Vikings Mauled in Motown
Vikings Territory Breakdown
The 14-2 Minnesota Vikings travelled to the Motor City to take on the 14-2 Detroit Lions for all the marbles—including the NFC North division title and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But the Vikings ran into a Purple buzzsaw named Jahmyr Gibbs on Sunday night. Gibbs put up 170 total yards and four touchdowns, and the depleted Lions defense held a moribund Vikings passing offense in check to the tune of a 31-9 thrashing.
It could have been different. The Vikings made several marches into the Red Zone, but they came away empty-handed after two failed fourth down conversions that put them behind the 8-ball of the near-best offense in the league. It was still a game early into the third quarter despite the conversion problems (the Vikings 3-for-16 in 3rd- and 4th-down conversions), but the Vikings’ lack of finishing drives caught up with them and the Lions ran away with it.
Quarterback Sam Darnold looked too amped up, throwing high often and rarely putting the ball where it needed to be; the offensive line gave him little time (giving up two sacks and 10 QB hits); and place kicker Will Reichard continued to look out of sorts with a missed 51-yarder plus two balky kickoffs (one leading to a Lions field goal at the end of the first half).
The end result is that the Vikings end up the regular season 14-3, second place in the North and the fifth seed in the NFC. That takes them out to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in a Wild Card battle next Monday night.
The Vikings will try like heck to avoid replicating their two-game mid-season skid against these same two teams with a win over the Rams. In the meantime, it’s a new season, and the fellas at Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com—have all you need to get you prepped for it. Tune in and check it out. Skol!!!!!
Vikings Gashed by the Run Again