MINNEAPOLIS — A puzzling (maddening?) call intensifies the sting of Sunday's loss, but Minnesota's offense is still taking onus for a glaring stat: 1-for-6 in the red zone.

The Vikings struggled to score touchdowns against the Eagles, kicking five field goals en route to a 28-22 final score.

"The main issue was in the red zone today, just hurting ourselves and causing us to go backwards instead of forward," Justin Jefferson said. "We've got to execute our plays to the fullest, take one play at a time, and when the opportunity comes, make those plays.

"One of those red zone drives is, that's me dropping the touchdown and not pulling the ball all way the in," he added. "I'm always critical of myself and always, especially, my opportunities are very, very slim, so those opportunities, I've got to make the most of them."

Among the Vikings red zone opportunities was a late-game series that included three catches by Jordan Addison and two scrambles for first down by QB Carson Wentz to get the ball down the field. On third-and-2 from the Eagles 15, Wentz threw to the end zone for T.J. Hockenson, who leapt from his feet and laid out mid-air, stretching his hands to grasp the football before coming down hard on the Purple turf.

Officials on the field signaled a touchdown, prompting a roar from the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd that ultimately was quieted after further review of the play resulted in the score being overturned.

Hockenson and Kevin O'Connell both felt the tight end had demonstrated possession of the football. According to the NFL rules, "overturning a ruling on the field requires clear and obvious video evidence."

Hockenson noted that on-field officials believed it was a catch, but the call ultimately was reversed by an official at the Art McNally GameDay Central (AMGC), the hub of the league's replay review process.

"I had control the whole time. My hands were underneath it," Hockenson said. "I don't quite understand how the refs on the field, even after New York overturns it, the refs on the field are saying it's a catch, but they said New York overturns it, so they have nothing to say.

"The only two [officials] I talked to, I said, 'What happened there?' And they said, 'No, we had you as [making the catch],' " Hockenson continued. "So I don't understand where that's coming from."

In a pool report published after the game, NFL VP of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth said an angle of the replay showed the ball coming loose before being resecured.

"We used broadcast-enhanced shots to show that as he was going to the ground – he needs control of the ball throughout the process of the catch – he lost control of the ball," Butterworth said. "The ball hit the ground. Then, he regained control of the ball. So therefore, we overturned it to an incomplete pass."

O'Connell said he asked officials how the Hockenson play differed from a DeVonta Smith catch earlier in the game the Vikings unsuccessfully challenged.

"It seemed like a very similar premise of why they should maybe be similar, but I did not [receive an explanation]," O'Connell said. "I'm not part of the conversations with [referee] Bill [Vinovich] or New York, but the side judge I was standing with tried to update me as much as possible. But the main update I got was 'incomplete pass.' "

Though frustration is valid, O'Connell and Hockenson both acknowledged multiple other plays where missed execution was a problem.

"It is what it is, and you've got to move on … but it's crazy overall," Hockenson said.

The Vikings red zone woes started early.

Wentz and Company moved the ball well on their first drive but stalled at the Eagles 19. On third-and-10, center Blake Brandel sent an errant snap over Wentz's head, and the quarterback had to chase the ball and land on it at the 41 to prevent a turnover. Will Reichard knocked the 59-yard field goal through the uprights to put the Vikings on the board.

Minnesota's next two offensive drives were cut short by interceptions, the first of which was returned 42 yards for a Philadelphia touchdown. The second was an aired-out deep ball toward Addison caught instead by Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba.

"That guy kind of surprised me where he ended up," Wentz said. "I think they had a good call. I've gotta be better at just progressing or, quite frankly, just take the sack in that scenario and not try and — I saw the guy at the last second as I was releasing the ball and I was looking up at the scoreboard seeing them run, not a good feeling. I've gotta be better.

"The second one, that was just dumb, trying to make a play, and instead of setting up and throwing, I threw it off my back foot," he added. "Not a wise decision there."

Wentz also tipped his cap to the team that originally drafted him, saying Philadelphia's defense did what it does best, allowing teams to move the ball but clamping down inside the 20-yard line.

Wentz finished the day 26-of-42 passing for 313 yards, no touchdown and two interceptions. His passer rating was 64.9.

The Vikings did some good things offensively, especially finding a rhythm in the run game in the second half. After just 15 net rushing yards through the first two quarters, Minnesota totaled 89 on the afternoon. Jordan Mason led the way with 15 carries for 57 yards and the Vikings lone touchdown of the day.

Wentz and Addison continued to put chemistry on display, as Addison racked up 128 receiving yards on a career-high nine catches. Jefferson followed with five catches for 79 yards, and Hockenson added 43. Jalen Nailor finished with two catches, totaling 37 yards and converting a crucial third down on the drive capped by Mason's TD. Nailor also had a second-quarter touchdown nullified by a holding call on Brandel.

"Throughout most of the day, we did a lot of good things in the pass game," O'Connell said. "I thought our guys, we had some early success in the pass game, moving it between the 20s, and then they made some adjustments and we made some real-time adjustments to keep the momentum and find guys like Jordan Addison, T.J., Speedy (Nailor) — all those guys had some really, really nice plays throughout the day.

"I thought Justin was his normal self from the standpoint of being a problem [for defenses], and there was some real emphasis to try to limit his impact, which opened up some opportunities," O'Connell added.

While there undeniably were good moments on tape, Brian O'Neill emphasized the team isn't looking for silver linings and won't be consoled by them. The Vikings ultimately didn't do enough for a win ahead of back-to-back road games.

"I've gotta go look at [the film], to be honest. But we didn't have enough [success] in the red zone," said O'Neill, who returned Sunday from a knee injury suffered in Week 4. "So that's what I'm gonna look at more than the positives, you know?"

Added Christian Darrisaw: "You've gotta come away with 7 instead of 3."

Jefferson reiterated similar thoughts.

"We have the players out there to make the plays," he said. "And we do what we need to do to go down and score. We need to finish those drives, especially games like this, when we're competing against a team that just won a Super Bowl."

The Vikings will look to learn and correct while also turning the page quickly for a short week featuring Thursday night's game against the Chargers in L.A.

"Based on a normal game-week clock, it's already Wednesday afternoon," O'Neill said. "So, this one's gonna be flushed pretty quickly."

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