ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - This is supposedly a new era under Mike Zimmer. But Sunday it looked a lot like Leslie Frazier’s last season as Vikings coach.
Minnesota dropped four games on touchdown passes in the waning seconds last season, but this one might have been more painful. It literally was a last-second touchdown pass.
Buffalo quarterback Kyle Orton threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Watkins with one second remaining to give the Bills a 17-16 win at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“This just feels too weirdly similar,’’ said Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, thinking of last year’s heartbreaking defeats to Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and Baltimore.
Minnesota (2-5) looked nearly certain of victory when leading 16-10 and the Bills (4-3) facing fourth and 20 at their 40 with 1:27 left. But Orton rifled a 24-yard pass to tight end Scott Chandler across the middle, beating Greenway.
The theatrics continued. With 25 seconds left, after the officials had run 10 seconds off the clock following an intentional grounding call, Orton found Chris Hogan at the 2 as he beat Xavier Rhodes for a 28-yard gain.
Orton spiked the ball with five seconds remaining. Then he threw the dramatic game-winning strike to Watkins in the left corner.
“We played well for 58 minutes,’’ said Vikings defensive end Brian Robison. “(But) make a play. That’s what you have to do in a two-minute situation. Somebody’s got to make a play and get off the field. We’ve got fourth and (20), we got to make a play and get off the field. We get near the goal line, we got to make a stop. Five seconds left in the game, we got to make a stop. Then the ballgame’s over and there’s nobody to blame.’’
The Vikings didn’t make a stop. So instead the heroes were on Buffalo’s side.
“Everybody hung in there and made plays when they were asked to,’’ said Orton, who completed 31 of 43 passes for 283 yards. “We hung in there.’’
As it turned out, the Vikings were hung out to dry.
“That’s a game we should have won, but we just got to finish better,’’ said defensive end Everson Griffen.
Minnesota didn’t start too great either as rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw two interceptions in the first half. But thanks to the Vikings recovering two Buffalo fumbles and getting an interception, they led 13-10 at halftime following Blair Walsh’s 55-yard field goal with 15 seconds left.
Bridgewater bounced back after a horrid start in which he completed just three of his first 10 passes for 21 yards with the two interceptions. He threw the first touchdown pass of his career midway threw the second quarter, a 4-yarder to Cordarrelle Patterson for a 10-7 lead.
“I think I did a great job of fighting back and the guys showed their support and they are willing to stand behind me no matter how my play is going,’’ Bridgewater said. “You know, there were some things early in the game. I was overthinking things.’’
Bridgewater finished 15 of 26 for 157 yards. At least Minnesota’s beleaguered offense managed three more points than it had in the previous two games combined.
The offensive line was a little better, only allowing five sacks after giving up eight the previous week against Detroit. But center John Sullivan (concussion) and guard Vlad Ducasse (knee) were both knocked out in the first half, complicating matters moving forward.
Rookie running back Jerick McKinnon, who now looks firmly entrenched as the starter, ran for 103 yards on 19 carries. But when the Vikings had chances in the second half to put the game away, they couldn’t, getting nothing more than Walsh’s third field goal, a 45-yarder with 11:45 left that made it 16-10.
“Instead of three points on offense, we got to get six points,’’ said Patterson, who again had a difficult game, catching just two passes for nine yards. “That’s the job we got to do, man.’’
What the Vikings had to do at the end was not give up six.
“It’s disappointing,’’ Zimmer said. “Obviously, the fourth and (20) was a bad deal. They made a good throw and catch and got down at the 1-yard line. But we were trying to be aggressive with them all day; we were trying to be aggressive with our calls, trying to be aggressive with the secondary. Maybe it caught up to us at the end.’’
The Vikings had six sacks, but they couldn’t get to Orton when it really counted. After Zimmer called a timeout with five seconds left to set his defense, Minnesota couldn’t stop the ball from going to Watkins, who caught nine passes for 122 yards.
“I don’t think we won the football game,’’ Zimmer said. “But I think we improved in some areas. I was proud how the team fought.’’
What Zimmer now will worry about is a late game-winning pass not happening again. Or, as was the case last year, again, again and again.
The Pioneer Press is in a media partnership with Forum News Service.
