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	AP Photo/Don Wright
	Linebacker Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return sealed the game for Pittsburgh.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- I’m just going to say it. I thought Minnesota played better in its 27-17 loss Sunday at Pittsburgh than it did last week in a victory over Baltimore.

Ooohhh. I feel so contrarian.

Week 7 Coverage • Walker: Bengals' Palmer is back • Jon Greenberg: Benson's career day • Williamson: Chargers bounce back • Graham: Time not on Fins' side • Wojciechowski: Saints should be 5-1 • Seifert: Silver linings in Vikes' loss • Pasquarelli: Steelers' D takes charge • Yasinskas: What happened to Turner? • MacMahon: Romo-Austin in sync • Sando: Crabtree brightens 49ers day • Reiss: Pats bond in London • Chadiha: Giants have questions • NFL Nation: Reactions | Wrap-ups | Live Monday Night Football HQ • Mosley: Skins' issues run deep • Paolantonio: Vick MIA so far • Chadiha: Strange call from Skins

The difference in Sunday’s game was two turnovers the Steelers returned for touchdowns in a span of 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the fourth quarter. In both instances, the Vikings moved the ball deep inside Steelers territory and were threatening to take a late lead.

“Kind of fluke deals,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said of the two plays: LaMarr Woodley’s 77-yard fumble return and linebacker Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return.

“What are you going to do?” said defensive end Jared Allen. “You win some and you lose some. Their defense outscored our defense at the end of the game. I don’t know what else to say. There’s really not a whole lot else. There’s not much else we can do. We held [their offense] to 13 points. That should be enough to win.”

That was as close as anyone came to pointing fingers in Minnesota’s postgame locker room, and most players and coaches repeated the same mantra.

“We’re disappointed,” Childress said, “but not discouraged.”

Really, it’s hard to do anything but whistle and tip your cap when two linebackers grab the ball and weave their way to the end zone, especially when you consider the superior individual efforts required on both plays. (See below.) The Vikings answered Woodley’s play with an 88-yard kickoff return from rookie Percy Harvin, but they ran out of time after Fox returned the Steelers’ lead to 10 points.

Sound familiar?

Last week, Minnesota jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead over Baltimore and was outplayed thereafter. Had it not been for the fourth-quarter heroics of quarterback Brett Favre, and a missed 44-yard-field goal on the game’s final play, the Vikings would have registered their first loss a week earlier.

I didn’t mind telling you that last week, and I don’t mind suggesting the Vikings put on a more impressive showing Sunday in staying with a Steelers team that seemed primed to blow them out of Heinz Field. With cornerback Antoine Winfield sidelined, it was fair to question how the Vikings might fare against a Steelers passing offense that entered the game ranked second in the NFL.

But other than some particularly atrocious tackling on Mike Wallace’s 40-yard touchdown, the Vikings' defense was surprisingly effective. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 175 yards, or about 120 yards less than his per-game average this season.

“I thought we played a great game,” cornerback Cedric Griffin said. “We let a few plays go, but at the same time, collectively we played a pretty good football game against a really good team.”

Favre and the offense did its part by maintaining possession for nearly 37 minutes despite a relatively quiet afternoon from tailback Adrian Peterson (18 carries, 69 yards).

If you want to quibble, you could argue the Vikings erred by not handing Peterson the ball four times on the goal line during a third-quarter possession. You know I never hesitate to question Childress’ decisions, but in this case I wasn’t offended. Even Peterson said: “Well, I did get two cracks at it.”

The Steelers have one of the NFL’s best run defenses and they weren’t giving up much Sunday. Peterson’s first two plunges into the line, one negated by penalty, netted nothing. Favre, meanwhile, entered the game as the NFL’s top red-zone passer.

The Vikings certainly didn’t draw up the third-down play to target backup tight end Jim Kleinsasser, but the Steelers covered up the rest of Favre’s options.

Overall, however, the Vikings offense rolled up 386 yards and converted 50 percent of its third-down attempts. Add those figures to Harvin’s special-teams touchdown, along with a defense that seemed to have the Steelers figured out, and you have the ingredients of a huge victory.

In essence, the game came down to two plays, turnovers with especially painful repercussions.

“To think coming into this game that … we were going to have two [turnovers] for touchdowns going their way?” Childress said. “Hats off to those guys. You never know which one of those 70 plays is going to end up being the play.”

