MINNEAPOLIS — With 1:10 left in the game, the Vikings offense stayed on the field.

Max Brosmer and Co. faced fourth-and-17 from their own 24, down by 8, with one chance to keep the drive alive.

Brosmer delivered.

The rookie QB dropped back and let the ball fly, hitting Jeshaun Jones over the middle for a 25-yard completion.

"We had a dagger called, kind of a deep dagger," Brosmer detailed after the Vikings 20-12 preseason loss to the Patriots. "I thought Jeshaun got to a really good spot at the perfect time, and the o-line did a great job of holding up on fourth-and-17. That's hard. The defensive ends and the d-tackles are going to pin their ears back — I mean, their one job is to go sack the quarterback, especially on fourth-and-17, and go win the game. That's like their dream, right? But [our offensive line] did a great job holding up protection, and Jeshaun got to a really good spot, and at that point you have to make a throw to where you think your guys can catch it. He did a great job there."

Brosmer noted he made the "spot throw" before actually seeing Jones open, trusting his receiver would be there.

"It's something you work on, and it's something I actually missed a couple plays before that, to Dontae [Fleming]. I threw it behind him," Brosmer said. "We got lucky ending up with the ball there … and I threw it to the spot where I thought he was going to be, and it ended up being a really good spot."

The Brosmer-Jones connection showed up on the very next play for a 22-yard gain to keep moving Minnesota down the field. But two red-zone opportunities fell flat (a false start made first-and-goal at the 8 into first-and-13. After an incompletion over the middle stopped the clock with three seconds remaining, Kyle Dugger, who is listed on New England's first team at safety, intercepted Brosmer), and the Vikings were unable to cap their day with a touchdown.

Brosmer embraced the opportunity to lead a 2-minute drive and will equally embrace the opportunity to learn from and improve on missteps.

"I felt like the guys, for the most part, we executed pretty well down the field," he said. "Made some really good plays. Timmy (Tim Jones) and Jeshaun made some really key plays down that drive. We made a few mistakes that we'll learn from."

Brosmer noted Saturday was the unit's first opportunity to run a 2-minute drive together, as reps at practice are limited and generally front-loaded toward starting QB J.J. McCarthy and backup Sam Howell.

All things considered, Brosmer said, he's "proud of guys and how they stuck together."

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell saw positives from Brosmer, complimenting his ability to stay composed under duress and make quick decisions.

"What I love about Max is, there were some breakdowns up front, and maybe he couldn't progress and read through concepts. But he plays with very fast eyes and very rarely puts the ball in harm's way when he's doing it, which is a unique trait," O'Connell said. "That dagger throw to Jeshaun, I mean, that's about as stacked against you as it can be — and he throws that well, well before that pattern had declared.

"Just things like that that he's done and shows consistently is why he's getting the reps that he is," O'Connell added.

Brosmer, who was sacked four times, finished his outing 15-of-27 passing for 156 yards and the pick. His passer rating was 57.0.

Howell started the game and had just one completion on five attempts, a 13-yard pass to recently added TE Nick Vannett. Two plays into his second series, Howell was intercepted by Patriots CB Alex Austin. He scrambled three times for 14 yards and finished the afternoon with a 51.7 rating.

Brett Rypien came in for the final 10 minutes of the second quarter and was 7-of-11 passing for 83 yards with a passer rating of 86.6. His final drive of the game included 12- and 20-yard completions to Tai Felton and set up a 34-yard Will Reichard field goal heading into halftime.

"I thought Brett Rypien did some good things," O'Connell said. "Obviously Sam had some tough circumstances, and we were a couple plays here and there in that early group from maybe sustaining drives a little bit more.

"Across the board, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of things we can correct across our whole team," he added. "But you know, the quarterback tends to be the one that when mistakes are made around them have the greatest impact on your job. So we've gotta take a look at it and really assess it."

Heading into the Vikings final week of training camp and third preseason game, a Friday night matchup at Tennessee, Brosmer and the other QBs will continue to put in work to make an impact.

All four of Minnesota's passers typically hang back after practice wraps to get in a few more reps. For Brosmer, Howell and Rypien, those opportunities can be especially crucial.

"It could be five or six throws a day, and that's all the difference. Maybe it leads to a big completion in the game that leads us down the field, or maybe it's a 4- or 5-yard completion that keeps a drive going. That's really important stuff," Brosmer said. "And the guys who stay after practice, they love football, and they love getting better. Being able to surround yourself with guys who just love ball is a lot of fun, and that's what this team's made of.

"There's a lot to get better at. That's the hope, and that's the entire team. That's the process of football. That's why people love football," he continued. "You love it, but you also love the process of getting better and learning how to win more football games. Today was an example of shining some spots we can get better at to win football games, and we're gonna go back to the drawing board and attack it tomorrow and get ready for next week."

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