Vikings report card: No winning season for Zimmer's first year

A second-half defensive collapse and mistakes in the fourth quarter led to the Minnesota Vikings' second straight loss at Miami and guaranteed a losing season in coach Mike Zimmer's first year as coach.

After talking about the need for improvement in the fourth quarter all week, Minnesota allowed four touchdown drives in the second half. A game-tying touchdown with 1 minute, 11 seconds left to end a 70-yard, 3:24 drive and a blocked punt for a safety eventually sealed a 37-35 Vikings' loss.

Here's how Minnesota (6-9) graded out in each phase Sunday:

The offense has been placed in rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's hands and he's responded. Bridgewater had 259 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 19-of-26 passing Sunday. He should have had a third touchdown. Bridgewater made a nice pass to tight end Chase Ford at the end of the first half and Ford was ruled out at the 1-yard line. Reviews showed Ford likely scored a touchdown but the play wasn't overturned.

The interception could hardly be blamed on Bridgewater, either. He had a short, dump off pass to running back Matt Asiata. The ball popped in the air as Asiata was hit from behind and the ball was intercepted by a defensive linemen.

Otherwise, Bridgewater was accurate and spread the ball around getting it to receivers in good spots. Nine different players had receptions. Greg Jennings had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown and was on the receiving end of two of Bridgewater's best passes.

On third-and-8, Bridgewater floated a pass on a corner route for a 21-yard touchdown. In the third quarter on third-and-13, Jennings caught a similar pass, with the ball just clearing defenders, on the other side of the field.

In all, the Vikings were 7 of 12 on third downs. Bridgewater was 6 of 7 passing on third downs for 96 yards. He had one touchdown, accounted for three first downs and was sacked on third downs.

The sacks became a problem late. Bridgewater was sacked once in the first half as Minnesota's offensive line held up against the Dolphins' pass-rushing duo of ends Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon. Left tackle Matt Kalil stopped Vernon throughout the game, but Wake made his presence felt, especially on the last offensive possession for the Vikings.

Working against right tackle Mike Harris, Wake used his speed to get around Harris for two sacks. He flushed Bridgewater out of the pocket on first down after Minnesota took over with 1:11 left in the game and sacked Bridgewater on third down before the blocked punt on the next play essentially ended the game.

It was the Asiata show early. Starting again at running back, Asiata touched the ball eight times on the opening drive for 32 yards and finished with a 1-yard touchdown run. Seven of the eight touches were carries. Asiata would add a big touchdown in the fourth quarter on the first play after a fumbled kickoff return.

Asiata finished with just 3.6 yards-per-carry, though. He ended up with 16 carries for 58 yards. Minnesota did manage 119 yards rushing as team. Jarius Wright took an end-around for 27 yards. Joe Banyard had five carries for 23 yards. His conversion on a third-down run ended up allowing the Vikings to open the offense at the end of the first half, which led to a field goal before halftime.

Minnesota averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Bridgewater ran five times for 13 yards. Cordarrelle Patterson lost two yards on his only carry on a curious call on third down.

Other than the penalties, there's nothing that will likely upset Zimmer like the pass defense. The Vikings had one of the league's worst pass defenses over the past few years. Sunday looked more like the defense of the past than Zimmer's improved unit this year. Minnesota entered the game with the league's sixth-ranked pass defense.

Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill then threw 396 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 35 of his 47 passes (74.5 percent). Tannehill was only sacked twice as the Vikings weren't able to pressure him much. One of the sacks was on what appeared to be an errant snap where the rest of the Dolphins' offensive line didn't move.

Minnesota showed some confusion before the snap several times and there were several wide-open Miami receivers throughout the game. Dolphins tight end Charles Clay caught six passes for 114 yards, the first time all season he's gone over 65 yards in a single game.

Cornerback Xavier Rhodes was called for pass interference and defensive holding as officials didn't let him get away with his physical play. Rhodes got the chance to shadow a receiver for the second straight game, drawing Mike Wallace for much of Sunday's game. Wallace finished with five catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns.

The 377 net passing yards were the most allowed by the Vikings this season and only the second time they allowed more than 300 passing yards in a single game.

Miami's 493 total yards were also the most allowed by Minnesota this season. The Dolphins also ran for 116 yards. Running back Lamar Miller had success before Miami decided to put the game in Tannehill's hands. Miller finished with 19 carries for 92 yards, just missing his second 100-yard game this season.

Miller had 150 total yards. He had a rushing touchdown and caught five passes. Backup running back Damien Williams also caused problems for the Vikings. He had three carries for 18 yards and added six catches for 50 yards and the late game-tying touchdown on a reception.

The focus will be on the blocked punt for a safety, which provided the losing deficit. The big play overshadowed a good game by the special teams units.

A low snap by Cullen Loeffler was picked up by punter Jeff Locke. Locke's hurried attempt to get the punt off was blocked as Miami backup defensive tackle Terrence Fede jumped high with this long 6-foot-4 frame to knock the punt out of the back of the end zone. Fede was engaged with Joe Banyard, the punt protector, and went high over Banyard.

The block ended, perhaps, Locke's best game of the season. He had three other punts for a gross average of 50.3 yards-per-punt. He had a long punt of 60 yards and downed two inside the 20-yard line.

Kicker Blair Walsh made both of his field-goal attempts and also perfectly placed a high short kickoff after a penalty by the Dolphins. On the kickoff, Miami's Jarvis Landry was forced to field the punt at the goal line and fumbled leading to an Asiata touchdown and a momentary Minnesota lead.

Giving up season-highs in total yards and passing yards was a big step back for the improved Vikings' defense. Minnesota was penalized eight times for 74 yards, including a personal foul on Sharrif Floyd and unnecessary roughness on Gerald Hodges. The Dolphins got six first downs by penalties.

The result will be another loss by one score for the Vikings, the fifth straight loss by such circumstances for Minnesota. The last five losses have been by a total of 16 points. The mistakes, coverage issues and fourth-quarter letdowns will certainly be a focus of Zimmer this week after costing the Vikings a chance at a win for the second straight week.

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