Let’s take a closer look at each play:

Return No. 1
Left guard Steve Hutchinson was matched up on defensive tackle Brett Keisel. “I was just riding him around the pocket,” Hutchinson said. Favre said he was planning to throw a pass to receiver Sidney Rice: “I don’t know if we were going to have any success with the play. But I was going to give him a high throw in the back of the end zone.” The play might have taken too long, Favre said, and he might have held the ball too long.

Hutchinson said he didn’t know until later than Keisel had poked the ball out of Favre’s hands at about the 14-yard line. The ball bounced backward and Woodley scooped it up at the 23-yard line. Hutchinson tried unsuccessfully to grab Woodley’s feet at the 33-yard line, and Woodley stepped inside Favre at the 40 before breaking into the open field.

Return No. 2
On a second-down play at the Steelers’ 19-yard line, the Vikings called a screen pass to receiver Chester Taylor. “I think it was a good call,” Favre said. “We were moving the ball extremely well at that time, and things happen.”

Again, Keisel made the key play. He recognized the screen immediately, moved laterally down the line of scrimmage and drilled Taylor just as the ball arrived. Indeed, Taylor said, “I got hit in the process of catching the ball.” The ball slipped through his hands and into the Fox’s. Hutchinson missed Fox at the 24-yard line. “I guess I’m not a linebacker,” he said. Left tackle Bryant McKinnie lost his pursuit angle and Favre slid before he could attempt a tackle on the right sideline.

Those two plays ensured the Steelers’ victory, and let’s be clear: No one awards style points for victories. Every game is important, but if you choose to look at Minnesota’s season from the big picture -- and when they’re 6-1, I think that’s OK -- you saw more encouraging signs for its long-term future in Sunday’s loss than you did in a victory last week.

That’s probably why you didn’t see too many people bent out of shape after the game. If you’re going to lose -- and every team in the history of the NFL has except for one -- there’s no shame if it comes in a close game on the home field of the Super Bowl champions.

“Things like that happen,” Childress said. “I’m proud of the way guys competed. Don’t like the result. [But] it’s been a resilient group from the standpoint of coming back and wanting to improve.”

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- What an absolutely bizarre and -- if you’re a Pittsburgh fan -- exhilarating fourth quarter between two of the best teams in the NFL.

Minnesota benefited from some fortunate twists last week against Baltimore. Sunday, the Steelers took advantage of two red zone miscues to hold their lead at Heinz Field. Linebacker LaMarr Woodley returned a Brett Favre fumble 77 yards for one touchdown, and fellow linebacker Keyaron Fox returned an interception 82 yards for another score.

Fox’s play came after tailback Chester Taylor let a screen pass sail through his hands, ending the Vikings’ bid to either tie or take a lead with one minute remaining.

Without those mistakes, the Vikings might well have left with an impressive victory over one of the AFC’s top teams. To be frank, the loss hardly derails any of the Vikings’ long-term goals. From a tiebreaker perspective, the Vikings will be least impacted by a road loss to an AFC team.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- I’d say we’ve had some excitement here at Heinz Field. I can tell you that the press box floor was shaking for a few minutes after LaMarr Woodley's 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

That play ended a 91-yard drive for Minnesota, one that took almost eight minutes off the clock, and gave the Steelers a seemingly commanding 20-10 lead.

But Percy Harvin's 88-yard return on the ensuing kickoff has brought the Vikings back to within three points. (Nice effort by place-kicker Jeff Reed, who tried to push Harvin out of bounds almost 5 yards away from the sideline. FAIL.)

I’m sure the Steelers’ defense is worn down after the Vikings’ long drive. These last six minutes promise to be dramatic. Let’s all watch and meet back here shortly after the game.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- Some of you might be wondering where Minnesota receiver Bernard Berrian has been in the second half. The Vikings announced earlier in the third quarter that he has a leg injury. There’s no indication, one way or the other, if it’s a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury that sidelined Berrian for most of the preseason. Stay tuned.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- We’ve had some interesting play-calling here on a couple of first-and-goal situations.

Pittsburgh had 1st and goal at Minnesota’s 8-yard line but settled for Jeff Reed’s 27-yard field goal. The Steelers never gave the ball to top tailback Rashard Mendenhall, who has 42 yards on seven carries, and instead Ben Roethlisberger threw two incompletions sandwiched around a failed quarterback draw.

The Vikings then had a first-and-goal at the Steelers’ 1-yard line. Adrian Peterson carried on the first two plays, one of which was negated by a Steelers penalty, and then quarterback Brett Favre threw two incompletions. On third down, Favre targeted backup tight end Jim Kleinsasser, who has one touchdown in the past six seasons.

