The GM’s Reactions after an awful loss at Detroit
Jeff Diamond
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Vikings Insider, The GM’s View
There have been a lot of bad moments in this up-and-down, seemingly ill-fated 2021 Vikings season.
But the worst occurred on Sunday in Detroit in an exasperating 29-27 loss to the previously winless Detroit Lions that puts the Minnesota Vikings playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
Two plays on the Lions’ final drive were particularly galling. After Minnesota had sleep-walked through most of the first half and battled back to lead 27-23 with 1:50 remaining (mostly due to another fantastic day for Justin Jefferson), Detroit and their immobile QB Jared Goff were facing 3rd-and-10 from their 36.
Goff had turned it over on his last two possessions, with an interception and a strip sack when the Vikings sent linebacker Blake Lynch on a blitz (after an absurd decision by Lions Coach Dan Campbell to go for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 28 yard line with a two point lead). Lynch also had an earlier sack on a 3rd-and-13 blitz.
Instead of bringing pressure, preferably with Lynch again and/or Harrison Smith, the Vikings rushed four and allowed fourth string running back Godwin Igwebuike to catch a pass in the middle of the field, run through a missed tackle by Cam Dantzler and get out of bounds, stopping the clock after a gain of 13 yards. Good defenses make this tackle inbounds.
The Vikings were missing their best corner in Patrick Peterson (Covid) and best pass covering linebacker in the injured Eric Kendricks (along with Anthony Barr who is out injured as usual). On this final drive, they blitzed only one time out of 14 plays, with Smith and Nick Vigil pressuring Goff into a risky throw that should’ve been intercepted by bad-hands Bashaud Breeland.
Minnesota inexplicably played a prevent defense with a three-man rush and no blitzing for the last several plays on this final drive, trusting their inconsistent corners and backup defenders to do the job in coverage. Bad decision.
Final and most galling play—4 seconds left—in one of the worst examples of pass defense in a critical situation by a corner that I’ve ever seen, Dantzler played 10 yards off his man, rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown, and displayed no urgency as he amazingly retreated four yards deep into the end zone. St. Brown ran a simple curl and was wide open for the unchallenged winning score.
And we thought we’d seen it all this season. Winds up as another game this Vikings team can’t finish after it looked like they had turned the corner in big wins against the Chargers and Packers.
Here are my other reactions to Sunday’s frustrating loss at Detroit:
1.Too many field goals early and bad two-point play calls: Not a great day overall for offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Yes, it was tougher in the red zone after Adam Thielen left early with an ankle injury but the play calls were shaky (as was Cousins’ execution) on two early drives that resulted in field goals.
The first two of the three missed 2–point conversions were lousy play calls—inside handoffs to Kene Nwangwu and Alexander Mattison (even Zimmer said the calls “weren’t very good”). If they hit on one of those, then they can kick the PAT after Jefferson’s TD to gain a seven point lead going into Detroit’s last TD drive, ensuring overtime or a Lions’ two-point conversion attempt to win.
2. Too much O-line shuffling: With left tackle Christian Darrisaw out, the Vikings started Garrett Bradbury at center, Mason Cole at right guard and Oli Udoh in his first start at tackle instead of his usual guard spot. Tackle Rashod Hill is not great but he is the backup at left tackle and the line looked discombobulated too often with this over-shuffling that resulted in three position changes instead of one.
3. Officials miss a big face mask: The Vikings were hurt by a couple huge non-calls in the San Francisco loss and in the second quarter, the officials missed an obvious face-mask against Cousins on the strip sack that stopped a Vikings drive and set up a Lions TD drive that put them up 14-6. Make the call and the Vikings have a first down at the Detroit 18-yard line.
4. Game of inches—Tyler Conklin made a great leaping catch in third quarter as he was being shoved out of bounds and his left foot was out of bounds by one inch. As a result, Minnesota settled for another field goal and trailed 20-9. The extra four points would’ve been huge in the close game.
5. J.J. is phenomenal—It appears the Vikings will need to win four of the last five games so they reach 9-8 and a possible wild card spot. In order to accomplish this feat, they will need continued big production from their best player in Jefferson whose late TD reception should have been the game-winner. J.J. now ranks second in the league with 1,209 receiving yards after 11 catches for 182 yards and 1 TD in the loss at Detroit.
One good thing that Kubiak has done the last three weeks is putting Jefferson in a lot of different spots formation-wise to try and confuse coverage attempts. If Thielen’s ankle keeps him out Thursday and possibly longer and Cook is still out, Jefferson becomes even more important as he and Cousins must be the catalysts for a run to the playoffs.
6. Defensive breakdowns are maddening: It’s a familiar pattern with some good moments such as the two second half turnovers forced by a depleted defense missing several starters and then an end of game meltdown that followed an end of first half with two field goals for Detroit, the first after a long drive and the second set up by a Zimmer decision he said he regretted which was to go for it on 4th-and-10 from the Detroit 42). The defense had held the Lions without a third down conversion until collapsing on the last drive.
I’ll say again that the offense must carry this team but the defense has to make stops when the clock is on their side such as the end of the game in Detroit and it would be nice to go into halftime without the downer of just allowing points.
Around the NFL Observations:
1.Here come the revived Steelers: Can the Vikings crank it up by Thursday night for a Steelers team coming off a last second victory over their arch-rival? More on that in the coming days but both teams badly need to win–5-7 Minnesota is on the playoff ropes and 6-5-1 Pittsburgh is in a tight race for the AFC North title or a wild card spot.
The Steelers stopped the Ravens’ gutsy two point attempt to win the game on Sunday as T.J. Watt got in Lamar Jackson’s face to force an off target throw. Watt had 3.5 sacks in the game and now has 16 on the season to lead the league. Buckle up, Vikings tackles even if Darrisaw returns and be ready to chip Watt with tight ends and running backs.
2. Heading in the right direction: Miami has won five straight games after a 1-7 start with their defense and QB Tua Tagovailoa stepping up. And last year’s Super Bowl teams have heated up—the Chiefs, now with five straight wins after beating Denver and the Buccaneers with three victories in a row, coming off their win in Atlanta. Washington has won four straight headed into a big home game Sunday against Dallas. Hottest team of all going into Monday night’s showdown at Buffalo was New England with six straight wins.
Heading in the wrong direction: New Orleans with five straight losses as injuries to Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara and several O-linemen have derailed the Saints’ season.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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