BSJ Game Report: Vikings 33, Patriots 26 - New England doesn't make key plays in all three phases

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ loss to the Vikings in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Patriots drop winnable game on road and have only themselves to blame: There will be a lot of talk about the officials in this one, and we'll deal with them, but at the end of the day, the Patriots had countless chances to make plays and leave Minnesota with a win, and they failed in the margins where they normally win games like this. Patriots had six penalties for 55 yards, and they all seemed like they were killers: 

• Jonathan Jones had two personal foul penalties (one after a 3-yard gain).
• Matthew Judon went offsides on 3rd and 12. Vikings picked up 37 yards on 3rd and 7 and scored a touchdown.
• Myles Bryant had a personal foul on an incompletion that should have brought up 3rd and 15 at the Patriots' 21-yard line. 
• Pierre Strong ran into the punter ... Vikings scored the game-winning TD three plays later.

The Patriots also allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown, so between that and the Strong penalty, that's 14 points on the special teams. And punter Matt Palardy averaged 33.5 yards on two punts besides his 56-yarder.

"It's really the difference in the game," Bill Belichick said of the kickoff return. "Really bonus points in the game,"

And there were situational miscues, like Hunter Henry not going out of bounds and Mac Jones sliding instead of throwing the ball out of bounds. Both cost the team a chance for a touchdown before halftime. 

Nelson Agholor appeared to stop on a good pass from Jones on the team's real last chance to tie the game. Trent Brown whiffed on a cut block on a key sack when he shouldn't be cutting.

Disappointing all around.

"We just came up short obviously," Belichick said. "Couldn't make enough plays to win. ... Too many mistakes that took advantage of and it's really the difference in the game. Could point to a lot of things and any of them would have made a difference. But collectively we just got to do a better job here and just perform a little bit better than we did tonight."

Defense can't hold up Vikings when it counts: Minnesota swung the game when they scored points on five straight possession in the second and third quarters — sandwiched around the kickoff return for a TD. The Vikings converted 53 percent of their third downs and were 3 of 5 in the red zone. The Patriots did get one interception from Kirk Cousins, but he wound up completing 81.1 percent of his passes for 299 yards (8.1 yards per attempt) with 3 TDs. He was sacked just once and was hit just three additional times. Justin Jefferson, one of the best receivers in the game, was allowed to catch 9 of 11 targets for 139 yards and a touchdown. 

Mac Jones, offense good - but still struggle in red zone: In many ways, this was the best game for the Patriots' offense this season as they averaged a season-best 7.4 yards per play and they delivered 14 of 17 first downs via the pass. Patriots had 409 total yards, and Jones completed 71.8 percent, 382 yards, 9.8 yards per attempt, two touchdowns and zero turnovers. Jones was sacked three times, which I'm sure people will go nuts over, but give credit to the offensive line that protected Jones well and allowed him to be the type of QB that he has shown at times.

However, the Patriots were 0 for 3 in the red zone and 0 for 2 in goal-to-go scenarios. They were also just 3 of 10 on third downs. Not good enough.

Referees get involved: On national TV games with great replays, there are always calls that people are going to complain about. The refs could have flagged the Vikings for holding Kyle Dugger on the kickoff return. They should have called illegal hands to the face of Mac Jones on one of the biggest plays of the game. Replays overruled Hunter Henry's touchdowns catch. None of those calls went the Patriots' way, not that the Patriots were making a lot of breaks for themselves.

Pool report with NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson:

Question: What did you see to determine New England’s Hunter Henry didn’t maintain control?

Anderson: “He was going to the ground, the ball ended up touching the ground and then he lost control of the ball in his hands.”

Question: Can you explain why he wasn’t granted possession before the ball hit the ground?

Anderson: “Because as he’s going to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball upon contacting the ground. The term that’s commonly used is ‘surviving the ground’ – a lot of people refer to that. So, as he’s going to the ground, he has the elements of two feet and control, but because he’s going to the ground, he has to maintain control of the ball when he does go to the ground.”

