The Minnesota Vikings played tough versus the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, but they ended up losing 37-35 in a hard-fought game that costs the Vikings a chance to, at least, finish the season at .500.

The Vikings defense, which had been carrying the team all season, failed to hold up their end of stick, as they gave up 35 of the 37 points and 493 yards. The way the game basically ended with a botched snap that led to a blocked punt and a failed (drop-kick) onside kick attempt, were just two more bizarre twists in a game that featured plenty.

The Vikings had a number of chances to win the game, and with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater having another great game, they should have done so. Head coach Mike Zimmer told KFAN radio after the game that they didn't give him a chance: "It's disappointing that defensively we didn't help him out. He played good enough to win this football game."

The Vikings finish up the season at home against Chicago next week, trying to improve their record to 7-9, which suddenly seems a lot better than 6-10. You can bet that Zimmer, who used words such as "ridiculous, embarrassing and stupid" for plays in the Dolphins game, will have the team playing better against the Bears in the season finale.

Trending

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is blossoming into a decent quarterback. After notching a couple 300-yard passing games on his belt, Bridgewater had another excellent performance in front of his family and friends in his hometown of Miami. Bridgewater showed his usual good poise amidst a lot of pressure, he stepped up in the pocket often, made good decisions on whether to run or find an open receiver and then made the right play. His stats line was 19 of 26 for 259 yards, two touchdowns and an interception (an interception that should have been a completion were it not for Matt Asiata bobbling the pass). His quarterback rating finished at 114.1.

The thing that stood out to me with Bridgewater was his touch. He hit Greg Jennings on a perfect pass for a touchdown, throwing the ball where only Jennings could make a play. He made several other great passes that hit receivers in stride and had the broadcasters praising his performance. If you put this in the context of what Norv Turner said about his rookie quarterback earlier this week, the Vikings are in good hands on offense moving forward.

Speaking of Greg Jennings, he is making a case to remain with the Vikings despite a large contract for an aging veteran. He had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown, but it was his fourth touchdown in the last five games, as he has been building some great chemistry with his quarterback.

The Vikings receiving crew has not been great this season, and that certainly can be attributable to the fact that Bridgewater is a rookie in the league. But early on, Jennings was looking to be sliding downhill a bit. The fact is, he still runs good routes, makes the catches when the ball is there and is now getting into the end zone. The Vikings need to beef up this unit next season, but it doesn't yet look like it will come at the expense of losing Jennings.

Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who had been quiet the past few weeks, came up big again on Sunday. Although he dropped a sure interception (and possible pick six) that hit him in the chest, he made one just a few plays later. Smith rushed the quarterback Ryan Tannehill, blocked the pass, somehow grabbed it before it hit the ground and returned it far enough to put the Vikings position for their second touchdown.

It was Smith's fifth interception of the season (a career high for the third-year player), and he is the only player in the league with at least three picks and three sacks. He has been solid all season, and should be considered for his first Pro Bowl appearance.

Worth Defending

Matt Asiata is not a number one, workhorse, bell cow, lead running back in my opinion. He has some occasional shifty moves, but certainly doesn't have breakaway speed. But when he runs with power and passion, as he has since returning from an injury in week 13, he has shown great value to the Vikings offense. Against the Dolphins, Asiata rushed 15 times for 58 yards, two touchdowns and an extra point. He once again proved that he can be a decent backup (if Adrian Peterson returns), a good change of pace back with a speed back like Jerick McKinnon and a decent goal line back with a nose for the endzone (he has nine touchdowns this year).

The Vikings pass rush was going against a unit that has struggled most of the season, yet quarterback Ryan Tannehill had time all day to throw the ball and ended up having a career high in completions with 35. The unit did not have end Brian Robison at full strength due to injury, but they got Sharrif Floyd back and still never did much to make Tannehill uncomfortable. The Vikings sacked him just two times, and did him 10 times (sometimes illegally) but rarely forced Tannehill to hurry many passes. The defensive front, one of the Vikings' strengths, came up as a weakness down in Miami.

The Vikings offensive line looked decent early, opening some holes for Asiata. But unfortunately the offense couldn't call running plays for the whole game because the pass blocking was atrocious. Bridgewater suffered four sacks and six quarterback hits and was on the run for the most of the game. I know they are missing three of their five opening day starters, but the offensive line has to do better than that. They have a young quarterback who is doing everything he can to run the offense, and he can't do it when he is often running for his life. The aging offensive line needs to be addressed in the offseason.

Should be Ending

Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, who has been in and out of lineup with a bum knee in recent weeks, almost had an early shower again in Miami. He received a roughing the passer penalty and followed it up with dead ball personal foul penalty in which he threw a punch at a Dolphins offensive lineman. He should have been thrown out of the game. Some how he wasn't, and that was good news for him and the Vikings as he was playing well up to that point.

Speaking of unnecessary roughness, linebacker Gerald Hodges got one that was also a dead ball foul. After taking receiver Jarvis Landry out of bounds, Hodges reacted to something Landry said with a bump after the play. The bump he gave would scare no one in a football uniform, so why do it? It gave the Dolphins 15 yards and led to a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, so, again, why do it? Zimmer, who called the penalties "stupid stuff," was wondering also.

Chase Ford caught a touchdown pass just before halftime. It was ruled out of bounds on the one-yard line, as he was deemed to have stepped out. Replay showed that he appeared to have not stepped out. But the reply officials upheld the ruling on the field. It was close enough that such a ruling was possible, but still wrong.

But my problem was with what FOX referee/review analyst guy Mike Pereira said. Quoting stats on this season versus last year in which overturned rulings were way down in 2014, he said it shows that there is a new emphasis on sticking with the call on the field. Perhaps he had misspoken, but any reason for making a call other than making the call correctly is misguided. The call should be upheld if the replay doesn't show enough to overturn the ruling, not because there is an emphasis on staying with the call on the field.

I might be splitting hairs, but if we are making calls for any other reason than what is the right call to make, then aren't we defeating the purpose of the whole replay system? I don't care about the refs' percentage of calls overruled; I care about the percentage of calls that are ultimately made correctly—replay or not.

Head over to Vikings Journal and check out AJ Mansour's analysis of Mike Zimmer's clock management and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.

Joe Oberle is a senior writer at VikingsJournal.com, covers the NFL for The Sports Post and is managing editor of Minnesota Golfer magazine. He is an author and longtime Minnesota-based writer.