Sunday was a great day in Detroit. The Lions proved that being favored over the Minnesota Vikings despite Detroit being 5-7 and the visitors at 10-2 was justified. Dan Campbell’s Lions ripped off their fifth win in six games, toppling the Vikings, 34-23.
The win prevented the Vikings from clinching the NFC North inside Ford Field and elevated the Lions to just one game back of the final playoff berth in the NFC. It was a game where the Lions never trailed but had to consistently fight off a good Vikings team.
Here are some of the quick takeaways from watching the Week 14 game in real time.
Lions were the sharper team
The Lions did not play a perfect game, but they were a whole lot sharper when it mattered in Week 14 than the Vikings.
Detroit did not turn the ball over once. Minnesota gave it up twice, though one of those was on a meaningless final play. The first one was a critical point in the game, however; DT Isaiah Buggs slammed into Vikings RB Dalvin Cook on an awkward play from Minnesota on 1st-and-goal from the Detroit 3-yard line in the second quarter. Rookie safety Kerby Joseph scooped up the loose ball and ended the threat.
The Lions did not allow a single sack of QB Jared Goff. Detroit got to Vikings QB Kirk Cousins four times, with a different Detroit defender initiating the sack each time. The blocking superiority also shone in the run game. The Lions held the Vikings to just 22 rushing yards on 17 carries, while Detroit ran for 134 yards on 30 carries.
The attention to detail and execution was better by the guys in the Honolulu Blue instead of the visitors in purple and white.
Confidence is sexy
Fans of a certain age might recall the aftershave advertisement with the tagline, “Confidence is Sexy”.
The Detroit Lions are bringing sexy back with their confidence in their play-calling. Head coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson continue to push the envelope with edgy, swaggering play calls that make the Lions very difficult to prepare to play against.
In this game, an absurdly confident Campbell dialed up a fake punt from the Lions own 30-yard line. Backup safety C.J. Moore rushed for 41 yards to keep the Detroit offense on the field. It was a gutsy call but a great one, given the look the Vikings showed before the snap.
Then came the Sewell Special. Flexing out giant right tackle Penei Sewell into the left slot, then motioning him across the formation as a receiver? On a critical late third down?! Sewell made Johnson and Campbell look like a mad-scientist genius. The call won the game.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn got in on it too. Glenn dialed up several exotic, well-rehearsed stunts and blitzes to disrupt the Minnesota offense. Other than wideout Justin Jefferson having a career game, the Lions defense performed more than well enough to win. They did so with a swagger, a sureness to their step. Confidence.
Sexy.
Total team win
One of the key differences between the Lions and Vikings was the performance of the non-superstars. There’s no denying how well Justin Jefferson, Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Tomlinson and even old friend T.J. Hockenson (minus his bad drop) played for the Vikings. However, the Vikings struggled to find anyone else who really stepped up.
That wasn’t the case for the Lions. Yeah, top talents Aidan Hutchinson, Jared Goff and Penei Sewell all had great games. But so many other Detroit players made crucial contributions to the win. Wideout DJ Chark had his best game (6 catches, 94 yards and a TD) in a Lions uniform. LB Alex Anzalone spearheaded a fantastic run defense effort, and he also broke up a pass. DT Isaiah Buggs notched his first career sack and first career forced fumble. CB Jerry Jacobs chipped in with a sack and a PD that snuffed out a Vikings drive (and probably should have been called pass interference). Reserve CB Mike Hughes had two TFLs against Dalvin Cook. Third-string RB Justin Jackson scored a huge touchdown by out-efforting the Vikings defense.
Perhaps the best example is the Lions’ leading rusher on the day: backup safety C.J. Moore. He ran for 41 yards on his fake punt attempt, four more yards than Jamaal Williams netted on 16 carries. Moore also recovered the final fumble and threw a key block on Kalif Raymond’s long punt return. Deep reserve guard Logan Stenberg did not allow a sack in his first game action in months.
Minnesota’s stars shown bright, but the overall depth of talent from the Lions proved too much for the top-heavy roster of the Vikings.
Quick hits
–Give TE Brock Wright considerable credit for Justin Jackson’s touchdown run. Wright threw a better block on that play than Detroit ever saw from T.J.. Hockenson in his three-plus seasons with the Lions. Watch No. 89 here:
Justin Jackson’s first rushing touchdown as a Lion! pic.twitter.com/pPz3stgNZd
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) December 11, 2022
–It was very noticeable the difference in both Chark and Josh Reynolds now that each is healthy. Reynolds’ ability to change speeds on his routs was back vs. the Vikings. It had been missing.
–The offensive line allowed zero sacks and just three QB hits on Goff. For a group playing with a fourth-string RG and a hobbled center, that’s dang impressive against a Vikings defense that entered Sunday in the upper half of the league in sack percentage. Taylor Decker continues to quietly dominate foes at left tackle; this might have been his best game of the year.
–I did not mind the Lions playing for the FG attempt at the end of the first half. Michael Badgley needs to make the kick; it was the right decision. Badgley redeemed himself with the game-clincher later and the significance of that make cannot be overstated, not with the FG controversy from the first meeting.
–Detroit scored at least 25 points for the fifth straight game. Lions play-by-play man Dan Miller noted on the broadcast that it was the first time that has happened since 1954.
