Vikings go 0-for-8 on third down and never get a receiver open in a 23-6 loss to Bills

The deciding stretch

The Vikings went 0-for-8 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth, and that is the shortest way to explain a 23-6 loss to the Bills at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minnesota ran 12 drives. Four of them ended in three plays. Two produced points, none a touchdown, and the lone red zone trip came to 0-for-1.

Buffalo held the ball for 41:59 to Minnesota's 17:28. The Bills moved the chains 22 times to the Vikings' nine and converted 7 of 18 third downs. Their longest drive ran 15 plays and 84 yards and finished in a touchdown, the kind of march that keeps a defense on the field and an offense on the sideline.

Minnesota's longest drive covered 8 plays and 52 yards and ended on downs.

The swing

The game tilted early, and the quarterback's own mistakes did it. At 5:46 of the first quarter, J.Allen threw deep middle for D.Moore and was intercepted by B.Murphy, who returned it 54 yards to the Minnesota 47. That play moved Minnesota's win probability up 7 percent.

Sixteen seconds of game clock later, the Vikings gave it back and more. Carson Wentz's pass to Justin Jefferson was ruled incomplete, Buffalo challenged, and the ruling was reversed to an aborted-snap fumble recovered by G.Rousseau at the Minnesota 44. That cost 10 percent, the largest single swing of the game for the Vikings.

Two more plays set the final margin. J.Allen hit K.Latu for a 25-yard touchdown with 0:44 left in the second quarter, a 9 percent swing against Minnesota. In the third quarter, at 4:10, Wentz threw short middle toward Jefferson and T.Bernard intercepted it at the Buffalo 34. Another 9 percent went the other way.

Both Wentz interceptions and the aborted fumble involved the same pattern: the ball going where the defense was waiting, not to a receiver with separation.

Who moved the needle

Wentz completed 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards, 3.2 yards per attempt, with two interceptions and a passer rating of 8.9. He was sacked once for 6 yards. Max Brosmer relieved him and went 6 of 7 for 58 yards, 8.3 per attempt, with a 101.2 rating. He was also sacked once for 6 yards. The Vikings finished at 3.7 yards per pass against Buffalo's 5.9.

Jefferson was targeted 11 times and caught three, for 58 yards, a long of 24 and 19.3 yards per catch. When he did connect, the gains were big; the problem was how rarely the throw and the receiver arrived together. T.J. Hockenson caught four of seven targets for 33 yards, a long of 14. Jordan Addison caught two of three for 28 yards, with a long of 16. Short, quick completions that let a receiver run after the catch were scarce, and the 8.3 per attempt Brosmer posted came on only seven throws.

The run game did what it could. Jordan Mason carried six times for 35 yards, 5.8 per carry, and Aaron Jones Sr. added 16 yards on five carries. The Vikings averaged 4.3 yards per rush to Buffalo's 3.0, though the Bills still piled up 134 rushing yards on volume.

On defense, Blake Cashman made 12 tackles with two passes defensed and a tackle for loss. Eric Wilson added nine tackles. Dallas Turner and Ivan Pace Jr. each recorded a sack and a quarterback hit. The Vikings sacked Buffalo four times for 29 yards, and Buffalo was flagged eight times for 62 yards, yet the Bills still scored on five of 13 drives.

Where it leaves them

Minnesota is 6-2 with a two-game losing streak, a plus-30 point differential (146 scored, 116 allowed) and the sixth seed in the conference. They sit third in the NFC North behind the Bears at 7-2 and the Lions at 6-2, with the Packers at 6-3 just behind. The Vikings are 3-1 at home and 3-1 on the road.

Next up is a trip to Green Bay for a 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff on Sunday, Nov. 15, televised on Fox. It is a Week 10 game against a division rival one game behind Minnesota in the standings.