Thursday night's 23-20 loss to Arizona did nothing to help the Vikings' playoff positioning. The defeat marked the first time Minnesota has lost back-to-back games this season and placed the Vikings a half game behind Green Bay in the NFC North.
But it also lifted the perception of where the Vikings are and where they're possibly heading.
"I really want to credit the players for the way that they attacked the situation," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Friday, "especially coming after the loss that we had the week before."
The Vikings (8-5) looked so helpless in last Sunday's 38-7 debacle at the hands of Seattle that fans feared they may not win another game this season.