Looking at the 'self-inflicteds' of Vikings loss to Lions
The Vikings' first defeat of the season came along with plenty of miscues
By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — In all games that come down to the final moments, there are always a handful of plays that end up shifting the tide just enough for one team to come out ahead. In the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ 31-29 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, head coach Kevin O’Connell was left stewing over a handful of mistakes that opened the door for Detroit to come out on top.
“In a game like this, our players and coaches have to understand that we cannot just treat the end of game like this is how we're going to go win it,” O’Connell said after the game. “It might be your one impact might be a second-and-8 in the middle of the second quarter. Might be a first-and-10 in the middle of the first quarter. Might be the first play the game. But urgency and trying to make sure the standard is driven to a place around here where we get that execution, we make those plays.”
We can see those game-altering plays by looking at the game in reverse...
On the final drive by the Lions that ended in a game-winning field goal by kicker Jake Bates, the Vikings allowed 34 yards on the first three plays, all by running back Jahmyr Gibbs. The back breaker was a 16-yard reception by the former first-round running back that brought them from the 48-yard line into field goal position.
“A lot of times in those situations you're hoping to maybe keep the back in, keep in him in via pressure or whatever it was,” O’Connell said. “He got out and they were able to find him. It was an explosive for sure and a critical play in that moment.”
The Vikings had a chance to put the dagger in the Lions with the score 29-28. They sacked Jared Goff and forced a Detroit punt, setting up first-and-10 at the 22-yard line with 4:16 remaining. Two or three first downs for the Vikings and the game would have been over. Instead, after two runs gained six yards to set up third-and-4, Darnold rolled out to his right and failed to find an open Justin Jefferson. The play stopped the clock and ended the drive.
Before the Vikings failed to put away the Lions in the final minutes, they also failed to increase their lead to three points.
With 5:50 remaining and the Vikings trailing 28-23, safety Josh Metellus ripped the ball from the hands of running back David Montgomery and linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. ran it back for a touchdown. But on the two-point conversion, quarterback Sam Darnold tried to fit the ball into a tight window and had his pass broken up. From O’Connell’s explanation, it seemed maybe the throw was supposed to go elsewhere.
“Some motion there, man coverage there, they passed it off,” O’Connell said. “Sam tried to put it in there into a tight window. Might have had Speedy [Jalen Nailor] in the corner.”
O’Connell said they had a plan for the Lions passing off the coverage. Clearly they did not execute that plan.
The Vikings were trailing by five points when they got the return for TD because they failed to take fully advantage of a 51-yard pass from Darnold to Jordan Addison. Following the explosive pass that set the Vikings up on Detroit’s side of the field, the Lions got called for illegal contact and gave Minnesota a fresh set of downs at the 32-yard line down by eight points. A failed trick play was followed by back-to-back attempted scrambles that went nowhere and the Vikings had to kick a field goal.
It was the second time in the second half where they were deep into Detroit territory and couldn’t finish the drive with a touchdown. Late in the third quarter, Aaron Jones made one of the most impressive receptions (and routes) you will ever see from a running back to set the Vikings up with first-and-10 from the Detroit 24-yard line. But Darnold got sacked, forcing a field goal.
That brings us back to the latter part of the second half where the game really turned. The Vikings and Lions exchanged big plays and Detroit was ahead 14-10 midway through the second quarter. Darnold completed a pass to Justin Jefferson for 15 yards and then Jones caught a screen for 12 yards, bringing the Vikings to the Detroit 45-yard line. One completion or big run away from a field-goal position.
Darnold dropped back and looked downfield rather than checking it down to Jones, who was wide open in the flat, and S Brian Branch leaped in front of the ball and picked it off.
“Thought we might have had a chance to maybe give Aaron the ball there kind of as we talked about the play, but Sam had Jordan (Addison) flash to him and (Brian) Branch did a really nice job being in the area to kind of jump that throw,” O’Connell said. “You know, that's one of those things.”
The Lions did not need an invitation to put more points on the board. They went nine plays, 72 yards for a touchdown that put Detroit up 21-10.
“It's just these little self-inflicteds, whether it's a formation or hold or pre-snap infraction. I got to get that stuff fixed. When you're trying to win at the level we're trying to win against anybody we play, we can't do anything to help give football teams an out.”
Throughout the afternoon, there were all sorts of good things from the Vikings offense. Darnold finished the game 22-for-27 with one TD, one INT and a 103.5 QB rating. The Vikings rushed for 139 yards and Jones put together a gritty performance despite battling a hamstring injury since the London game two weeks ago.
“He was phenomenal,” O’Connell said. “Really good. He was not 100% but literally from the time we touched down from London to today, it's been sun up to sun down treatment. Tyler (Williams) and his staff did a great job.... Aaron is a true pro's pro, one of those standards for our team, and the fact he was able to not only make it but have the impact he did on the game, just very, very fortunate to have Aaron Jones on the football team that I coach.”
While we can pick apart each chance to win that the Vikings failed to convert, all the little things wouldn’t have added up to a loss had the defense not been shredded by Jared Goff. Per PFF, against Brian Flores’s blitzes Goff completed 14 of 16 passes for 149 yards. In total he only incompleted three throws all day (22-for-25) and averaged 11.2 yards per attempt.
When Goff needed big plays, he did not face a ton of resistance. He completed a 16-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the final drive to secure an easy field goal. He threw a 21-yard touchdown pass on third down late in the third quarter to put the Lions up 28-17. He threw a line drive touchdown to St. Brown when his blocking unit picked up a rush from the Vikings that left the star receiver one-on-one.
“Us not executing,” Metellus said. “End-of-game situations, key moments, in a heavyweight battle like this it comes down to situational football. We lost the situational football today.”
In the end, the Vikings and Lions had crazy close box scores. They were separated by just eight total yards, were penalized the same number of times, converted the same number of third downs and had nearly identical time of possession. It truly was a few key moments that dropped the Vikings to 5-1 on the season.
Vikings defenders talked about being happy to get back on the field on Thursday night when they face off with the Los Angeles Rams so they can shake off the tough game against the Lions. O’Connell doesn’t want them to forget about what went down on Sunday afternoon though.
“Championship caliber teams are going to look inward at the first sign of adversity,” he said. “We were able to do that in-game, come back, and get the lead. But challenge everybody to look inward and see if we can do just a little bit more. Can we be a little bit cleaner across the board. Because I have a ton of confidence in our team, our players, and how we work to continue to grow and get better. It's going to be a long season.”
I worry that what the Lions did well is more sustainable than what the Vikings have done well. I still think we are an offseason of additions away from being the team we want to be.
The Lions' OL is really good and played well; the Vikings' rushers weren't winning battles, even on blitzes, and that makes it tough to succeed. It's a long way to week 18 (and we'll see if both teams are playing their starters), but hopefully Flo will adjust the gameplan and blitz less.
The second quarter was sub-optimal, to put it mildly, however after front-running for the first five games, it was good to see the team can also fight back. Having to consistently come from behind would be a red flag, but Darnold was impressive when everyone in the building knew he'd have to throw.
Also, a hat tip to M. Daniels--the team was clearly ready for fake punts.