The Minnesota Vikings found a new way to hand the Detroit Lions a win at the end of a close game. Two weeks ago Matt Prater made a 58-yard field goal as time expired to tie the game. The Lions won in overtime. Yesterday, Lions corner Darius Slay intercepted a Sam Bradford pass intended for Adam Thielen on their own 33-yard with 30 seconds to play. Slay returned it to the Vikings 20-yard line. From there, Prater had an easy, game-winning field goal. 16-13 Lions.
I've seen more than I ever want to see of Matt Prater. The Lions have won a lot of close games, they've trailed in the fourth quarter of every game this season, and Prater is a big reason for those wins. Four of their last six wins have been decided by his field goals. He doesn't miss.
The key sequence for the Vikings may have come at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth. The Vikings were at the Lions 47 with 1:13 remaining in the third. A brilliant run by Cordarrelle Patterson on a reverse gained 22 yards to the Lions 25. From there, the Vikings lined up in a split backfield with both Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata lined up behind Bradford under center. Quite frankly, this formation was strange to see. I thought that I was back in the 1970s. It might have been strange for the defense to see as well as Asiata burst up the middle for 15 yards to the Lions 10. These two quick-hitting, gashing plays gave the Vikings offensive momentum that they just hadn't had in the game. It was disappointing to see the quarter end. I feel like the drive might have ended better if the Vikings could've immediately lined up for their next play while the Lions were on their heels. Instead, we had one of those seemingly endless commercial breaks. When that was finally over the Vikings had a first-and-goal from just inside the 10. A McKinnon run gained nothing but T.J. Clemmings was called for a chop block. This is the sort of mind-bending mistake that the Vikings routinely make in these situations and it's a big reason for their five losses. They are an offense that gains yards, when they are gaining them, in five-yard chunks. They are a pretty good offense when they can move the chains with those five-yard chunks. First-and-goal from the 10, even second-and-goal from the 10 is their sort of situation. First-and-goal from the 25 isn't their sort of situation. As for the chop block penalty on Clemmings, it had to be called because he did go low on the defender. But to say that the defender was engaged with Alex Boone on the play is a stretch. He might've brushed against Boone's back but that's about it. Clemmings went low and I really don't understand why any 300+-lb NFL lineman would ever have the need to go low on another player. Man up! For that reason alone the penalty was justified. Anyway, following the penalty the Vikings had a first-and-goal from the 25 and preceded to gain yardage in five-yard chunks and ended up ten yards short of a touchdown. They had to settle for a field goal. I can't help but think that the end of the third quarter commercial break zapped the Vikings offensive momentum. If that didn't do it the chop block penalty definitely did. If the Vikings score a touchdown there they probably win the game.
The Vikings defense played well enough to win. Again. They were especially dominant in the second half. The Lions offense did nothing in the second half until their final, game-tying drive. The defense that had allowed the Lions only 11 plays on three possessions allowed them to move from their own two-yard line with five minutes to play to a game-tying field goal in just over three minutes.
The mode of operation for the 2016 Detroit Lions has been to keep the game close and win it in the end. And they have the kicker to do it. It's worked and the Vikings have played right into it. Twice in the last two weeks.
3rd Downs!
The Vikings converted on two of ten third down situations. It's tough to win games that way.
The successes
3rd-and-7 at Vikings 30: Sam Bradford 10-yard pass to Cordarrelle Patterson
3rd-and-1 at Vikings 29: Zach Line 2-yard run
The failures
3rd-an-8 at Vikings 14: Bradford 6-yard pass to Adam Thielen
3rd-and-9 at Lions 48: Bradford 7-yard pass to Adam Thielen
The Vikings went for on fourth down after Thielen was stopped two yards short of the yard to gain.
4th-and-2 at Lions 41: Bradford pass incomplete to Thielen
3rd-and-14 at Vikings 45: Bradford 5-yard pass to Rudolph
3rd-and-9 at Vikings 39: Bradford 2-yard pass to Jerick McKinnon
3rd-and-5 at Lions 15: Bradford 3-yard pass to Matt Asiata
3rd-and-goal at Lions 16: Bradford 6-yard pass to Rudolph
3rd-and-3 at Vikings 38: Bradford 2-yard pass to McKinnon
3rd-and-2 at Vikings 33: Patterson illegal formation penalty wipes out Bradford 7-yard pass to McKinnon.
That penalty set up the interception by Darius Slay, conveniently in field goal range, that sealed the win for the Lions.
Every one of those third down failures have a couple things in common. Other than not working. Each was a pass and each was thrown short of the yard to gain. Conversion was dependent on the receiver making at least one defender miss on the tackle. The Vikings have some players with some nice run-after-the-catch skills (Patterson and McKinnon in this game) but depending upon that talent on every single one of their third down attempts just doesn't seem wise. It strikes me as predictable. The Lions defenders could sit back and wait for the pass because they knew that it would be in front of them. All they had to do was come up, in control, and make the tackle.
That offensive predictability probably went a long way in setting up the interception. Slay and safety Glover Quin spoke after the game of how they'd been working on their particular trick, Slay coming off of his man, to dupe an unsuspecting quarterback. Well, it's easy to succeed when Thielen had been running that exact same route repeatedly throughout the game. It's unfortunate that Bradford was so committed to getting the ball to Thielen as it looked like rookie Laquon Treadwell, the receiver that Slay was initially covering, was open deep.
Injuries have forced the Vikings to go with their fourth and fifth offensive tackles. The injury-thrashed offensive line was further thrashed yesterday. Center Joe Berger left in the first half with a concussion. Nick Easton replaced him. Right tackle Jeremiah Sirles left in the second half with a possible hip injury. Rookie Willie Beavers replaced him.
The Lions now lead the NFC North with a 7-4 record. The Vikings are second at 6-5. That one-game lead doesn't look like much with five games to play but the season sweep of the Vikings gives the Lions a two game cushion. It's really no stretch to say that the Vikings probably have to win their remaining games to take the division title. A single loss might still do it. It's unlikely that the North will have a wild card team so the division title is the only path to the playoffs. The Vikings start their five game season with the Dallas Cowboys next Thursday. That's a tough start. At least the game is at home.
A(nother) Vikings loss and Thanksgiving kept me from being all that interested in paying particular attention to the other games of the day. One little nugget that did grab me about the Washington Redskins-Dallas Cowboys game was this.
Redskins offense: 505 yards, no turnovers, no sacks.
Knowing only those numbers one would think that the Redskins took the Cowboys apart. The Redskins defense held Cowboys rookie running sensation Ezekiel Elliott to under 100 yards (barely, 97 yards). The Redskins defense held the Cowboys rookie passing sensation Dak Prescott to under 200 yards (barely, 195). How did the Cowboys win 31-26?
In the nightcap the Pittsburgh Steelers took care of the Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis Colts 28-7. The Steelers offensive stars played well but this game felt closer than the three-score game that it was. That's thanks to a sometimes heroic effort from Scott Tolzien in place of Luck.
On to Sunday. Well, there's some terrific rivalry games in college football before then.
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