Despite Minnesota Vikings loss, Mike Zimmer likes how team played Thursday

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer insisted he's not into moral victories, but there are certain defeats that sure feel less lousy and much more encouraging going forward.

Less than a week after Sunday's lifeless 38-7 loss to Seattle at home, Zimmer was in a better mood while describing the 23-20 loss at Arizona that followed on Thursday night.

"We played with the heart and the desire and the fight and all of those things that I want," said Zimmer, further noting how it went for naught because of a 3-0 turnover disadvantage. "As I told the team in the locker room after the game, it's important that, win or lose, you learn from what happened. I hope that we learn that this is the mindset of this football team that we have to play with. If we do that, then we'll win some games because we'll do some of these other things better."

At 8-5, the Vikings trail the Packers (8-4) by half a game in the NFC North. But there was a different feeling in the locker room Thursday night than the look of shock that permeated the room after Sunday's debacle.

Yes, the Vikings were disappointed that they lost on a strip sack with five seconds left against a Cardinals team that's now 11-2 with a seven-game winning streak. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had strict orders to throw quickly to the sideline or throw the ball away with the Vikings trailing by three points with 13 seconds left, no timeouts and the ball at the Cardinals' 31-yard line. Had he thrown the ball away, Blair Walsh, who had made field goals of 44 and 54 yards earlier, would have had a crack at a game-tying 48-yarder.

But there is something positive that can come from this game. The Vikings nearly won despite taking on the league's most explosive offense without four defensive starters, including both safeties and three of their best defenders in linebacker Anthony Barr (groin), free safety Harrison Smith (hamstring/knee) and nose tackle Linval Joseph (foot).

Four rookies had to start defensively. Three were making their NFL starting debuts, including strong safety Anthony Harris, who was promoted from the practice squad two days before the game. Also, cornerback Terence Newman had to start and play at safety because of all the injuries.

Now, the disadvantages of a short week to prepare for a road game turns into the advantages of having extra time to rest up for a two-game home stand against the Bears and Giants. After that is the season-ending trip to Lambeau Field to face the Packers.

All eyes will be on the Vikings' injury report next week. Especially all of those defensive starters.

"I know that I got a pretty good report this morning that they're all moving in the right direction, so we'll just have to see how that goes," Zimmer said. "I'm hopeful. These guys want to play bad. That's one thing about this football team is they want to fight for each other and these guys want to get back in there and fight as soon as they can."

Strong safety Andrew Sendejo (knee), who didn't play the past two games, is the closest to returning, Zimmer said. Unfortunately, he's the most expendable of the four defensive starters. Barr also missed Thursday night and all but two series against the Seahawks. Smith has missed two of the past three games entirely and all but two series against Seattle. And Joseph has missed the past two games.

A return to health and an intensity level matching the Cardinals game would position the Vikings to head into Green Bay with a 10-5 record. So, yeah, there are no moral victories, but the Vikings are feeling better about themselves after their first two-game losing streak than they were just a few days ago after getting crushed by Seattle.

It's a similar situation to the Week 4 loss in Denver by the same score and by a strip-sack fumble ending for Bridgewater.

"It's hard to predict the future in football," Zimmer said when asked if the Vikings will be energized the way they were after the Denver loss. "I know we came back in that game, we fought in that game, we didn't make the plays again in the end, very similar. This one felt different for some reason, it felt like we were controlling the game a lot of the time.

"I don't know. We'll see how that goes in the future. I'm hopeful that these are the things we learn from."

--Zimmer is known as a straight shooter. But his aim was purposely misdirected on Monday when he was asked if he would feel comfortable if injuries forced him to play cornerback Terence Newman at safety.

"He won't have to," Zimmer said three days before the Vikings played the Cardinals.

Well, it turns out that Newman started. And that Zimmer knew on Monday that Newman would be starting.

What gives, coach?

"Well, I knew I would (start Newman), but I didn't want to tell you guys (media) because you'd tell the other team," Zimmer said. "So, I lied, OK? I mean, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to tell the Cardinals that he was going to play safety tonight."

--The Vikings lost the turnover battle 3-0 on Thursday night. But they certainly had their opportunities for some takeaways.

