Loss to the Chiefs is another 'could've been' game for the Vikings

The Vikings had a chance to knock off the defending Super Bowl champs and they dropped the ball. Not figuratively. Literally.

Over and over and over again.

They dropped the ball on the very first play of the game. They had footballs bounce off their hands as if they were trying to catch with oven mitts. Players paid to catch passes had balls sail through their outstretched hands.

One play wasn't a drop, but it accounted for more weird optics. K.J. Osborn ducked as if he was startled when a pass intended for him in the end zone came near his head. Kirk Cousins took ownership of that miscue.

The summation of sloppiness sabotaged the Vikings' bid to upstage the Kansas City Chiefs and their quarterback maestro Patrick Mahomes in a 27-20 loss that carried too many familiar themes.

"It's the same story every week," Osborn said. "Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot. It's coming down to a game of inches of, could've made a play here, could've made a play there."

The officiating will be a hot talker after several questionable calls didn't go in the Vikings' favor. Those calls were magnified by the time and score, but that shouldn't distract from the fact that the Vikings should look in the mirror when assigning blame for the outcome.

The bushel of dropped passes stalled drives and cost them valuable points.

"It just wasn't what we wanted to put on tape," tight end T.J. Hockenson said. "Obviously there were some things that you want back."

A lot of them, actually. Start with the first play. Tight end Josh Oliver catches a pass, makes a move and fumbles as he's being tackled. The Chiefs turned that into seven points.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell has tried just about everything to solve his team's bad habit of turnovers. He has emphasized ball security in team meetings. He's purchased gadgets off the internet to use in practice drills. He's threatened playing time.

Nothing has worked. The problem persists. Very few teams are equipped to overcome this many turnovers and still be successful, and the Vikings certainly aren't one of them.

"It's happened too much on this team, obviously," Hockenson said. "But you can't let your confidence get hurt from that."

Dropped passes aren't turnovers, but they are deflating. Hockenson had three passes bounce off his hands. All of them were contested and would be classified as difficult catches because the passes were high and hot. But those are the type of catches that one expects one of the highest-paid tight ends in the NFL to secure.

Hockenson pinned the first missed catch on timing issues and seeing Cousins' pass late. He said he and Cousins were "just on different pages" on another one. Hockenson was expecting the ball to be in a different spot than where Cousins placed it.

"The deeper we get into the season, the more we'll connect on those and just be on the same page," Hockenson said.

Perhaps all of Hockenson's missed time during training camp wasn't such a minor detail in hindsight.

It wasn't just Hockenson. Justin Jefferson dropped a pass. Oliver jumped to catch a pass along the sideline and the ball went through his hands.

And then there was Alexander Mattison's drop that caused Vikings fans inside U.S. Bank Stadium (and those at home) to gasp and groan.

The Vikings trailed 27-20 with five minutes left in the game. They faced second-and-7 at the Chiefs' 19-yard line. A screen pass unfolded perfectly, but Mattison dropped the pass with plenty of open field to run. At a minimum, he would have picked up a first down.

"I saw it last second, but it touched my hands, so that's on me," Mattison said.

The game started with a fumble and ended with Cousins being sacked before he could throw a Hail Mary. A lot of slop happened in between.

The Chiefs aren't the Panthers. The Vikings won't beat good teams by being that loose with the ball.