Vikings shoot themselves in the foot too many times

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer felt the same way Monday afternoon as he did on Sunday night: his team made too many mistakes to win.

Most of the Vikings' mistakes in the 30-13 loss to Green Bay were self-inflicted.

"There were too many times we shot ourselves in the foot," Zimmer said. "[We made] mistakes in crucial situations and [the Packers] played well.

"It's a good learning experience for us and it's important that we move on and not let this linger. I'm disappointed in our performance, but I'm not discouraged about our future. I still believe in this football team and everything about us. We just have to figure out who we are and stay true to who we are and not let outside influences affect us and just go ahead and play."

Among the Vikings' mistakes Zimmer pointed out Monday were the offensive drives that started First-and-20, the defensive pass interference penalty on Third-and-long, jumping offsides on Fourth-and-1, missed tackles, and letting quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of the pocket to make big throws.

"That's a little uncharacteristic of how we've played," Zimmer added. "I just think these are all learning experiences for us and we'll just continue to get better."

Another area that could use improvement is Adrian Peterson's ball protection. The star running back fumbled early in the fourth quarter to kill the drive just outside the red zone with the Vikings trailing 27-13 at the time.

Peterson has six fumbles this season and three in the last three games.

"[Peterson] was just trying to get some extra yards on that one," Zimmer said. "I don't think he saw the guy coming from the side. So we'll just have to keep working on keeping the ball tucked and five points of protection."

Zimmer wouldn't put all the blame for Teddy Bridgewater's six sacks on the Vikings offensive line. Zimmer said his second-year quarterback needs to get rid of the ball quicker.

"It wasn't all the offensive line last night," Zimmer said. "There were times Teddy didn't get the ball out on time. There were times we didn't block them. Guys missed blocks and their defensive front did a good job."