EDEN PRAIRIE — The Minnesota Vikings showed plenty of resilience and potential during their three-point defeat Sunday at Denver. There are more parts of this team trending in a positive direction than negative.

There’s still a lot to fix. There’s still a hurdle to clear.

“It seems like when we get in big games, everyone wants to make a play instead of just, ‘Hey, look here: This is my job. I’m going to do my job. I’m going to do this,”’ coach Mike Zimmer said. “So it’s actually something that I’m going to have to continue to figure out. It’s not like they spit the bit. They want to do good. They want to impress. They want to be with all of the elite teams in the league.”

Losing 23-20 to the unbeaten Broncos on Sunday was a setback in the standings, but it underscored the widespread belief Vikings (2-2) are an up-and-coming team and a legitimate playoff contender in Zimmer’s second season.

“These are all great learning experiences with a young football team, and at some point in time,” Zimmer said, pausing briefly, “we’re going to get over the hump.”

What would that look like? Well, winning a game on the road against a quality opponent.

Denver qualified as such. So will Atlanta, Arizona and Green Bay during the second half of the schedule, given the track those teams are on. This struggle predates Zimmer, but the Vikings are a woeful 2-16-1 over their last 19 games on the road, starting with the playoff loss at Green Bay following the 2012 season.

That’s why they weren’t exactly brimming with self-congratulations entering their bye week.

“It’s average,” safety Harrison Smith said, reflecting on the first quarter, “just as bad as it is good.”