Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was upbeat despite a heartbreaking 17-16 loss to the Bills on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Bills rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins scored on a two-yard touchdown with one second left to hand the Vikings their third consecutive defeat. Zimmer felt the defense played well up until the final series – a 15-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 3:06.

"Obviously you're going to second guess a lot of calls you made throughout the course of the ballgame," Zimmer said. "I'm still going to take away that I'm proud of our effort. There was a lot of negativism going on all over the place about how we are and what we do. By no means were we perfect today, but I do feel like this football team improved today. We didn't improve enough to win, but I felt like we improved. So we've just got to keep going. We keep putting ourselves in these situations, and we'll give ourselves a chance to win."

Last week, Zimmer was very critical about his team's performance after losing to the Lions. He was the exact opposite during his press conference after the game. Zimmer felt there were a lot of positives to take away. He mentioned how rookie running back Jerick McKinnon had 103 rushing yards against the top rushing defense in the NFL and how the defense forced four turnovers and recorded six sacks.

None of that will show in the win-loss column, however, as the Vikings dropped to 2-5.

"'Ifs' and "buts' are candies and nuts," Zimmer said. "But if we knock that last ball down then we're all happy in here today.

"You never, ever, ever want to lose, and I don't ever want to either. But I have to keep reminding myself about where we are, and where we have to continue to go."