4 takeaways from the Lions win over the Vikings
It’s been a long time since the Detroit Lions treated fans to a victory Monday. The team snapped a losing streak almost exactly one year to the day by beating the Minnesota Vikings, 29-27 on the game’s final play in Week 13.
The win ends all the talk about a potential winless season and was a much-needed reward for the players and coaching staff for sticking together and coaxing the most out of a largely undertalented roster all season.
After enjoying the win and sleeping on the game, here are a few next-day thoughts about Detroit’s win over Minnesota.
Dan Campbell got lucky with his poor in-game decisions
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Dan Campbell is not earning the right kind of reputation for an in-game decision-maker. Sunday’s win came in spite of a couple of ponderous decisions from the rookie head coach, not because of them.
No play was more critical than a 4th-and-1 call from the Lions own 28-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Detroit was clinging to a 23-21 lead with just over four minutes to play. The offense had gone ice cold in the half to that point. The Lions have the NFL’s best punter in Jack Fox and the defense wasn’t playing poorly, but Campbell lined up to go for it.
After calling a timeout to think it over, Campbell stuck with going for it. But rather than lean upon the offensive line and powerful RB Jamaal Williams, he dialed up a play-action rollout by Jared Goff that was born to lose and destined to fail. Goff coughed up the ball on a strip-sack and the Vikings were in business.
I’m not sure which is worse, deciding to go for it from his own 28-yard line or choosing that particular play call. It’s an inexcusable gaffe. It’s not acceptable for Campbell to make that decision, more specifically in trusting Goff to make that kind of play. Burning a valuable timeout to do that? Nope. Can’t do it.
Campbell got away with it because his Vikings counterpart, Mike Zimmer, proved even more inept at in-game management. If Zimmer simply elects to kick extra points instead of going for two after their three touchodwns, the Vikings win the game. That doesn’t absolve Campbell from making his dumb mistakes, but it is a reminder that lots of respected coaches bungle critical decisions.
John Harbaugh, for my money the NFL’s best coach, directly cost his team a chance to win with a questionable decision and a situationally clueless play call in his Ravens’ loss to Pittsburgh. Sean McVay of the Rams did the same last Sunday. I’ve watched reigning NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski directly cost his Cleveland Browns two potential wins this season with wretched “kick or go-for-it” decisions.
Again, it does not make what Campbell is doing acceptable. But the narrative that Campbell is “the worst” or “the only” coach who is making terrible in-game choices is wildly inaccurate. It would still be a lot better if Campbell stopped being one of the primary culprits though.
The more aggressive Jared Goff is a better quarterback
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Jared Goff had arguably his best day throwing the football in a Detroit Lions uniform. While he was far from perfect and also made some bad choices, Goff’s willingness to attack down the field was a huge key to the Lions biggest offensive output since Week 1.
Per Next Gen Stats, Goff ranked second in the league in Week 13 (through Sunday’s games) in average air yards per completion at 8.2. Goff had not ranked outside of the bottom 10 in any other week this season. He attempted 13 passes that went at least 11 yards beyond the line of scrimmage against the Vikings. That’s two more than he had combined in a three-game period from Weeks 6-8. Goff completed eight of those longer attempts, including all three touchdowns.
Goff has been more willing to air the ball out since missing Week 11 with an injury. Perhaps not coincidentally, top receiving RB D’Andre Swift has not been available for Goff to lean upon.
The defense came out with a strong game plan
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Detroit’s defense played a fantastic first half of football in Ford Field. It was a smart use of personnel and pressure from coordinator Aaron Glenn and well-executed by the players, notably OLB Charles Harris and CB Jerry Jacobs.
Minnesota came into the game with a shuffled offensive line, and Glenn smartly attacked them. Harris had a distinct advantage over Vikings emergency LT, Oli Udoh. But Glenn helped out Harris by moving him around and using tricks to help spring pressures. There was a fantastic twist that led to a pressure on Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, forcing a bad throw.
The early focus in coverage was on not letting Cousins find success down the field. Jacobs in particular did a fantastic job of keeping the play in front of him and quickly making a sure tackle. Glenn smartly knew that Cousins is the kind of QB who will take what the defenses gives him, and the Lions gave him short passes that didn’t threaten to give up big plays.
The Vikings adjusted after the half, and the Lions didn’t keep up the pressure as well as hoped. But the initial defensive game plan was a well-conceived design from Glenn and the coaching staff and it allowed the Lions to post their biggest lead of the season at the half.
Quick hits
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
–One big reason for the win: the Lions committed just three penalties, costing them 11 total yards. A week after the offensive line was guilty of six holding penalties, they were flagged for zero on Sunday.
–Amon-Ra St. Brown and T.J. Hockenson both destroyed the Vikings linebackers on intermediate routes all day, even on plays where they didn’t get the ball. Minnesota was without two starters and the Lions nicely exploited the replacements.
–Kicker Riley Patterson was perfect, making all three field goals and two extra points. There was no doubt on any of the attempts, either. Good job, rookie!
–Rookie CB Ifeatu Melifownu was effectively invisible in 10 snaps on defense in his first action since Week 2. Being invisible as a cornerback against a pass-heavy team like Minnesota is a good thing.
–The first sack on Goff was the result of a miscommunication between LT Taylor Decker and LG Jonah Jackson. The duo figured it out after the terrible gaffe; Decker pitched a shutout after that, while Jackson allowed just one pressure in the rest of the game.
–Josh Woods saw his first extended action at linebacker in place of injured Jalen Reeves-Maybin. He and Derrick Barnes split the reps next to Alex Anzalone, who did not leave the field. Barnes was far more effective than Woods, especially in run defense. It was worth trying the speedier Woods, but the experiment needs to end.
–Another experiment that needs to end: Will Harris as the slot CB. He was on the receiving end of two Vikings TD throws, though blaming him for Justin Jefferson’s success is not seeing the forest from the trees. The sheer lack of instincts remains alarming, unfortunately.
–The run blocking was much-improved with RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai back after missing time with a concussion. Fans continue to complain about his contract, but the Lions are a lot better at running the ball when he’s a focal point of the blocking effort.
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