Inside The Vikings

Banged-Up Vikings Gashed on Defense, Fall to Lions 30-24

Injuries and the Lions' overall talent were too much to overcome on Sunday.

Will Ragatz

In this story:

The Detroit Lions are probably a better football team than the Minnesota Vikings this season. There's enough evidence to suggest that that's the case. But even though injuries are part of life in the NFL, the version of the Vikings that played against the Lions in the second half of Sunday's game hardly looked anything like the group Minnesota had on the field a couple months ago.

Nick Mullens, the Vikings' fourth starting quarterback this season, threw four more interceptions in this game as Kirk Cousins watched from the sideline — including a duck that ended hopes of a miraculous comeback in the final minute. Down the stretch, Mullens was missing two of his top three targets in T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison, who both left Sunday's contest with lower-body injuries. Right tackle Brian O'Neill was also out. Defensively, the Vikings came into the day without top cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. and then lost starters Mekhi Blackmon and D.J. Wonnum to injuries during the game.

Given the injury context — and a few questionable officiating decisions — the Vikings actually put up quite the fight. But the circumstances were too much, Detroit too good, for a late Minnesota comeback attempt to come to fruition. In the end, the Lions hung on for a 30-24 victory that clinched their first division title since 1993 and temporarily knocked the 7-8 Vikings out of the playoff picture.

This game was the full Mullens experience. He threw for 411 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw four picks and narrowly avoided turnovers several other times. It was perhaps a fitting ending that Mullens was intercepted with less than a minute left on a ball that wobbled towards Justin Jefferson.

Speaking of Jefferson, the Vikings' superstar wide receiver did everything he could to try to win this game for his team. He finished with six receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown, with five of those catches going for at least 20 yards. The final one was a ridiculous, miraculous snag over double coverage on 3rd and 27 during the Vikings' final possession — a catch reminiscent of his breathtaking one-handed gem against the Bills last season.

But Jefferson can only do so much. The reality of the Vikings' situation these days is that without Kirk Cousins, their only options are backup quarterbacks — whether that's Mullens or Josh Dobbs or Jaren Hall. They've continued to battle since Cousins' injury, but that was realistically the end of their chance to contend for a title this season.

For the second consecutive week, the Vikings moved the ball on offense. They averaged 7.6 yards per play and got a huge game from K.J. Osborn in addition to another Jefferson masterclass. And for the second consecutive week, turnovers haunted them in a one-score loss.

This was a rough day for the Vikings' defense. The Lions had 389 yards of offense and were able to move the ball with ease for most of the afternoon, both on the ground and through the air. Four of the Lions' five scoring drives lasted at least 13 plays, including three time-killing touchdown drives of at least 75 yards. Brian Flores' group, which struggled down the stretch against the Bengals, got exposed a bit by Jared Goff and the Lions.

Then again, the Vikings were playing guys like Andrew Booth Jr. and Jaylin Williams at cornerback in crunch time. Pat Jones II had a huge game, but many of the Vikings' usual key contributors struggled to cover and tackle against an explosive Lions offense.

Detroit was the better team and is deserving of its first-ever NFC North title. In another world where Cousins never got hurt and other Vikings stayed healthy, maybe Minnesota defends its division crown. 

In this reality, Kevin O'Connell's team needs to rally just to secure a wild card spot. The story of Sunday's loss was the story of the season: Injuries, turnovers, and missed opportunities ruling the day during yet another one-score loss.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

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