Jared Allen is never one to muffle his emotions, but it didn't require a body language expert or lip reader to discern his mood as the Vikings defense changed ends of the field before the fourth quarter Sunday.
Helmet in hand and his face bright red, Allen screamed at anyone and everyone in his vicinity as he stalked the length of the field. The Vikings once again were on the ropes, and their Pro Bowl defensive end appeared to be in meltdown mode.
"In my opinion, it's not OK to let them score," Allen said later. "It's not OK to let these things snowball again. It's not OK that we've lost three games in the second half. It's not OK that we've given up a 10-point lead, a 17-point lead and now a 20-point lead. That's unacceptable. That's not OK. That was [the] message I was trying to get across."
And yet it happened again, a third consecutive second-half collapse in a 26-23 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. And once again the Vikings defensive players were at a loss for words trying to explain how things fell apart after another dominating first-half performance.
Even a broken record is tired of this song.
There's plenty of blame to share in the latest debacle, from inept offense to poor coaching decisions. The Vikings defense didn't hold up its end of the bargain either.
The discrepancy in the defense's performance from one half to the next is confounding. Just like a week ago against Tampa Bay, the Vikings pitched a shutout the first half and made it look easy.
They kept constant heat on Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, bottled up the run and left the Lions completely discombobulated. Detroit managed only four first downs and 50 total yards in the first half. The Lions didn't allow a sack their first two games. The Vikings sacked Stafford three times before halftime and pressured him a handful more times.