Hall of Fame baseball manager Casey Stengel used to say, “Most games are lost, not won.”

Stengel’s wisdom comes to mind after a weekend in which two NFL teams managed to lose games they should have won. Mindless fouls by Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones doomed the Cincinnati Bengals. And the Minnesota Vikings went home because Blair Walsh missed an easy field goal try.

“It’s so quick that I don’t know what happened,” Walsh said after his miss allowed the Seattle Seahawks to survive. “You have to go back and look at the film. But I can tell you this: It’s my fault. I should be able to put that one through.”

In Cincinnati, Burfict’s hit to the head of Steelers’ wide receiver Antonio Brown brought a penalty and extended Pittsburgh’s final drive. Jones then drew a personal foul. All this came after Jeremy Hill fumbled, giving the Steelers the ball.

This game was lost, not won. So much for the words of Bengals founder and former head coach Paul Brown, who said, “The key to winning is poise under stress.”

Even after all of Cincinnati’s mistakes, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell had to make a short field goal, something Walsh was not able to do for Minnesota. Vikings holder Jeff Locke was unable to properly position the laces on the ball before Walsh kicked it.

Whatever the reason, Walsh, Burfict, Jones and Hill were not able to come through when it mattered most.

So if you’re not winning, then stop losing. Examine your mental game. Are you committing unforced errors? Is sloppy training coming back to beat you?

Most of all, pay attention to the quality of your mistakes. Some are good, some are bad. It’s fine to make a mistake while trying. It’s not fine to make the mistake of holding back, or to fail to learn from mistakes, or to make mistakes because of lack of discipline.

If you want to start winning, stop losing!

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Thank you for visiting Total Game Plan. If your team, group or business needs a motivational speaker, please email coachtully @ totalgameplan.com. Here are some other resources for your success:

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