The Minnesota Viking suffered another heartbreaking on loss on Sunday. The team fell at home to the Los Angeles Chargers by a score of 28-24. 

It wasn't all bad, and the Vikings did have some good performances. Nonetheless, the team just couldn't do enough to get a win and are now facing down an 0-3 hole. 

Will the Vikings be able to bounce back from this? Let's take a look at the biggest winners and losers from this game. 

Winner: Kirk Cousins

For the third week in a row, Cousins played well enough for the Vikings to win. Unfortunately, Cousins’ play was not good enough to make up for all of the other mistakes. Cousins finished the day completing 32/50 passes for 367 yards and 3 TDs. The QB did have an INT at the end of the game, but the ball was tipped multiple times and can’t really be blamed on Cousins. 

The moral of the story is there is plenty of blame to go around after this game. Cousins should not be on the receiving end of that blame. 

Loser: TJ Hockenson

Hockenson’s stat sheet looks good, but he made a couple of crucial errors that ultimately sunk the team. Hockenson killed a promising Vikings’ drive by fumbling at the Chargers’ 17-yard line. The tight end then tipped a pass into a defender’s hands that essentially ended the game. 

After receiving a huge payday recently, you would expect Hockenson to not make these mistakes. It's disappointing to see such a crucial player hurt the team. Hockenson did collect eight catches for 78 yards, but that was not enough to counteract the turnovers. 

Winner: Justin Jefferson

Jefferson can go ahead and be penciled into the “Winners” category every week. The best receiver in football collected another seven catches for 149 yards and one TD. Jefferson played hard all day and made several key plays, including a 52-yard score. 

Jefferson is unguardable and is setting himself up for a massive contract extension. The receiver has now had at least seven catches and 149 yards in each of the first three games. 

Loser: Kevin O’Connell

Kevin O’Connell did not have his best day on Sunday. The coach was blasted on social media for the jumbled final drive that resulted in an INT and ultimately led to the loss. 

With the Vikings down four points with less than 30 seconds to go, the team seemed to be in a great position to win at the buzzer. Instead, the Vikings ran to the line of scrimmage and hurriedly called a play with 12 seconds left that resulted in a game-ending INT. The most frustrating part of this sequence was the fact that it was only first down. Why was the ball not spiked? 

After the game, O'Connell blamed the miscommunication on headset issues. It's fair to wonder if O'Connell's seat starts to get warm with a couple more losses. 

Winner: Danielle Hunter

Hunter continues to be the only player on the Vikings that consistently gets to the QB. Hunter had the team's only sack again in Week 3. Hunter now has five sacks and the Vikings as a whole have… six. 

This is not sustainable. I know Marcus Davenport has been out, but the Vikings have to find some pass rush elsewhere on the roster. If Hunter isn't getting to the QB, nobody is, and that's a serious problem. 

Hunter finished the day with four tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss. It's a good thing Hunter was brought back, or else this defense would look even worse. 

Loser: The entire secondary

Justin Herbert completed 40/47 passes for 405 yards with three TDs and zero INTs. Herbert was able to do whatever he wanted all day with little resistance by any of the corners or safeties. 

Keenan Allen, a wide receiver, even had a nice 49-yard TD pass to Mike Williams down the sideline. As a receiver, Allen had one of the biggest days you'll ever see from a receiver. The veteran receiver collected 18 catches for 215 yards on the day. 

This performance was more akin to the 2022 Vikings' pass defense. Getting carved up this bad and getting no pressure are going to sink this team in 2023. 

Winner: Alexander Mattison

Mattison responded to the Vikings trading for Cam Akers by having his best game yet. The RB finished with 93 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Mattison successfully doubled the Vikings’ previous season rushing total. 

Mattison even contributed five catches for 32 yards. There is plenty of blame to go around today, but none of it should go on Mattison. This is exactly the type of game the Vikings need from Mattison, it just wasn't enough to get the win on Sunday. 

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Featured image via © Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports