Minnesota loses by yet another missed FG in Arizona thriller

The Minnesota Vikings will be licking their wounds yet again after they fall to the Cardinals by missing a field goal in the closing seconds.

Minnesota:
QB:
K. Cousins 22/32 244 yds 3 TD 1 sack 122.4 rtg

RB:
D. Cook 22 car 131 yds 6.0 avg 16 long
A. Mattison 3 car 11 yds 3.7 avg 6 long

WR:
KJ Osborn 5 rec 91 yds 18.2 avg 1 TD 64 long
J. Jefferson 6 rec 65 yds 10.8 avg 1 TD 14 long
A. Thielen 6 rec 39 yds 6.5 avg 1 TD 15 long

DEF:
N. Vigil 1 INT, 1 TD
X. Woods 1 INT
D. Hunter 3 sacks

K:
G. Joseph 2/3 FG (52, 52, 37 missed) 3/4 XP

Game Summary:
Ugh. Another game that leaves Vikings fans with a sour taste in their mouths. Minnesota started out this game red hot. After kickoff Kirk Cousins launched a bomb to KJ Osborn for the game's first touchdown. The Vikings defense then held Arizona to a stop. However the Vikings offense had nothing to offer and Arizona took over and tied the game up. The Vikings then surprised most people and responded on the next drive with a touchdown to Adam Thielen.
The defense held up again on the next drive and forced another Arizona punt. After receiving good field position again, Minnesota drove in for another touchdown. However, Greg Joseph missed his first extra point after this score which was huge later in the game.
After this, Arizona responded again to bring the game back to within one score. The offense had no answer, and the Cardinals scored on the play following the punt to take the lead because of the Vikings missed PAT earlier. This time, the Vikings had an answer. They drove down and kicked a 52 yard field goal. But they left too much time on the clock and Arizona drove down for their own field goal to retake the lead going into halftime.
Following halftime, Arizona came out on offense. However, LB Nick Vigil came out and picked off Kyler Murray and returned it for a touchdown to give the Vikings the lead again. The Cardinals responded on the next drive with a score of their own. The Vikings did not have an answer and punted again. The defense was not done though, they picked off Kyler Murray again and gave the Vikings offense decent field position. Minnesota was about to punt again, but the Cardinals special teams roughed punter Jordan Berry and the Vikings continued on to kick another 52 yard field goal.
The game continued on with a punt from each team until Arizona found enough success to kick a short field goal to take the lead with 4:25 remaining in the 4th quarter. Minnesota got the ball back and did nothing with it, forced to punt. The Vikings defense came up big and stopped Arizona to give the Minnesota offense the ball back with 2:09 left on the clock. 
The Vikings offense proceeded to go down the field and lined up for a 37 yard field goal. Greg Joseph missed his first field goal in over a year and the Vikings fell to the Cardinals.

Overall, I thought the offense had a great game. Both last week and this week were great games for the offense. This week was an even better game for the o-line that struggled last week. This is probably one of the few games you will ever see that Dalvin Cook rushes for over 100 yards and doesn't score. Arizona's front 7 were quite good but not quite good enough in the early going. KJ Osborn further cemented himself as the Vikings number 3 wideout, solidifying the Vikings offense. Tyler Conklin had a better day today as the Vikings number 1 tight end. 
The defense needs the most work in my opinion. The offense is capable of putting up 30-40 points, but I just know that won't happen every game. The defense did step up a few times, but there didn't seem to be any consistency with it. It starts to bring up a discussion about Mike Zimmer's rationale behind his defensive strategy. 

Around the League
I wanted to bring this section in this week since it was pretty cool to see a couple things happen. Former Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater seems to be off to a great start this year with the Broncos. He has his Denver squad sitting at a comfortable 2-0 after two straight dominating wins. Most likely they will be 3-0 next week after facing the eternally-struggling New York Jets. 
Former Lions QB Matthew Stafford has the Los Angeles Rams off to a 2-0 start as well. He dominated the Bears on Sunday Night Football last weekend and squeezed by the Colts in Indy this Sunday. 

Up Next
Now the Vikings will return home for the home opener. Minnesota hosts the 1-1 Seattle Seahawks next Sunday, September 26th at 3:25 PM CT at US Bank Stadium. 
After how this team has played, I give the Vikings a shot but I am pretty sure something minor will cost them the game.

​#Skol