Vikings-Lions

The Minnesota Vikings put an end to the frustrating 2020 season with a 37-35 win over the Detroit Lions. It’s nice to end a season with a win. 

Despite a sad start to the game, a four-and-out and a couple three-and-outs, the Vikings offense pretty much had their way with the Lions defense.

Possessions after sad start:

Touchdown

Touchdown

Missed Field Goal

Touchdown

Touchdown

Field Goal

Touchdown 

End of game kneel downs

The Lions nearly matched all of that offensive success. They only punted twice. The difference of the game probably came down to the takeaways by the Vikings. The first was a fumble recovery on a punt return. The second was a Harrison Smith interception. Despite both takeaways occurring on the Lions side of the field, the Vikings turned them into a total of three points. It’s a disappointing point total but they took two possessions from the Lions. With the way the Lions offense often carved through the Vikings defense, taking possessions away was a very good thing. 

So, this 37-35 game was all offense on both sides. Here’s a statistical glimpse of that offense:

Vikings:

74 plays, 508 yards

Rushing: 125

Passing: 383

Lions: 

54 plays, 417 yards

Rushing: 129

Passing: 288

Taking two possessions from the Lions made the win possible.

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had some early issues with accuracy, thus the three sad possessions to start. Once he got dialed in he didn’t miss often. 

28/40, 405 yards, 3 TDs, 1 rushing TD

The Vikings were missing their offensive pacesetter. Dalvin Cook had some much more important concerns at home. RIP James Cook.

In Cook’s place, Alexander Mattison played well.

21 carries, 95 yards, 1 TD

3 catches 50 yards, 1 TD

Two of Mattison’s biggest plays came on fourth down.

4th-and-2, late first quarter: 28-yard catch-and-run touchdown

4th-and-1, late fourth: 16-yard, game-sealing run.

Then there’s Justin Jefferson. He entered the game within reach of some rookie receiving history. He needed 47 yards to pass Randy Moss for the most rookie receiving yards in Vikings’ franchise history. He needed 111 yards to pass Anquan Boldin for the most rookie receiving yards during the Super Bowl era. Jefferson caught nine passes for 133 yards against the Lions.

Jefferson’s rookie season:

88 catches, 1400 yards, 7 TDs

He’s my Rookie of the Year. He should be the league’s Rookie of the Year as well.

There was some babble from the game’s announcers and various talking heads that Jefferson’s 1400 receiving yards is an NFL rookie record. Many have amended that phrasing to say that it’s the most in the Super Bowl era. That’s because Bill Groman gained 1473 yards as a rookie for the Houston Oilers in 1960. The NFL officially accepts AFL stats as official stats so it’s official that Groman gained more receiving yards as a rookie than Jefferson did. 

While it was largely due to the fact that the Vikings had to dip deep into their cornerback pool, Lions receiver Marvin Jones Jr. had a terrific game. Injuries forced fresh-off-the-practice-squad Cordrea Tankersley and Dylan Mabin into this game. Jones sent Tankersley to the turf on a basic move for one of his scores. He’s had a few big games against the Vikings. This may have been his best. 

8 catches, 180 yards, 2 TDs

One could even go so far as to say that this was only a two-point game because of Jones. He had a third touchdown taken off the board by the officials. It was a questionable reversal but the Lions eventually scored on the possession. They still got the points that were supposedly taken from them. 

Speaking of questionable calls, the Lions were truly jobbed on a horrible officiating call early in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-goal from the Lions’ one-yard line, Lions safety Tracy Walker blitzed and sacked Cousins. It was a clean tackle. Somehow, the officials saw roughing the passer. With a revived possession that shouldn’t have been revived, Cousins scored two plays later. It was a turning-point. Instead of Lions getting the ball, down two, it was Vikings kicking off, up eight. Seeing a Vikings’ opponent so completely wronged by the officials was a very foreign feeling. I’m still not sure how to feel about it. 

The Vikings’ defense has had few bright moments this year. Injuries whittled away the front-line talent throughout the season. When a calf injury took Eric Kendricks from the lineup about a month ago it was a tipping point. It was one loss too many. It shouldn’t surprise that this was the team’s first win without Kendricks. 

Of the players that started on defense for the Vikings yesterday, only three might enter the 2021 season as starters:

Harrison Smith

Jeff Gladney

D.J. Wonnum

Rookie guard Kyle Hinton had been on the practice squad all season. He was promoted to the active roster for this game. I hoped that the promotion was so that Hinton could start this game. He didn’t. Instead, Dakota Dozier started a 16th game. 

This has been a strange, mostly frustrating season for the Minnesota Vikings. Despite some defensive atrocities and a slow offensive start against the Lions, it was fun to see the Vikings end this season with a win. It’s fun to see the Vikings win football games. I can’t wait for the day in which the Vikings end a playoff run with a win. It’s coming.