MINNEAPOLIS -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were without three starters Sunday in Kwon Alexander, Chris Baker and Brent Grimes. Gerald McCoy, Noah Spence, Vernon Hargreaves and Lavonte David also suffered injuries.

Still, on a day when the offense needed to eat up more time of possession and play more than just complementary football, it did the defense absolutely no favors in a 34-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bucs rushed for just 26 yards on nine carries. Their offense is predicated on a run game to set up their play-action. They had to abandon it quickly, though, because they dug themselves into such a deep hole, falling behind 28-3 by the beginning of the third quarter.

"You never plan on getting down big early on," tight end Cameron Brate said. "We had our backs against the wall and were forced to throw the rest of the game."

Head coach Dirk Koetter agreed.

"We definitely got away from what I think we do best, which is mix run and pass," he said. "We just couldn't stop them in the first half, and then we tried to react and play a little faster and then turnovers. Obviously, when you lose on turnovers 3-0, it's going to be tough to win."

Last week against the Chicago Bears, the Bucs put up 29 points, with 20 of them coming off takeaways. This week, the Bucs were the ones turning the ball over, with Jameis Winston throwing three interceptions. He called them all "bad decisions."

"Playing from behind is different than playing when you have a chance at the game or are coming up ahead. But at the end of the day, turnovers [doomed us]," Winston said. "When the defense makes those stops, the offense has to go out there and score a touchdown. When the defense made a key stop, I went out there and threw a pick. That's definitely not helping them out."

The Bucs showed that their offense is still a work in progress, and unless they're getting takeaways from their defense and flipping the field, their mistakes mean they'll struggle to put points on the board.

Winston did find tight end Cameron Brate on a seam route in the third quarter for a 15-yard touchdown, but credit Bernard Reedy for his 50-yard kickoff return to set that up. That drive began at the Minnesota 46-yard line.

They also managed to go the distance on the very next possession, marching 75 yards down the field before Winston chucked a beautiful, 25-yard deep pass to DeSean Jackson to score. That's progress against one of the toughest defenses the Bucs will see all season. But if they want a shot at winning the NFC South and doing some damage in the playoffs, they have to find their mojo offensively.

"Next week we have to really battle and be detailed," center Ali Marpet said. "I don't know if this week in practice, if we were good enough, but we have to be better next week. ... We weren't as good on details [this] second week."

They can get back on track this week against a New York Giants defense that has given up 153.3 rushing yards per game, second-most in the league, and 45.5 percent of their third downs, 23rd in the league. The Bucs' Week 5 opponent, the New England Patriots, are giving up 330.7 yards per game through the air -- second-most in the league.

"It's football. The one thing about it -- you get kicked down, you have to get up," Winston said. "I'm anxious and excited to see how we bounce back next week against the Giants. Sometimes it's good to have some setbacks so we can persevere even more."