The Minnesota Vikings once again dug themselves a substantial hole in a primetime game on Sunday night. But this time there was no fourth quarter J.J. McCarthy magic to save them as Kevin O'Connell's team fell to 1-1 on the year after a 22-6 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Six days after authoring an epic comeback on the road against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota looked flat from the opening kick and McCarthy's second career start offered little for Vikings fans to cheer about. O'Connell was noticeably less fired up than he was in the raucous Soldier Field scene when he strode to the podium in defeat to make an honest comment about what went wrong.

"Very disappointing performance tonight," he told reporters. "Starts with, obviously, our ability to take our week of preparation even on a short week and show up and play a lot better in all three phases. Gotta coach better, specifically me."

"Our team will handle the adversity that is now right at our feet and we've got to go back to work and improve immediately," O'Connell added.

Up next for the Vikings is a home date with the Bengals, followed by trips to Pittsburgh and Cleveland before the Eagles come into town. Considering how good the Packers have looked and the Lions' statement yesterday there's not going to be much margin for error in the NFC North.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kevin O'Connell Makes Blunt Admission After Lopsided 'Sunday Night Football' Loss.

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