It was among a handful of plays that proved the difference between two NFL heavyweights in a spectacular mid-October game, a 31-29 Lions victory at U.S. Bank Stadium that dropped the Vikings to 5-1. If the game was confirmation that the Vikings are in fact one of the NFL's best teams, it was also a reminder of the tiny margin of error in such matchups.

"[Against] really good teams," O'Connell said, "you're not just going to steamroll through the game and have perfect plays on every play. But you better make sure it's [the opponents] that are causing, truly, some of those things that happen instead of some self-inflicted things."