After a bye week meant for recharging, the Lions faltered, struggling to find momentum and points against a scrappy Vikings squad.
The Lions went into Sunday’s bout against the Vikings riding high — coming off a statement win over the Buccaneers and a bye week for the ages filled with costume parties, lazy Sundays, and more.
The doors to Ford Field opened, and the crowd was buzzing. The Pistons had picked up a statement win in Mexico City the night before, the Red Wings were set to play later that night, and the Lions hosted a Vikings team clinging to playoff hopes with a quarterback making just his third career start. Minnesota entered hostile territory where they hadn’t held a lead in nearly four years and hadn’t beaten the Lions in five tries. Their backs were against the wall — and that’s often when you see a team at its scrappiest.
Corner a man, and you’ll see him find every way out — like a rat.
The Lions moved the ball well on their opening drive, and that was about it. A few other drives showed promise, but each ended the same way — stalled out with excuses instead of points. Trailing the entire game after that first drive was a bad look for the offense, defense, and coaching staff alike. Coming out this flat after a bye week against a divisional opponent who knows you inside and out? That’s as disappointing as it gets.
The Good#
Not much — but there were a few bright spots.
Terrion Arnold started rough, missing one of the worst open-field tackles you’ll ever see on Minnesota’s opening drive. But after that, he settled in and got sticky in coverage. It wasn’t always against Justin Jefferson, but he did his job against Jordan Addison and anyone else who came his way.
Arnold snagged his first career interception — after a wild review process that saw it ruled a catch for the Vikings, then overturned, then upheld again. It was a well-earned moment for the rookie, even if it didn’t turn into points (because let’s be honest, the Lions might be the worst team in football at capitalizing off turnovers).
On offense, Jameson Williams finally showed signs of life. His 4-catch, 66-yard, 1-touchdown performance wasn’t record-breaking, but it was progress — especially after his two-target, zero-catch outing against Tampa Bay. Offensive coordinator John Morton said earlier in the week, “I failed him.” To Morton’s credit, they got Williams involved a little more — though it started with a -2 yard screen before finally opening him up deep in the second half. Williams and Sam LaPorta were the lone bright spots on an otherwise frustrating day.
After the game, Williams summed it up:
“We’re gonna do what we’re known best for: we’re gonna bounce back. We lost by three points, man. We had the opportunities, we just gotta come through on ‘em. We still could’ve won that game.”
The Bad#
John Morton and Dan Campbell. Yes, both.
Campbell has earned plenty of goodwill — a 5-3 record after losing seven coaches in one offseason is nothing to scoff at — but that excuse has expired. The Lions entered this game just a Packers loss and Lions win away from reclaiming the NFC North lead. They got the former, but the latter slipped away due to sloppy, undisciplined play.
Campbell even admitted it himself:
“Ultimately, it’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played in a really long time.”
He’s right. This was the first time in years it felt like a Lions team from the dark ages — think Matt Millen era, Marty Mornhinweg on the headset. Ten penalties, poor line play, lack of effort, lack of preparation. Thirteen days to prepare, and it looked like they just rolled out of bed.
Morton’s play-calling didn’t help. He’s coaching scared — like the coach in The Waterboy who’s afraid to use his own head. The offense has been stuck in neutral for a while now. Against Kansas City, it was bad. Against Tampa Bay, Jahmyr Gibbs carried it on his back. The defense won that game. And on Sunday? Outside of the opening and final touchdown drives, the offense was flat-out putrid for 50 minutes.
The Ugly#
The injuries.
Yes, the offensive line deserves criticism — but the real ugliness came from the accumulation of injuries. The Lions finished with just 65 rushing yards on 20 carries, and Goff was under pressure constantly. Injuries decimated the line: Decker left hurt (again), Mahogany was carted off, Ratledge and Sewell both exited for stretches. When four of your five starters are down, you see just how cemented Goff’s feet really are. Without protection, he can’t move — literally or metaphorically.
On the other side of the ball, Terrion Arnold and Amik Robertson both left the game for periods, and even Amon-Ra St. Brown scared the crowd when he went down motionless before thankfully walking off on his own.
It was an ugly, frustrating, injury-filled loss that reopened some old wounds.
The Bottom Line#
The Lions had a few good moments, a lot of bad ones, and a whole lot of ugly. They’ll need to dust themselves off quickly with a playoff rematch next week against the Commanders — likely without Jayden Daniels, who suffered a gruesome arm injury Sunday night. But the question is: how many injuries will linger for Detroit?
The home stretch starts now — and the margin for error just got a whole lot thinner.