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The message from coach Brad Childress on down was that the Vikings might be 1-3, but only a quarter of the season is gone, and there's plenty of football to be played.
What isn't clear: Are the Vikings attempting to convince the public that everything is going to be all right, or are they trying to soothe their own fears?
This much isn't in question: More performances like the one they put together Sunday — the Titans turned four Vikings turnovers into 21 points — and a season that started with high hopes could qualify as one of the biggest flops in franchise history.
``We have to be accountable to ourselves,'' the Vikings' Jared Allen said. ``Each player on this team has to be accountable for their jobs. Each play, snap in, snap out. It's fixable, that's the good part.''
Coming off a momentum-building 20-10 victory over Carolina in Week 3, the Vikings made countless miscues against a Titans team that improved to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.
The scary thing was the Vikings had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter.
They took possession at their own 2, trailing 23-17 with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left.
Hope on the Vikings sideline was short-lived.
On third-and-10, quarterback Gus Frerotte was hit as he attempted a pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. The ball sailed and was picked off by cornerback Nick Harper and returned to the Minnesota 6. Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for his second touchdown of the day on the next play.
It was a fitting end considering the trouble the Vikings had protecting the ball against a punishing Titans defense.
In the first quarter, fullback Naufahu Tahi fumbled after a hit by linebacker David Thornton at the Vikings 33. Adrian Peterson was stripped of the ball by defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch at the Vikings 16 in the second quarter. Both times the Titans offense capitalized on being given short fields.
``We have got to rectify that,'' Childress said. ``Turnovers are the No. 1 statistic in this business. I thought they had a belief in the certainty coming down here that we would win this football game. It's disappointing to not only me but to our football team.''
The turnovers weren't Childress' only disappointment. In the opening half, the Titans held a time-of-possession edge of 19:34 to 10:26. In the second half, the Vikings held the Titans to 70 yards of offense and four first downs, but five third-quarter penalties by Minnesota derailed drives.
``On the road, you can't turn the ball over and you can't commit penalties,'' said Vikings center Matt Birk, whose botched handoff exchange with Frerotte resulted in the only turnover that did not lead to Tenessee points. ``We did both of those and really didn't give ourselves the best chance to win, obviously.''
Wide receiver Bernard Berrian was unable to hang on to two passes from Frerotte in the first half, including a deep ball down the right sideline that could have resulted in a 44-yard touchdown.
Frerotte was hit hard several times and was slow to get up on three occasions. He left the game late in the fourth quarter after suffering a laceration on his left (nonthrowing) hand that required stitches. Tarvaris Jackson finished up and was sacked on back-to-back plays.
Not all the Vikings' shortcoming were on offense. Going against Titans quarterback Kerry Collins, not exactly mobile at the age of 35, the defense failed to get a sack.
Trouble actually started before the Vikings took the field. Linebacker E.J. Henderson was late to a team meeting Friday, according to people with knowledge of the situation, and was held out of the Titans' opening series as punishment. The Titans got a field goal on that drive.
``This was tough,'' Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield said. ``Coming from a big win last week, I knew we knew we were playing against a good football team. They are undefeated, playing at home. We just can't keep making the mistakes that we're making.''
Childress' frustration with the offense was such that after the Vikings punted with four minutes left in the third quarter, he called that unit around him in the bench area. The Titans ran at least two plays as the Vikings coach was turned away from the action and addressing his players.
Asked about his message, Childress said: ``We can't beat ourselves. We need to bow up and get with it here in the fourth quarter. It wasn't a deal where anything was elevated; it was just, 'Everybody needs to man up.' Whatever responsibility you had you need to take care of and take care of it better.''
Next is a game next Monday in New Orleans, where the Vikings hope to avoid their first 1-4 start since 2002.
``It starts on Monday night,'' said Allen, the defensive end who had two key offside penalties in the first half. ``We have to go down and a different team has to show up. ... We're so close. We've just got to get over that hump and we got to get rolling.''
(c) 2008, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
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