Minnesota Vikings: 5 Keys to Loss vs. the Atlanta Falcons

A spirited second-half effort came up short Sunday, as the Minnesota Vikings lost their third straight game and ninth of the season, falling to the Atlanta Falcons, 24-14. The Falcons moved to 7-4 and remain in the thick of the NFC playoff race.

The Vikings were one play from being pronounced dead in the fourth quarter when they went for it on 4th-and-13 from the Falcons' 39-yard line and Christian Ponder found Percy Harvin behind the Falcons secondary in the end zone, helping pull the Vikings to within three points, 17-14.

From there, the Vikings did what 2-9 teams do: made some big plays and horrible mistakes, and had some horrible coaching decisions that doomed them to another loss.

Here are the five keys to Sunday's loss.

A 104-Yard Kickoff Return and No Points?

Bad things happen to bad football teams. Unusual things happen to bad football teams. Things that have never happened before happen to bad football teams.

Is there any way to explain how the Vikings' Percy Harvin can return a kickoff 104 yards and the purple can come away with no points out of it? Amazing.

After a three-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Michael Palmer help put the Falcons up 24-14 with just over six minutes left in the game, what happened next had to be seen to be believed. 

Harvin took the ensuing kickoff seven yards deep in his own end zone and set sail. One hundred and four yards later, he was chased down by Chris Owens and brought down on the Falcons' 3-yard line.

Harvin's return takes its place in the record books as the longest play ever not to score a touchdown.

Those things can only happen to 2-9 teams.

Matt Ryan Riddled the Vikings' Pass Defense

The Falcons' Matt Ryan was clearly the player of the game, as he did pretty much whatever he wanted to do against the Vikings' overmatched pass defense.

Ryan was clinical in completing 27 of 34 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Ryan's quarterback rating was 128.2, the eighth time in 11 games an opponent's quarterback has had a rating over 100 against Minnesota.

Ryan only completed two passes that were in the air for over 15 yards. For most of the afternoon, he simply picked off targets from the five- to 15-yard variety that the Vikings never showed any ability to stop.

The Vikings secondary is arguably the worst in the NFL right now, and with the injuries piling up, it's only getting worse. They signed Benny Sapp to play cornerback, and all he did was prove why he's been cut twice in the past season-and-a-half. 

The Vikings Coaches Got Whipped

Let's get this out of the way first: Leslie Frazier is in no danger of losing his job.

As inept as he and his coaches might seem to be, there is no way Vikings ownership is going to can Frazier after just one season on the job. Frazier took over a roster that is full of holes, and he's going to be given time to rebuild it.

Having said that, Frazier simply has to start proving he's not just another hole on the roster.

After Percy Harvin's 104-yard kickoff return, it took a comedy of errors to keep the Vikings off the scoreboard, but they did it.

A burned timeout before first down was inexcusable. Not challenging the spot after Percy Harvin's third-down carry, where, after seeing the replay, he clearly broke the plane of the end zone was inexcusable. Going for it on fourth down wasn't necessarily a bad call, but running a slow developing handoff to Toby Gerhart was inexcusable.

After the game, Frazier said of the blown possession inside the Falcons' 5-yard line, "I told our players that's more on me then them. A bad mistake on my part putting them in that position."

Nobody's arguing, coach.

It's Nearly Impossible to Grade Christian Ponder

Someone needs to throw their arms around Christian Ponder and feed him the Robin Williams line from Good Will Hunting, where he says to Matt Damon, "It's not your fault. It's not your fault."

Here's something you'll rarely hear: In the first half, the Vikings had gained 97 yards and yet their quarterback had played pretty well.

It's often said that the NFL game will eventually slow down for rookie quarterbacks. That might not be the case for the Vikings rookie; he's basically under a heavy rush every time he drops back.

Ponder is moving very well out of the pocket and making some nice throws, but it's nearly impossible to get into any kind of groove when you're given almost no time to set up and go through your receiver progressions.

Ask any Vikings fan what they think of Ponder so far, and you'll hear some version of this: "I don't know. He seems OK. It's just hard to tell."

No Adrian Peterson? No Chance for the Vikings

If I was a lawyer and my job was to prove why Adrian Peterson is the most important player on the Vikings, I would have rested my case after today's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

With Peterson sitting this one out with a high ankle sprain, it was painfully apparent rather quickly that the Vikings' running game would suffer. Toby Gerhart got his first extended playing time and he did nothing to quiet those who say he was a wasted draft pick in the 2010 draft. 

Though Gerhart is slow to the hole and doesn't make anyone miss, he obviously can't take all the blame for his awful numbers: 17 carries for 44 yards for a 2.6 average. Like Peterson, Gerhart never had anywhere to go.

The Vikings offensive line provides no running lanes and no holes for a back to get through before having to deal with linebackers and defensive backs.

The fact that Peterson was on pace for another 1,500-yard season running behind that awful offensive line is all you need to say when declaring him the Vikings' best player. Without Peterson in the lineup, the Vikings matched their mediocre passing game with virtually no running game.