CHICAGO — The Vikings trailed by a field goal in the first quarter as they took over at midfield on their second possession of the game.
In a prime spot to potentially take the lead, Minnesota went deep on second-and-10 as quarterback Sam Bradford aired it out to wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
Bradford's pass glanced off the fingertips of an outstretched Diggs and tumbled to the turf. The Vikings quickly punted and shook their heads as they left the field.
The missed opportunity summed up a frustrating night for the Vikings offense as Minnesota fell 20-10 and dropped to 5-2.
"I missed some things early that would have changed things for us," Bradford said. "The deep ball to Diggs … if I was able to hit that one I think that could have sparked us.
"I've got to make that play," he later added. "That's a throw I've got to make."
The Vikings finished with 258 yards of total offense and were just 2-for-13 on third downs.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph said Minnesota kept "stalling out" on offense.
"It's sustaining drives. It's us getting first downs," Rudolph said. "Chunk plays come when you chip away. We'll be five, six, seven plays into a drive getting tiny chunks and all of the sudden you bust one whether it's a long run or an explosive play in the pass game.
"The more we can get first downs, the more opportunities we have to have an explosive play," he added.
Down by two scores, the Vikings put together a 15-play drive late in the first half that spanned more than seven minutes.
But after facing first-and-goal from Chicago's 3-yard line, the Vikings couldn't score on a pair of runs before Bradford was sacked. The long drive ended with a 30-yard field goal from Blair Walsh.
"We're doing a lot of things that aren't good football," Bradford said. "It takes 11 guys every play for an offense to go, and right now there's just too many plays where we don't have 11 guys pulling in the same direction."
Added right guard Brandon Fusco: "We're out there battling and giving it everything we've got. It's just one guy here, one guy there. Every play someone messing up. We've got to play together better and do everything else better."
Despite dropping their second straight game, the Vikings said they felt confident heading into Sunday's home game against Detroit.
"Bottom line is that we're still in first place and everything we have is still in front of us," Rudolph said. "We've come a long way since August and have gone through a lot of stuff, so two losses isn't going to get us down."