Ryan Longwell cut the Steelers’ lead to 13-10 on an 18-yard field goal.

Seems like you want it in Peterson’s hands two of the three times on that of downs. But that’s just me. We’ve got a barnburner regardless.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- Finally. After a defensive struggle/offensive bumble for most of the first half, we saw Minnesota and Pittsburgh run up and down the field during the latter part of the second quarter.

The Steelers took a 10-7 halftime lead because, well, they had the ball last. (Unless you count coach Brad Childress’ somewhat curious decision to kneel on the ball with 24 seconds and one timeout left.)

Here’s what I think about the first 30 minutes:

• Both quarterbacks got into a rhythm in the second quarter. The Vikings’ Brett Favre led a 76-yard drive, capped by Adrian Peterson’s 2-yard touchdown run. And Ben Roethlisberger more than doubled his yardage total by throwing for 85 yards on a 91-yard drive that ended with his 40-yard scoring strike to receiver Mike Wallace. Both quarterbacks have attempted 19 passes. Favre has completed 10 for 92 yards, while Roethlisberger has 11 completions for 120 yards.
• The Vikings’ defense played admirably without cornerback Antoine Winfield for most of the first half, sacking Roethlisberger twice and tipping three of his passes at the line of scrimmage. But as you saw at the end of the half, the Vikings still miss Winfield. They had a chance at two interceptions on the drive, and Wallace’s scoring reception was reminiscent of the kind of plays Baltimore made for most of last week against the Vikings.
• I’ll be interested to see if the Vikings can keep up if this becomes a shootout. I still think the Vikings’ best hope is to slow down the game with a steady diet of Peterson, but he’s been inconsistent. Peterson has a 15-yard run but only 16 yards on his other 10 carries.
• Part of the reason the Vikings might have a hard time keeping up is the awful field position they’ve had in this game. Here’s where their drives have started thus far: The 28, 18, 17, 18 and 24.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- We’ll know in a few hours if we just saw a significant play in a close game or a blip on the way to an otherwise inevitable outcome.

Pittsburgh lost an 8-yard touchdown pass to receiver Santonio Holmes because officials called tight end Heath Miller for offensive pass interference on the other side of the field. Miller drilled Vikings tight end Chad Greenway on what looked like a pick play, but it had no impact on Holmes beating cornerback Cedric Griffin to the far left side of the end zone.

Jimmy Kennedy's sack of Ben Roethlisberger on the ensuing third-down play forced the Steelers to settle for Jeff Reed's 39-yard field goal.

That could potentially be a significant turnaround for a Vikings team that is having trouble moving the ball so far against the Steelers’ attacking defense. In its first three series, Minnesota has had had four plays in which it has gained zero or negative yards. Two of them have been sacks, and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe's false start pushed the Vikings back 5 yards on another play.

You want to suggest that the focus on the running game to settle things down, but thus far tailbacks Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor have combined for 3 yards.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- Two important pregame nuggets from Heinz Field:

Winfield

1. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports Minnesota cornerback Antoine Winfield will not only miss Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh, as expected, but up to six weeks with an injury that seems more serious than the sprain the Vikings have described it as. Mortensen reported Winfield does not have a Lis franc injury, which would have cost him the season, but it nevertheless sidelines the team’s best defensive back during a stretch that will include a Nov. 1 game at Green Bay and possibly a Nov. 29 game against Chicago. Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press describes the injury as a fracture. We’ll have a lot more on Winfield’s injury later Sunday and throughout the week, but suffice it to say the Vikings are a less fearsome defense without him.
2. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols reported that Vikings coach Brad Childress dressed like female flight attendant during the team’s trip to Pittsburgh on Saturday. Included in the get-up were high heels, lipstick, a wig and blue nylons. I imagine the stunt loosened up the team a bit.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert

PITTSBURGH -- It’s a beautiful morning here at Heinz Field, and we’re expecting sunny conditions with temperatures in the high 50s for Sunday’s matchup between Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

	Kevin Seifert/ESPN.com
	Old habits die hard. A Brett Favre fan waits outside Heinz Field Sunday morning.

As you no doubt have heard by now, the stadium grounds crew replaced the turf inside of the college hashmarks last week. Pitt and South Florida used the field Saturday, and just using an eye test, the seams between the old grass and new grass are pretty visible.

I’m sure the field’s condition will cause some pregame consternation on both sides relative to spike selection and field goal ranges. But if this weather continues and the grass stays relatively dry, those issues should be minimized.