The Minnesota Vikings continue to live in a personal hell of their own making. Their Week 9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was an achingly familiar moment for a team which keeps finding spectacular ways to lose NFL games.

Here are a few central takeaways from Sunday's game. The Vikings have to go back to the drawing board in the third and fourth quarters. You might have heard that refrain before.

Minnesota Vikings Week 9 Takeaways

4. Talent is not the problem for the Vikings

You can see how much potential this team has. It made dazzling interceptions against Lamar Jackson, a high-impact kickoff return, and enough plays on offense to create a two-touchdown lead against a leading AFC contender on the road. The Vikings had the Ravens in trouble for most of the day, just as they had the Arizona Cardinals in big trouble in Week 2. Minnesota can play with the NFL's top teams. That is not and has never been the issue for Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman. The roster has the ability to compete well. It's what it does when it has a chance to win games. That is the recurring and familiar problem with this franchise, which leads us to the next key point:

3. In case there is any doubt about this: Mike Zimmer has to be fired and replaced with an offense-first coach such as Brian Daboll or Byron Leftwich

The Vikings have to change head coaches. Some would say that Spielman has to go as well, but the first priority has to be a new head coach who prioritizes offense. The Mike Zimmer pattern of getting a lead and then becoming conservative has run its course far too many times for the Vikes to trust that it can yield elite results at any point in the future. No, this has to stop. Minnesota once again built a lead and then played it safe, instead of trusting the offense to make plays and unleashing the full measure of the team's potent passing game on the opposition. Imagine what an offense-first head coach — some of the talented offensive coordinators in the NFL right now — can do with this same material next year. This is a team which can be ready to win, but the approach and culture have to be completely different. That starts with coaching. Enough of this Groundhog Day reality in Minnesota.

2. Kirk Cousins, as talented as he is, continues to shrivel when it matters most

Which is the most Vikings game ever in this season filled with classic Minnesota failures? It's impossible to choose. The missed field goal against the Cardinals? Classic Vikes. Losing to Cooper Rush at home on Sunday Night Football? Classic Vikes. This come-from-ahead loss to the Ravens, in a game Minnesota largely dominated? Classic Vikes. Ultimately, while Mike Zimmer is the man who needs to be kicked out of town more than anyone else, Kirk Cousins doesn't do himself any favors when he squanders an overtime interception from his defense against Lamar Jackson. Cousins' potential emerges from time to time, but these exasperating moments persist. Part of the reason for hiring a new head coach would be to see if that new coach can enable Cousins to solve these problems. If the new coach can't, then everyone will know the franchise needs a new quarterback in 2023 (after the 2022 season).

1. Patience is not a virtue right now

The Vikings can make one huge mistake as they move forward: Thinking nothing needs to change. Yes, the roster is talented, but the people who coach the roster cannot be allowed another year. It's not just a matter of finding a new coach. That coach, in job interviews, has to present a philosophy and approach which are manifestly different from the Zimmer way. Making sure the methods are transformed — overhauled, not merely tweaked — must be a central focus for the franchise in the coming offseason.