It never should've happened. What didn't go right for the Vikings?
-Chad Greenway returned an interception to the Lions 18-yard line. The Vikings ended up punting. Punting! We'll return to that.
-Blair Walsh missed an extra point.
-Blair Walsh had a 46-yard field goal blocked.
-Failed to convert a 4th-and-inches on the Lions four-yard line.
If the Vikings were successful on any one of the above the game does not go to overtime and the Lions head home with a loss rather than a win.
The worst sequence of the game for the Vikings started with one of their highlights. Greenway intercepted Matthew Stafford at the Lions 35-yard line and returned it 17 yards to the Lions 18-yard line.
Here's what the Vikings did with that golden opportunity.
1st-and-10 at Lions 18: Jerick McKinnon ran for four yards.
2nd-and-6 at Lions 14: False Start on right tackle T.J. Clemmings
2nd-and-11 at Lions 19: 2-yard pass to Stefon Diggs. Left guard Jeremiah Sirles was called for an illegal block above the waist. 10 yard penalty from the 17.
2nd-and-19 at Lions 27: Ronnie Hillman lost four yards.
3rd-and-23 at Lions 31: Sam Bradford sacked for a loss of another nine yards.
4th-and-32 at Lions 40: Punt.
Punt! After a first-and-ten at the 18 the Vikings punted from the 40.
None of that was good. The Jerick McKinnon run wasn't bad but nothing that followed was any good. That being said, the penalty on Jeremiah Sirles was the one that changed everything. It was also more mythical than real. I'm still not sure what the official saw. At worst he hit the defender from the side. Which is much closer to competing than illegal. This was the third time in two games (both losses) that the Vikings defense gave the offense an opportunity in the red zone. They came away from those opportunities with 0 points. 0! Those 0 points played a significant role in two losses.
If punting after being set up nicely in the red zone wasn't bad enough what the Lions did after forcing that punt made it so much worse. The Lions offense went on a mind-numbing 17-play, 84 yard drive that ate up 9:45 of the second quarter. A drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown catch by Anquan Boldin. This ridiculous drive started at the Lions 16-yard line with 9:50 remaining in the second quarter. It ended with a 10-3 Lions lead and only 5 seconds remaining on the clock.
Drives like this are defensive back-breakers.
Thanks to that long drive the Vikings went nearly an entire quarter without an offensive snap. Their last offensive snap of the first half came with 10:42 to play in it. Their next offensive snap came with 12:50 to play in the third quarter. That's a serious offensive drought. It's tough to win a game without touching the ball. Their first offensive possession of the second half was a three-and-out. After that the Lions defense rarely stopped the Vikings offense. All of their remaining possessions generated scoring opportunities. Their second possession of the second half ended in a touchdown. But, Walsh bounced his extra point off the upright. Their third possession ended in a blocked field goal. Their fourth possession ended on downs on the Lions four-yard line. Apparently inches short of the first down. Their final possession ended in what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown. The Vikings had a 16-13 lead but there were still 23 seconds left on the clock.
Those 23 seconds were enough for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to get his team in position for a game tying 58-yard field goal. The Lions won the overtime coin toss and managed to drive down the field for the game-winning touchdown.
Rarely does anything good come from a loss. There were, however, some promising signs for the Vikings in this disappointing loss. The offensive line had been horrible the last two weeks. The sort of horrible that can get a quarterback killed. The Vikings had to deal with the added chaos of offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigning last week. In very few days the offense had to prepare for the Lions and adjust to new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. That's a tough task. The Vikings offensive line was improved against the Lions. Not great, but improved. The line was helped by quicker passes with better rhythm. That improved rhythm was especially evident in the second half when they regularly moved the ball. Consistently moving the ball is nice but they have to finish more drives in the end zone. And convert the extra points when they get in the end zone. Another week of working with Shurmur should help. The offense showed promise when there had been none the previous two weeks.
The defense was mostly very good and sometimes great against the Lions. With the offense often sputtering the previous two weeks the defense has been forced to be great all the time. That's a lot to ask. Injuries on the defensive side of the ball forced some mixing and matching of players yesterday. A concussion kept middle linebacker Eric Kendricks out of this game. Audie Cole started in his place. Emmanuel Lamur played more than he's played all season in nickel situations. Nickel being the dominant situation in the NFL these days Lamur was on the field a lot. Nickel corner Captain Munnerlyn left with ankle and knee issues early in the game. That led to rookie Mackensie Alexander getting his most extensive playing time of the season. There was a pretty consistent rotation of Xavier Rhodes, Terence Newman, Trae Waynes, and Alexander at corner throughout the game. The Lions offense took advantage of the new faces in new places on that damn long drive and the lone overtime drive. Those were the only possessions that the defense struggled but it was enough for the Lions and it produced 13 of their 22 points. The possible good news is that the defense won't have to be perfect every down or every drive if the offense can move the ball like they did in the second half.
If the offense can't finish drives in the end zone none of it really matters.
4th and inches. For the second time in their three-game skid the Vikings have failed on 4th and inches. Both opportunities came inside the opponents five-yard line. That's painful. In hindsight, the Vikings would have been better off kicking the field goal yesterday but that's really not the point. A football team has to be able to advance the football a yard, let alone inches, when they have to do so. Fans can get all bunged-up and scream for some misdirection, some trickery, something different but a football team has to be able to gain an inch. The Vikings offensive line issues have mostly been focused on pass protection but it really covers everything that the line is supposed to do. They aren't getting much of a push. Especially when they have to get a push. When a team isn't gaining an inch that means that the line is getting pushed back. That can't happen.
Spotting a football is, at best, a guess. Especially when that football is somewhere in a pile of about 12-21 football players. If a team has inches to gain any push that gets the football beyond the line of scrimmage is probably a first down. I'm sorry but Matt Asiata got the ball beyond the line of scrimmage. It wasn't enough to leave no doubt but he got the football beyond where the officials guessed that he did.
Blair Walsh has to stop missing extra points!
When teams are clicking on the right cylinders plays that can go either way tend to go the right way. They grab opportunities and take advantage of them. They make extra points. They score in the red zone. They gain yards when they need inches. These are the plays that the Vikings were making when they won their first five games. They have to start making these plays again. Their margin for error right now is real slim.
The Vikings are 5-3. That's still a good thing. The Green Bay Packers lost to the Indianapolis Colts yesterday. That's also good. The Vikings still lead the NFC North. That's good for now. The Vikings have to start winning or they won't be leading the division much longer. They have to end this three-game losing streak.
A couple significant/momentous/fun plays took place in this game:
-Rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell caught his first NFL pass. A clutch 15-yarder on third down. I'd sure like to see him get a bigger role in the offense.
-Sam Bradford caught a pass from himself. That's kinda fun. He caught a deflection and motored for a five yard gain.
Ordinarily I'd have some thoughts about the other games of the day but I don't. I had to get away from football for a while after this disappointing game. Instead of following the other games and watching the late games I went to see Dr. Strange. Terrific flick. I highly recommend it.
Next week is bad news for the Washington Redskins.
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