In fact, cornerback Xavier Rhodes botched what should have been a game-tying pick-six. Instead, he dropped the ball, gave up a third-down conversion pass on the next snap and contributed to the Cardinals kicking a field goal for a 10-point lead.

"Oh, man, I just got too excited," said Rhodes, who has only one interception in his three NFL seasons. "I had it in my hands and just dropped it. There was clear sailing if I catch that ball."

Rhodes didn't blame the drop on a wrist injury he sustained earlier in the game. He missed five snaps before returning.

"No excuses," he said. "I have to make those plays. That would have changed the momentum entirely."

REPORT CARD VS. CARDINALS

--PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus. Teddy Bridgewater threw for 335 yards, posted a 108.0 passer rating, converted 6 of 10 third downs via completions and tied the game in the closing minutes with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on third-and-goal. But he did the one thing he couldn't do - take a sack - on the Vikings' last offensive play of the game. With 13 seconds left and no timeouts, the Vikings chose to run one more quick route rather than have Blair Walsh attempt a game-tying 48-yard field goal. Bridgewater held the ball too long and was sacked and stripped of the ball by Dwight Freeney. The Cardinals recovered with five seconds left.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus. Adrian Peterson was nearly unstoppable on the Vikings' first possession. He ran the ball four times for 38 yards, including a 21-yard burst and a 9-yard touchdown run in which he faked right, jump cut left and weaved and powered his way through the defense. But after that series, Peterson gained only 31 more yards on 19 additional carries. He averaged 3.0 yards per carry. The only other Vikings carry was a 3-yard run by Bridgewater.

--PASS DEFENSE: D. All things considered, the Vikings did about as well as could be expected while holding the league's No. 1 scoring team (31.8) to 23 points. Injuries robbed them of four starters, including both safeties and three of their best players in linebacker Anthony Barr, free safety Harrison Smith and nose tackle Linval Joseph. Four rookies started, including three making their NFL debuts: seventh-round draft pick Edmond Robinson at linebacker, first-round draft pick Trae Waynes at cornerback and safety Anthony Harris, an undrafted player who was promoted from the practice squad two days before the game. If that wasn't enough, veteran cornerback Terence Newman played out of position at safety. But the extent of the sloppiness on Arizona's touchdown passes of 65 and 42 yards was unacceptable, nonetheless. The 65-yarder came when corner Captain Munnerlyn fell in coverage and Harris took a bad angle to the sideline. On the 42-yarder, Harris got pancaked by receiver Larry Fitzgerald, allowing Michael Floyd to race down the sideline untouched.

--RUN DEFENSE: B-minus. Again, considering all of the injuries, the Vikings did well. They were better against the run, holding Arizona to a 3.3-yard average on 29 carries. David Johnson had 92 yards, including a 24-yard explosion to the 2-yard line. That helped him average 4.8 yards on 19 carries.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Blair Walsh made both of his field goals from 44 and 54 yards. Punter Jeff Locke gave up only four return yards on two punts. Kickoff returner Cordarrelle Patterson averaged 31.0 yards on three returns, including a 41-yarder. There were no big plays made, but it was a solid effort, highlighted by Walsh nailing the 54-yarder.

--COACHING: B-plus. No matter how the game ended or what your feelings are about Mike Zimmer's coaching decision on the final play, give Zimmer and his staff high marks for having an outmanned, overmatched team ready to play one of the league's hottest teams on the road four days after a lifeless effort in a 38-7 home loss to Seattle. The Vikings faced the league's highest-scoring team without four defensive starters, including both safeties, and played the game with four rookie defensive starters, three of which were making their NFL starting debuts. Yes, the defense gave up touchdown receptions of 65 and 42 yards, but it also held the Cardinals to 23 points, nearly nine fewer than their season average. Offensively, coordinator Norv Turner went to a faster tempo passing game with quicker strikes and bootlegs. It worked, but three fumbles in Cardinals territory overshadowed everything. The first one robbed the Vikings of a red-zone scoring opportunity. The second one led to a Cardinals touchdown. And the third one sealed Arizona's victory with the Vikings in range for a game-tying field-goal attempt.