Vikings' Struggles to Finish Games Continue, Mistakes Doom Minnesota in Loss

The Minnesota Vikings’ 2014 season has jumped roller-coaster status and gone into full power-tower mode.

As soon as the Vikings begin to play well, they find ways to come crashing down in an instant. In truly entertaining fashion, they even found a way to skyrocket upward from the depths in their 37-35 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Late-game mistakes have taken the shine off Minnesota’s recent performances. The team’s tendency to shoot itself in the foot showed up again in sunny Miami.

The blocked punt and game-winning safety take the cake.

Long snapper Cullen Loeffler gets his name uttered for all the wrong reasons after bouncing the snap to Jeff Locke. The added time Locke needed to get the ball away allowed Miami’s rush to close and get a hand to the punt.

Special teams gaffes have not been a common theme for the Vikings in 2014, so maybe they deserve credit for finding new ways to lose.

Minnesota put itself in that position by going three-and-out with an opportunity for a game-winning drive. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was too quickly corralled by the rush at the end of the game, giving him no chance to continue his big day with a timely drive.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The third-down error from right tackle Mike Harris proved most costly, having lunged at Dolphins end Cameron Wake and missed, leaving the rookie quarterback out to dry. With the quality of play from the QB on the day, a drive to win the game should have been a promising proposition for the Vikings.

More egregious missteps from the Vikings included multiple personal foul penalties defensively. Sharrif Floyd earned himself a pair of flags for roughing the passer and throwing a haymaker after a play. Gerald Hodges joined the party in the third quarter with a little head-butt of a Dolphins receiver, giving away more free yards.

Minnesota ended up handing Miami 74 free ones, including the controversial pass interference call on Xavier Rhodes that allowed the Dolphins to tie it up as the fourth quarter neared its end.

The team can also look back at crucial plays from early in the game and wonder what could have been.

Harrison Smith dropped a can’t-miss interception in the first quarter. Matt Asiata also did Minnesota no favors by deflecting a Bridgewater pass into the air, which fell into the lap of Derrick Shelby.

Minnesota won the turnover battle in the end, but it still left points on the field.

Instead of discussing silver linings after this week’s disappointing loss, head coach Mike Zimmer let his displeasure be known. The personal foul penalties and his team’s inability to close out the game left him hotheaded, per Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN and VikingUpdate.com:

"

Zimmer to reporters postgame on Hodges, Floyd unsportsmanlike conducts: "Ridiculous. That's how you lose games. Undisciplined."

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) December 21, 2014"

"

Mike Zimmer of not finsihing in the fourth quarter: "Didn't happen. That's for sure." Called it a poor perfomance. #Vikings

— VikingUpdate.com (@VikingUpdate) December 21, 2014"

Zimmer and his coaching staff may not be completely absolved, either.

Hindsight takes one back to the Vikings’ decision to settle for a field goal before the half, trotting Blair Walsh onto the field for three points despite having six seconds to work with from Miami’s 1-yard line.

Bridgewater had thrown a slant pattern the play before that only burned two seconds off the clock. Surely, one more quick pass into the end zone was a safe enough play.

Instead, the Vikings took their three points and their 10-point lead into the locker room, only to see it dissipate as the defense folded in the second half. The conservative decision proved costly.

For the Vikings to take the next step and become more than a competitive team, the group needs to be molded into a more experienced, disciplined unit. Zimmer’s disciplinarian style should reap rewards down the road.

A little patience might be all it takes. That won’t make Minnesota feel any better about the endless ways it has found to lose games this season.

Expectations have seemingly risen. Moral victories are becoming less acceptable as the Vikings have begun hanging with tougher teams.

With the 5-10 Chicago Bears the only team left on the schedule, Minnesota will have failed to beat a team that ended up with a winning record all season. Now the team will go into 2015 with a little more to prove.

Statistics via ESPN.com unless noted otherwise.