The loss Sunday by the Minnesota Vikings showed that it takes a team to win a football game. The Vikings put forth a solid offensive effort on Sunday but after a lackluster defensive showing, blew a 14-point lead and were tied 35-35 with less than two minutes left. 

Then this happened:

1. Minnesota Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler sent a low, one-hopper to his punter, Jeff Locke.

2. Meanwhile, Dolphin defender Terrence Fede rushes fiercely seeking to block the punt.

3. Viking running back Joe Banyard identifies Fede too late and is out of position to block him well enough to halt his progression much.

4. Fede stretches out his arm over Banyard and bats the ball out of the back of the end zone resulting in a safety.

Should fans blame Loeffler? Locke? Banyard?

Or how about the offense for leaving the purple and gold to punt deep in its own territory? Is our offensive line’s favorite snack Swiss cheese?

Or how about the defense for letting the Fish get back in the game? (Yeah, we know dolphins aren’t fish. It’s a football thing.)

“We made too many mistakes and penalties in crucial situations,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said afterward. “All of the things I’ve been trying to preach for 11 months, we didn’t do today.”

He’s right. The Vikings didn’t seem themselves near the end of the game, and it seems like when the Vikings get ahead some players — perhaps this is a trait leftover from the Leslie Frazier era, because it was commonly witnessed back then — rest on the success. After all, the Vikes were infamous under Frazier for building nice leads and still losing football games.

We would urge Zimmer to review game film carefully, then show those take-it-easy-because-of-a-lead players the door in the off-season, but we get the feeling he will do that without a newspaper editorial encouraging it. Following games, he doesn’t play the moral victory card. He doesn’t defend player mistakes or blowing big leads. He doesn’t seem to employ euphemisms for the truth.

When recapping the action, he sees what the fans see and tells it like it is. It is refreshing considering the parade of media-scared coaches the Vikings have seen. Zimmer’s comments after games reveal a man comfortable with the public scrutiny and a man who wants no excuses. Winning is the mission.

And that mission takes an entire team dedicated to it.