Instant reaction: Disaster strikes as Lions win on walkoff touchdown
Does this signal the end of the current regime?
By Sam Ekstrom
Twenty years ago, the 5-7 Vikings went into Detroit and lost to the 0-12 Lions. Two weeks later, Denny Green lost his job.
Mike Zimmer is now in danger of a similar fate.
The Vikings lost 29-27 on a walk-off touchdown on the game’s final play, an 11-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown that may be the final nail in this regime’s coffin. Minnesota’s playoff hopes have been pushed to the brink, as has the patience of its fans — and maybe ownership’s, too.
In an effort to salvage the season, the Vikings scored 21 second-half points to take the lead after trailing for most of the final three quarters. Detroit turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter while Justin Jefferson scored a go-ahead touchdown inside of two minutes to give them a 27-23 lead.
It was over… until it wasn’t.
The Vikings played prevent as the Lions marched down the field with no timeouts, getting multiple shots at the end zone in the game’s waning seconds. With four seconds left, Jared Goff — who had played a brutal fourth quarter — took advantage of a cushy Vikings secondary and hit St. Brown for the winner, the fourth time Minnesota has lost a game this season on the final play.
In true Detroit fashion, the Lions had their fair share of shenanigans to keep the Vikings on life support throughout the game, seemingly hopeful to remain winless. Goff failed on a QB sneak on fourth-and-1 in his own territory in the first half. Dan Campbell ran the ball on a third down in the third quarter to settle for a long field goal try. And generally speaking, there wasn’t nearly enough attention paid to Jefferson, who finished with a career-high 182 yards.
It was shaping up as a classic Lions loss until the final play. It was also a classic Vikings performance as they played down to the exact level of an inferior opponent. Zimmer’s squad continues to lack a killer instinct, clearly failing to learn their lesson from Week 5 when they needed a last-second kick to beat Detroit.
Early on, the Vikings followed the perfect formula of how to lose to a winless team.
Not taking advantage of opportunities? Check. Minnesota settled for field goals on its first two red zone drives.
Turning it over? Check. Kirk Cousins got strip sacked in Detroit territory to give the Lions an extra first-half possession.
Lack of aggressiveness? Check. Cousins was hesitant to throw for the sticks on third down early in the game as the Vikings started 1 for 7 on conversions.
A key injury? Check. No fault of Adam Thielen’s, but the receiver got his ankle rolled on the first drive of the game to end his day, impairing the Vikings’ passing game.
Detroit took a 20-6 lead into halftime, thanks to two first-half touchdown passes to tight ends and two field goals in the final two minutes of the half — no shock, the Vikings’ two-minute woes struck again.
It wouldn’t have been a Vikings game, though, without Minnesota bringing it down to the final minute. Cousins led a field goal and a touchdown drive quickly out of the locker room to cut Detroit’s lead to 20-15 with Jefferson as the focal point. Sans Thielen, Jefferson got his fair share of work, including a 48-yard bomb that set up Alexander Mattison’s eight-yard touchdown run that was followed by a missed two-point conversion.
After allowing a Riley Patterson field goal, the Vikings traversed the field again, trailing 23-15, and Cousins converted a touchdown to a diving K.J. Osborn in the back of the end zone. Osborn was huge in relief of Thielen, but the Vikings couldn’t come up big on another two-point try, running Mattison into the teeth of the Lions defensive line.
Detroit’s second turnover set up Jefferson’s go-ahead touchdown, but the Vikings missed a third two-point conversion — six points that surely would’ve been helpful.
It remains head-scratching, befuddling, astounding, mind-blowing why the Vikings continually shoot themselves in the foot against bad teams.
Did the Vikings have injury issues? Definitely. Not only did Thielen leave early in the game, but the Vikings were missing Christian Darrisaw, Dalvin Cook, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Patrick Peterson, Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr. Undoubtedly, that was a factor.
But letting an 0-10-1 club dominate the first half? That’s unacceptable for a team on the playoff bubble.
Ironically, jobs might’ve been saved with Minnesota’s ugly Week 5 win over Detroit. Eight weeks later, the Lions have put them at stake again.
It seems unlikely the Vikings will make any changes with a short-week Thursday game upcoming, but when Minnesota’s ownership looks back at the 2021 season and wonders what to do with Zimmer, a loss to Detroit will stick out like a sore thumb.
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Let’s rush 3.
The team played aggressive to get back in the game and the second we had the lead Zimmer did wimp playing calling on defense. The one time he put pressure on Goff (who is Cousin`s light, not so bad with no pressure, a disaster with pressure) we almost got a pick.... Zimmer needs to go (realistically after the Pittsburgh game)