Lions at Vikings Game Wrap: Vikes Suffer Two Bad Losses to the Lions
Joe Oberle
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The Vikings suffered their first loss at U.S. Bank Stadium in 2017 as the visiting Detroit Lions came in and beat them by a score of 14-7. The Vikings suffered an even greater loss when rookie running back Dalvin Cook left the game in the second half with a knee injury that looked to be serious. All in all it was a tough afternoon for the Purple, as the Lions held on to a share of the lead in the NFC North (tied with the Green Bay Packers) and the Vikings dropped to 2-2 and a game out of first place.
Poor offensive execution, and the loss of three fumbles were eventually what sunk the Vikings, as the defense played another decent game (holding the Lions to one touchdown and two field goals). But the offense could only put one touchdown on the board and it was never enough to beat a confident Lions team.
The Vikings will have to go back and lick their wounds (literally), as suddenly an optimistic group coming off of a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week has had their fortunes dimmed a bit. They have a little extra time with the next game coming against the suddenly woeful Chicago Bears next Monday night at Soldier Field, but it likely won’t be enough time to get Cook back into the backfield. We will await word on that coming this week.
Trending
We all wondered before the game which Case Keenum would show up—good Case like against the Bucs or not-so-good Case against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It seemed like it was both. Keenum played an up-and-down game against the Lions, sometimes making great moves in the pocket followed by nice passes, and other times making bad decisions under duress (throwing to David Morgan near the endzone with three defenders in the vicinity, for example, and another time into double coverage in the end zone to Laquon Treadwell—one that should have been picked off.). He finished the game 16 of 30 for 219 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions (76.9 quarterback rating). It was a far cry from his highlight reel work from last week, but better than we saw against the Steelers. The Vikings will need more out of him with both Sam Bradford and Cook not returning to the field next week.
The Vikings defense rose to the challenge on Sunday afternoon. Their usual bend-but-don’t-break MO came up big in the red zone at the start of 2nd quarter and again at the beginning of the third when the offense coughed up a fumble. Holding the high-powered Lions defense to two field goals in those situations was huge in a low-scoring game. But no defense should be expected to stand up forever when the opposition gets the ball on short fields time and again. The defense sacked quarterback Matthew Stafford five times and hit him eight times, but they had trouble keeping the running game in check. There were some missed tackles on the afternoon that hurt (see below), but holding the Lions to 14 points should typically have been a win.
Dalvin Cook put another decent performance for the Vikings in his fourth game as a pro. Cook ground out his typical tough yards up the middle until finding the end zone for the Vikings’ first score—the second touchdown of his career. His numbers on the game were 13 for 66 yards and a touchdown, plus one catch for eight yards on three targets—all in a little over two quarters of play. He dropped a catchable pass early and was part of a fumbled handoff in the wildcat (although that was more on Jerick McKinnon).
But the sight of Cook on the ground grabbing for his left knee was a terrible sight for Vikings fans (he left the game and didn’t return)—particularly when his fumble led to the Lions’ only touchdown. The Vikings need Cook back as soon as possible, because he is the engine that makes the offense go. It looked like a possible ACL (although Cook returned to the sidelines in dress clothes before it was over) and he may be done for the season. Huge loss for the Purple.
Update: Ian Rappaport and Tom Pelissero are reporting that Cook has a complete tear of his left ACL. An MRI will come Monday. Bad news all around.
Worth Defending
With plenty of preseason attention on Danielle Hunter as a player heading toward a big year, he had been shut out thus far this season in the sack department. But on Sunday, he got to the Lions quarterback twice in the first quarter, disrupting play and eventually drawing a double team. The word has been that Hunter has certainly contributed to the success of the defensive line, playing team defense and setting up Everson Griffen on the other end of the line for sacks (he set up another for Linval Joseph against the Lions to stop a second quarter drive). But it was only a matter of time for Hunter. One of his sacks was a spin move in which he was falling down and reached past the lineman blocking him to trip up Stafford on the way to the ground. Hunter, who had five tackles and a big blocked pass on third down, looked like man possessed, and it was nice to see him finally break out.
The offense in general had a bad day on Sunday. The offensive line did so-so throughout the day—keeping Keenum clean except for two sacks and five QB hits and opening some small holes for Cook and his replacement Latavius Murray. But they were never able to put sustained drives together and constantly sputtered for one reason (a dropped pass on third down by McKinnon and a sack allowed by right side of the line when the team could least afford it—going for the game tying touchdown in the final minutes). The Vikings need more out of the offense as a unit and it starts with better quarterback play and the line up front.
Adam Thielen had another good game for the Vikings, seeming to catch everything coming his way—whether the defender was draped over and holding back one arm or not. Unfortunately, it might be his final play of the game that will be remember—a fumble that sunk the Vikings chances to tie the game on the last drive. He finished the day with five receptions for 59 yards—but it was the fumble that squelched the Vikings last ditch effort. His buddy Stefon Diggs was no slouch, either, racking up five catches for 98 yards on the game, but neither player could get open enough to get the offense moving up and down the field.
Should be Ending
Taking the kickoffs out of the endzone. I am not sure where I come down on this—I suppose it is a case-by-case basis, which is just like the decisions by Jerick McKinnon are made on each kick. Getting the ball at the 25 looks awfully good when you don’t bring it out past the 15—which is very likely to happen when you are taking out kicks eight yards deep in the end zone. Now taking out a near 60-yard field goal attempt that fell short—they can do that anytime they want. But this offense doesn’t need to start in any kind of a hole if they aren’t going to compile any more than 284 yards on the day.
The hard count. The Vikings picked up five yards early in the game on the hard count by Case Keenum, so they figured it was worth another try in the second quarter on fourth and less than a yard in their own territory. The fans were happy to see that the Vikings were potentially going for it on fourth down, but the game situation (down by three in the first half) and field position (ball on the Vikings’ 36 yard line) didn’t warrant it. On top of everything else, it cost the Vikings a first-half time out when they already used one on that drive. I was excited to see them go for it, but quickly surmised that it was going to be one of those woefully unsatisfying failed attempts to draw the defense offside. Zimmer made the right call, but it certainly wasn’t the most exciting one.
Missed tackles—Far too many of them were taking place by the Vikings defense trying to tackle the Lions’ slippery running backs. Just from memory, Eric Kendricks had three (uncharacteristic) misses in the first half, plus Mackenzie Alexander tacked on one. In the second half, Andrew Sendejo missed two and Trae Waynes missed one clear shot on Ameer Abdullah. No matter how well a defense plays, missed tackles are going to hurt in the long run, and the Vikings had trouble bringing down Abdullah (20 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown) until he left the game with injury.