Matthew Coller: Everything that went right and wrong in Vikings loss to Lions

Sam Darnold hit big passes under pressure but the Lions attacked the whole defense....

Oct 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) tackles Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) during the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings came up short for the first time this season. Let’s put the game under a microscope and have a look at what worked and didn’t work in the 31-29 defeat….

What went right

Greenard and Van Ginkel rushing the passer

The Vikings’ two edge rushers have been as good as any pair in the NFL this year and they showed it against a really good tackle duo. Greenard had one of the best games of his career with nine QB pressures, a ridiculous 93.7 pass rush grade by PFF and a sack. The crazy part is that those numbers came on just 19 pass rush snaps. Van Ginkel had two sacks and a pair of pressures.

Greenard ranks third in the NFL in total pressures only behind Aidan Hutchinson and Nick Bosa. Despite a versatile role, Van Ginkel is tied with Montez Sweat and ahead of TJ Watt in pressures this year.

Tackle play (again)

At this point you might be getting bored of this constantly showing up in the “what went right” category but facts are facts. Christian Darrisaw had a 85.8 PFF grade and Brian O’Neill 78.1. Combined they allowed one QB pressure.

Both tackles are in the top 20 in pass blocking and top 15 overall graded in the league and neither player has allowed 10 pressures yet this season. The Vikings and Eagles are the only teams with two tackles in the top 15.

Aaron Jones

He wasn’t 100% healthy, yet Jones ran the ball 14 times for 93 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards. He took 43 total snaps while backup Ty Chandler played just 11. Jones also was in the game for eight pass blocking snaps and gave up one hurry.

It’s clear that the Vikings offense operates way differently when Jones is in the backfield.

Darnold under pressure

This season Darnold has struggled at times while under duress but that was not the case on Sunday. He threw six passes, completed five for 105 yards and a touchdown. Three of those passes qualified by PFF as “big-time” throws.

The downside was that he was sacked four times and his average under-pressure drop-back lasted 3.6 seconds, which is a long time to hold the ball.

What went wrong

Filling in for Cashman

While Josh Metellus caused a key fumble late in the game and Ivan Pace Jr. took it back for a touchdown, it was clear that Blake Cashman’s presence was missed. Metellus played most of the snaps in his absence (37 in the box) and made six run stops but the Lions went 5-for-5 passing into his coverage for 73 yards.

The rest of the group that tried to take Cashman’s place struggled. Pace Jr. was credited with four missed tackles and allowing 4-for-4 for 52 yards into his coverage. He graded a 47.0 overall even with four QB pressures.

Kamu Grugier-Hill was used on just 10 snaps. Dallas Turner took two snaps at LB.

Overall the Lions ran for 144 yards and threw seven completions to their RBs for 83 yards.

Blitzing Goff

Another part of Cashman’s absence may have been the ineffectiveness of the blitzes. The veteran linebacker makes a lot of changes at the line of scrimmage based on what he sees and the results have been excellent this season. But against Jared Goff, the results were miserable. He went 15-for-16 with 165 yards and one touchdown when the Vikings rushed more than four players.

The Vikings still gave up 115 yards on nine attempts when they didn’t blitz but they got three sacks and Goff had two turnover-worthy plays when there weren’t extra rushers coming his way.

It will be very interesting to see how the Vikings approach rushing Goff the next time they face off.

Detroit attacked everyone

The Lions didn’t focus on one particular player. Instead they distributed the ball all over the place. Here’s how the targets and receptions allowed shook out (per PFF):

— Josh Metellus: 5-for-5, 73 yards

— Ivan Pace Jr.: 4-for-4, 52 yards

— Byron Murphy Jr.: 3-for-4, 26 yards

— Cam Bynum: 3-for-3, 48 yards

— Harrison Smith: 3-for-3, 42 yards

— Stephon Gilmore: 3-for-3, 37 yards

Penalties

The Vikings committed eight penalties for 59 yards. Several were caused by someone (twice Jordan Addison) lining up wrong. Kevin O’Connell was still fuming about those flags on Monday.

“I think there were some, just flat out, things that can't happen, either a receiver covering up on the ball, tight end in a very simple formation,” O’Connell said. “I don't know if our guys were pressing, we wanted to win that game for sure. I mean, you could feel it in the lead into it. There was no hiding from the fact that we knew it was a divisional opponent at home, really good football team. I felt like our guys were prepared, but there was some things execution wise of just the simple things before the ball ever gets snapped.”

A key third down

With 2:46 remaining and a one-point lead, the Vikings faced third-and-4. With a first down they might be able to close out the game but instead Sam Darnold threw incomplete in the direction of Justin Jefferson. There seemed some confusion on the play as Jefferson and Addison ended up in the same area.

O’Connell explained what happened on Monday.

“I think we got to maximize the space a little bit better, whether that's our pre-snap formation or just finishing the concept the way we need to finish it,” O’Connell said. “We do not want to have those two players kind of stacked there as Sam’s [Darnold] moving to it, kind of a play that had a separate play attached to it. If we got a different defensive look, and then that's a throw and catch that I think if we have a clear path to throw Justin [Jefferson] right there, I think we throw and catch that thing and move on.”

Dallas Turner’s snaps

Overall the Vikings’ first-round pick was on the field for just five plays. One of them was Detroit’s long touchdown run by Jahmyr Gibbs.

It seemed reasonable to think Turner might play more with Cashman out but he was on the field for the fewest plays of the entire season. In total he has now only played 82 snaps.

His situation is unique though because most first-round picks aren’t behind two star edge players. O’Connell talked about his outlook going forward.

“He's a young player in a defense where the roles and responsibilities sometimes in game can adjust based upon what we're seeing. I think we've got a really deep outside linebacker room…trust me, I've got a ton of confidence in Dallas, and he's growing within a pretty high, high-level IQ defense. I think he's an incredible fit in our defense, not only in the present, but in the future as well. He’s going to be an absolute monster for us. But sometimes the way the game flow goes, there might be, what personnel are they using and how do we want to match that personnel, things like that.”