Question: He has two hands on it. How much is that factored into this decision, that he had two hands on the ball?

Anderson: “Well, if he had maintained control of the ball with two hands, even if the ball were to touch the ground, if you don’t lose control of the ball after it touches the ground, that would still be a catch.”

Question: Is there anything else that I didn’t ask that is important to add to this discussion?

Anderson: “No, we’ve pretty much covered all the elements of the catch that are required to make it complete.”

TURNING POINT

The Pierre Strong running into the kicker penalty. The Patriots should have had the ball at their own 8-yard line in a tie game with 10:56 remaining. Instead, on 4th and 3, the infraction gave the Vikings a first down and they went ahead three plays later. 

SECOND GUESS

How do the Patriots go into this game and allow Justin Jefferson to catch nine passes for 139 yards? Whatever happened to taking away what a team does well?

"He's not the only good receiver we're going to see this year," Bill Belichick said. "Yeah, he's a good player, no doubt about it."

THREE UP

Mac Jones: It wasn't perfect — he was late on a few throws and took a few questionable sacks — but he was pretty damn good in this game and didn't come close to turning the ball over. Didn't think some of the playcalling was to his advantage down the stretch. He seemed to be in a groove being aggressive and they went back to a lot of conservative stuff.

Offensive line: After the previous four games, this was a great performance by the unit as Jones finally had time to breathe.

Rhamondre Stevenson: Had 16 touches for 112 yards to pace the offense, including a 40-yard screen pass.

THREE DOWN

Special teams: Cost the team 14 points in this game, a week after beating the Jets with a punt return. And the Vikings have one of the worst special teams in the league.

Jonathan Jones: Put in a tough spot against Jefferson, he mostly did a good job but had some chances to make plays and didn't, and had two personal fouls. Also think he was partly at fault on the Adam Thielen game-winning score.

Pass rush: A week after the Vikings allowed seven sacks to the Cowboys, the Patriots barely sniffed Cousins and that was one of the big differences in the game. They should have dominated this game.

INJURIES

WR Jakobi Meyers (shoulder) went to the locker room but returned before having to leave again.

RB Damien Harris (knee) limped off in pain and was in crutches after the game. 

WR DeVante Parker (knee) left the game but returned.

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Don't blame the refs for this loss: Can you talk about them and be pissed off? Sure, absolutely. But complaining about a possible hold on a kickoff return a week after Mack Wilson got away with a block in the back, I mean ... you're not going to get every call. Henry's catch ... always a tough call. Didn't really have an issue with that one. Jones' pass should have been a little better. Definitely should have thrown a flag on the facemask to Jones. I hate how that's not called consistently.

But overall, the Patriots had plenty of chances to win this game and they themselves failed. That was the story.

“Yeah, I think obviously the refs have a job to do and they looked at the review and ruled it incomplete. We got to move on from that play and play the rest of the game,” Jones said. “There’s plenty of time left and there’s other times we could’ve punched it in and that wouldn’t have even been an issue. Kind of the same story there, but did some good things. Obviously, not good enough in the long run. One call can’t determine the outcome. We’ve got to be able to do better so it’s not even close.”

Stunned defense didn't win this game: The complete lack of a pass rush in this game against that Vikings line and Cousins will start a discussion about whether or not this defense is going to backslide against good offenses (this isn't a great offense) down the stretch for the fourth straight season. Good defenses have beaten up that Vikings line, especially with LT Christian Darrisaw out. And the Patriots just didn't do a good enough job there. Credit to the Vikings with their gameplan and execution, but Matthew Judon and company need to win a game like that for this team.

From ESPN Stats & Info: The Vikings completed 81.6% of their passes tonight. (Cousins 30-37, Jefferson 1-1.) That's the second-highest completion percentage in a game against the Patriots under Bill Belichick. Highest was 85.7%, 9/21/08 by Dolphins in the infamous Wildcat game.

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