For the first time in the 2022 season, the Minnesota Vikings couldn’t pull out a win in a close game. Kevin O’Connell made it known early that he was going to coach aggressively, opting to go for a fourth-and-one attempt at the Vikings’ 46-yard line. The Detroit Lions stuffed the run, and they got on the board two plays later when Jared Goff found rookie wideout Jameson Williams for a 41-yard touchdown.
Many will question the decision to run a halfback pass inside the five-yard line. Others will criticize the two-point conversion attempt when the Vikings cut the lead to 21-13. And when a sliver of hope remained as the Vikings cut the score to 31-23, O’Connell decided to try an onside kick, perhaps believing that his defense couldn’t get Detroit’s offense off the field.
Instead, Detroit recovered and kicked a field goal to give them an insurmountable 34-23 lead with 17 seconds left. It was a frustrating day for the rookie head coach, whose aggressiveness didn’t pay off, and his defense couldn’t get the Lions off the field in the second half.
Still, there was some good on the day. The Vikings’ offense, which only averaged 5.2 yards per play heading into Week 14, averaged 6.7 yards on Sunday. Perhaps their past five games against some of the league’s best defenses helped sharpen them as they continue to mold into O’Connell’s vision. Kirk Cousins had his best game of the season, completing 31 of 41 passes for 425 yards and two touchdowns.
The results may not have been ideal for the day, but O’Connell’s aggressive approach may indicate that he is beginning to see his offense taking shape. On top of that, the Vikings still control their own destiny in their quest for the NFC’s No. 2 seed. A game like Sunday hopefully showed the Vikings that they can’t count on winning every close game to be among the conference’s best.
With that, let’s look at five numbers that told the story of the Vikings-Lions game.
2/4
After entering Week 14 with a scorching-hot red-zone offense, the Vikings converted only two of four red-zone opportunities against the Lions on Sunday. Over the past two games, they had scored touchdowns on eight of 10 red-zone opportunities. Precarious playcalling and untimely sacks wrecked two drives on Sunday.
The first came as the Vikings began driving for the tying score right before halftime, getting to the Lions’ three-yard line with 56 seconds remaining in the half. Instead of attempting to punch the ball in on the ground or throwing a pass to Justin Jefferson, O’Connell opted to have Dalvin Cook throw a pass. But Detroit’s defensive line blew the play up, getting to Cook as he held the ball in a vulnerable possession. The Lions recovered the fumble and held a 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
Minnesota’s second failed drive came after the Lions stretched the lead to 28-13 with 13:28 remaining in regulation. After three plays carried the Vikings 59 yards downfield to the Lions’ 16-yard line, Aiden Hutchinson sacked Cousins for a seven-yard loss. After two incompletions, the Vikings would settle for a field goal, squandering an opportunity to cut it to a one-score game.
1.3
Part of Minnesota’s red-zone issues stemmed from their lackluster rushing attack, which produced only 1.3 yards per carry on 22 attempts. Cook accounted for 15 of these carries for 23 yards, with one rushing touchdown on the goal line and a long of only five yards.
It’s fair to point out that the Vikings were without Christian Darrisaw and Garrett Bradbury on the offensive line on Sunday. But when the team opted to go for a fourth-and-one conversion on their first drive, the Lions blew up Cook’s run up the middle. Give O’Connell some credit for sticking to the running game despite its lack of success. However, it probably could have been abandoned altogether.
223
Justin Jefferson’s 223 receiving yards broke Sammy White’s 46-year-old team record. After the Lions held Jefferson to a career-low 14 yards in Week 3, JJ ran wide-open on Sunday. He caught 11 of 15 passes thrown his way.
Part of this was due to Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah missing practice last week with an illness. But another factor was that the Vikings moved Jefferson around much more than they did in Week 3. According to Next Gen Stats, he had an average separation of 2.5 yards. This was less than his Week 3 number of 3.0 yards, but his “average targeted air yards” (TAY) skyrocketed. He only had 5.9 TAY in Week 3. On Sunday, he was much more effective downfield with 15 TAY, which accounted for 50% of the team’s total air yards.
464
The Vikings’ bend-but-don’t-break defense broke again on Sunday, yielding 464 yards to the Lions. Detroit could move the ball at will both on the ground and through the air. Goff’s 330 yards were his most since Oct. 30. On the ground, they ran 30 times for 134 yards, a 4.5-yards-per-carry average that was on par with their season average.
It was the fifth consecutive game that the Vikings allowed 400 or more yards, another franchise record. That is eight total games allowing more than 400 yards for the season, pushing Minnesota below the Lions for the most yards allowed of any team this season.
0
With zero total sacks and takeaways, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Vikings failed to slow down the Lions’ offense. Next Gen Stats measures average separation from the QB, a stat showing how close defenders are to a quarterback when the ball is released. The league average is 4.53 yards. Only D.J. Wonnum had an above-average output here, with an average separation of 3.55 yards. The Vikings have only accumulated four sacks over their past four games.
Meanwhile, things weren’t much better in the secondary. In their “game center,” Next Gen Stats charted five Lions receivers who met or exceeded the league average of 2.93 yards. This chart didn’t include Williams, who had the wide-open touchdown to kick off the scoring.
After forcing at least one turnover through the first nine games of the season, the Vikings have failed to force a turnover in three of their past four outings. Perhaps it’s no surprise that they have only been 2-2 in these games, hanging on by the skin of their teeth before a game-sealing interception in Week 13 against the Jets.
