The Minnesota Vikings once again fizzled down the stretch after a hot start.
For the seventh consecutive game, the Vikings sprinted out of the gate in the first quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdown drives Thursday night in Los Angeles. For the second straight game, however, Kevin O'Connell's club couldn't maintain the pace, kicking just two field goals in its final six drives in a 30-20 loss to the L.A. Rams.
"We just didn't sustain enough, and we weren't on the field enough," O'Connell said, via the team's official website. "I mean 50 plays, again, when it's a game like this and their offense is making some plays and sustaining drives and kind of eating a lot of clock, it can feel like an awfully short game to you as an offense when you're either scoring or going backwards, either self-inflicted or sacks, so we've got to just try to find a way to mitigate that."
The Vikings were out-gained 386 to 276 yards, allowed more first downs (26 to 17) and went 2-of-4 in the red zone, while the Rams converted all three trips into touchdowns.
As they did in the loss versus Detroit, the Vikings began stubbing their toe after the opening salvo. That "self-inflicted" word was the main chorus yet again.
"I feel like these last two losses [have] just been self-inflicted," receiver Justin Jefferson said. "The non-execution on certain plays that we need is definitely something that hurts us in the long run."
Minnesota was penalized nine times -- five gave the Rams offense a new set of downs, and several were of the pre-snap variety from the offense.
The Vikings defense struggled to pressure Matthew Stafford, not sacking the quarterback once and earning just four plays with QB pressures. The Vikings have allowed 30-plus points in back-to-back games after not allowing 30 points in any game during their 5-0 start.
Sam Darnold was also sacked three times, one coming deep in the fourth quarter, forcing a punt that allowed the Rams to salt away most of the clock. The final sack came on a safety in which the Rams' Byron Young took down the QB in the end zone but got his hands on the facemask.
Referee Tra Blake said in a pool report that he and umpire Carl Paganelli -- the two officials closest to the play -- did not have a clear view of the would-be penalty that could have extended the Vikings' drive down eight points with 1:36 remaining.
"The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me so I did not have a good look at it. I did not have a look, and I did not see the facemask being pulled," Blake said, via The Associated Press. "The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a look at it. He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing, we did not see it so we couldn't call it. We couldn't see it."
Facemask calls are not reviewable by instant replay.
Darnold didn't blame the Vikings' loss on the non-call.
"The facemask -- it is what it is," Darnold said. "I thought we could've done a lot to not put ourselves in the situation that we were in. We just have to continue to play better and not put ourselves in that situation to begin with."
With a few extra days off before their Week 9 Sunday night matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, the Vikings will be searching for answers as to why they can't sustain their fast starts.
"We just need to just stay on people's necks," Jefferson said. "Just go out there and execute every single play for 60 minutes. That's what it comes down to -- who wants it more at the end of the day? … No team is just a sad team, and we're just gonna walk all over [them]. That's not gonna happen."
