' 29th-ranked rushing defense. 

On the other side, it will be an Indianapolis passing offense that is looking to return to form under Andrew Luck. 

In 2010 Peyton Manning had six game with at least 300 yards, with two games in excess of 400 yards. and with where he finished at 299 yards. His average for the season was 288.1 yards per game.  

Last season the Colts' quarterbacks, Curtis Painter, Dan Orlovsky and Kerry Collins only exceeded 300 passing yards in a game once with average of 187.2 yards per game. 

In Week 1 Luck passed for 309 yards against Chicago. 

Today he faces a defense that finished 28th against the pass and gave up a league-high 34 touchdown passes.  

A quick perusal of the local sports sections of the newspapers for both teams provides some interesting results. 

The line on the game is anywhere from even to Minnesota being a three-point favorite. 

All five writers for the St. Paul Pioneer Press are predicting a win for the Vikings. The average margin of victory is 5.5 points. 

From Indystar.com, all four sportswriters have the Colts winning at home. The scores look very close to those from Minnesota, this time with the Colts winning by an average of 4.2 points. 

So much for either local rag being subjective in their opinions.