Chargers Loss Still Eats at Vikings as They Look to Move Forward

T.J. Hockenson had the game-winning touchdown in his hands. With a defender draped on his back, the Vikings' tight end reached out and tried to make a difficult play. The ball hit him in the hands, deflected off a Chargers defender, and turned into a game-losing interception.

In the days since that gut-wrenching loss, the image of the ball coming at him has been a difficult one for Hockenson to forget.

"Certain plays and certain situations, I can reel them in my head a thousand different times," he said on Wednesday. "That's a tough play, (but) one I totally think I should make. That's one of those that, you sleep at night and you can see the ball come at you a thousand different times."

The tiny margin between winning and losing in the NFL — and the pressure and stakes involved in the outcome of games — can make it tough for the people involved to just move on from losses. They have to move on, of course, because there's another game coming up in a week. But that doesn't mean it's easy.

"Those are things that, unfortunately, your mind just does, is reel through it," Hockenson said. "(You) see the ball or see a look or see things that you're just like 'Man, I would love to have that one back,' or 'I would love to do something differently there, I wish I was thinking this on this.' You have to fight that a little bit because you've gotta come back and do it and correct it."

There's no bigger perfectionist on the Vikings' roster than quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is always agonizing over decisions and throws and things he could've done differently. Even last season, when the Vikings were winning game after game, Cousins was thinking about ways he could've played better. This year, during an 0-3 start, it's been even tougher on the 35-year-old veteran.

"I said in August, you know, I hope my boys find something they’re as passionate about as I am about football, but I hope it doesn’t torment them the way football torments me," Cousins said. "I mean, I’m crawling in my skin driving home from the stadium on Sunday and the last two days. You’ve gotta get back up on the horse on Wednesday morning and come back to work, but golly, you’re sitting there in meetings, and you’re just frustrated. And that’s part of it. Because it matters to you, and it should hurt."

Cousins isn't the most physically gifted quarterback in the world, but he's carved out a long and impressive career because he works tirelessly to maximize his talent in every possible way. His intense body work and mental preparation were on full display in Netflix's Quarterback series this summer. So when things don't go well, it tends to eat at him.

As Cousins has gotten older — he's in his 12th season, his ninth as a starting QB — the way he feels that frustration has changed only slightly. In some ways, because he's played so much football, he's used to it. In other ways, the anguish only grows because he knows he's not going to play forever. Cousins desperately wants to win a Super Bowl, and that goal is already slipping away from the Vikings this season.

"You’d have to ask my wife," Cousins said when asked if he's gotten better at moving on from losses. "She’d probably be able to tell you if I’m getting better. I’m trying. I’m trying. But I think it goes both ways, right? On one hand, you’re further along in your football career, so you feel like you’re getting better at it. On the other hand, you’re further along in your football career, so you realize you’re running out of time. And I think it’s both sides of that. I think when you’re younger, you’re maybe a little more willing to shrug your shoulders and know there’s more games up ahead, and I think when you’re older, you’re like, 'It’s now. It’s gotta be now.'"

Kirk Cousins spoke today about how losses like Sunday's against the Chargers torment him.

"I'm crawling in my skin driving home from the stadium on Sunday, and the last two days. Golly, you’re sitting there in meetings, and you’re just frustrated. Because it matters to you." pic.twitter.com/SLhAYL7dsz
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) September 27, 2023

It's hard, too, for head coach Kevin O'Connell. The Vikings were 1-for-4 in scoring touchdowns in the red zone against the Chargers, including two failed trips late in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead. They were just 4 of 14 on third down. The players, like Cousins and Hockenson, feel that frustration. As the one calling plays, so does O'Connell.

But as the leader of the team, he also knows he has to learn from it, put it behind him, and move on to the next game.

"We’re moving forward," O'Connell said. "As folks walked in the building today, I could feel the good energy, the right energy. We’ve got great leadership. It’s very easy, in my opinion, to look at where we are and look backwards. The hard thing is trying to find a way to have our best possible week of preparation and try and win a game this week.

"That’s what it is, moving forward to try and go attack this. I would be lying to you if I said I'm still not thinking about a couple of things here and there. It’s kind of the coulda-woulda-shoulda type thing. I'm trying to use a lot of that to move forward the right way and continue to improve, personally and collectively, with our group."

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