Fangio after latest loss: 'We'll eventually get it done'

As scores scrolled across out-of-town scoreboards and television screens across the league Sunday, one of the most surprising came from Minneapolis.

The Vikings, who entered Week 11 with a 7-3 record and plenty of positive momentum, were hosting the 3-6 Denver Broncos and losing to them -- by 20.

By the time 4:15 p.m. ET arrived, the Vikings had somehow erased the deficit and secured their eighth win of the season. In the same breath, the Broncos were heading back to the airport feeling the familiar sting of another loss cemented in the game's final minute.

Sunday made it four of those for these Broncos, who have come painfully close to being much better but continue to fail to finish games.

"Four," Broncos coach Vic Fangio emphasized, via The Athletic. "I think we're close, obviously, as you alluded to. But we haven't gotten over the top well enough yet. We did in our previous game with the stop and then the ensuing first down to close it, but this game, we didn't get it done.

"We'll eventually get it done. These guys are good guys. They're working their butts off. They enjoy coming to work. They like playing. We'll just keep grinding and keep pounding, and eventually, we'll get through."

Two weeks earlier in their most recent contest, the Broncos appeared to get past whatever it is that has held them back for much of 2019 when they stopped a driving Cleveland Browns offense in the final two minutes and earned a first down to secure the victory. They found themselves in Cleveland's shoes Sunday and on the doorstep of a game-winning touchdown, but three tries proved fruitless, resulting in three Brandon Allen incompletions.

Minnesota celebrated surviving a brush with a nearly stunning loss to a team most expected the Vikings to thrash at home. A win is a win. And perhaps Denver's collapse was foreseeable just before the end of the first half, when the Broncos twice recovered Vikings fumbles deep in Minnesota territory and produced just three points from those two turnovers.

Instead of the Broncos burying the Vikings, that sequence allowed Minnesota to keep hope alive entering the break. That hope then propelled the Vikings to victory, and sent the Broncos back to the familiar place of reflection.

"It's just disappointing," Fangio said. "I love coaching these guys. I love the way they prepare and play. We didn't lose that game because we didn't play hard enough. We had a good effort from a physical standpoint. They're a good football team. They have a good record. They're one of the best teams in the league. We just didn't quite get it done."