At first, there was nothing.
A big, dark space that most never really thought about. There wasn’t a lot going on until an event changed the universe. Then, it happened. A cataclysmic event raged across the sky, created from a cooking underbelly that changed time as we know it.
You may think I’m referring to the Big Bang theory that shaped the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. In reality, this rivalry is between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings, and it was forged on a Sunday afternoon during the 2021 season.
The Vikings traveled to the Lions in what was usually an easy win. Ford Field resembled more the early universe than the asylum it had become in recent years, and Minnesota was fighting for its playoff lives and reaching out for its biannual security blanket.
Whenever things went wrong, Vikings fans could always count on the Lions. Kirk Cousins is in a funk? Here comes the Lions. The Vikings are trailing in a divisional game? Good thing they’re playing the Lions. Mike Zimmer is about to lose his job? Matt Patricia and the Lions are there.
If the Lions were a meal, it was the one that you asked your parents to make when you came home from college. It always left you satisfied and feeling better about the environment you lived in.
In 2021, the Vikings were in a 5-6 funk and trying to kick the can down the road again. Dan Campbell was known as the guy who threatened to eat some knee caps during his introductory press conference and was looking for his first win, entering with a 0-10-1 record. A few months earlier, Cousins and the Vikings left Campbell in tears with a win at US Bank Stadium, and many figured it would be more of the same until the game began.
The Lions were still motivated despite their record and raced out to a 20-6 lead at halftime. Like Cousins had done multiple times before, he cut into the deficit using an Alexander Mattison touchdown run in the third quarter and a five-yard pass to K.J. Osborn in the fourth quarter. With 1:50 to play, Cousins found Justin Jefferson for a go-ahead score that gave Minnesota a 27-23 lead and appeared to leave Campbell to soak in his tears.
Then, the event happened. A team that had been known more for Joey Harrington, Charlie Batch, and Matt Millen since the turn of the decade had a counterpunch. Jared Goff, who quarterback god Sean McVay had dumped the previous offseason, led a 14-play drive that put the Lions on the 11-yard line. With four seconds remaining, Goff dropped back and found Amon-Ra St. Brown for the game-winning touchdown and Campbell’s first win as head coach.
People remember Cam Dantzler playing in the back of the end zone in this moment instead of the goal line, and Goff’s wife, Christen, stopping a SI photo shoot on the beach to celebrate. However, it should be noted that it was the moment the Lions-Vikings rivalry ignited and propelled both franchises to where they are today.
The Vikings were in a stage known as “The Kirk Cousins Vortex.” Created by Rick Spielman’s inability to find a quarterback, Cousins cashed in a series of fully guaranteed contracts because he was better than past Minnesota quarterbacks like Spergon Wynn and Josh Freeman. He was the security blanket, just as the Lions were to the Vikings during his tenure, and it resulted in a slew of super-competitive 9-8 seasons but little tangible progress.
Cousins would eventually get a contract from the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah-Kevin O’Connell regime. However, that duo may never have arrived if the Vikings had won that game. Zimmer delivered a PowerPoint presentation that depicted the hardships he had endured since being hired the following week, and the Vikings slumped to an 8-9 record. In the final game, with Minnesota eliminated from playoff contention, he told Jefferson to take his receiving records somewhere else.
It’s depressing to think of an alternate universe where the Lions game galvanizes the Vikings down the stretch. While they may have made the playoffs, they weren’t a team that was set up to get past the divisional round. It would have sent Spielman into another game of whack-a-mole trying to find bargain pieces. It would also have extended one of the most dysfunctional relationships in Vikings history. Spielman and Zimmer weren’t talking to each other at the end of their tenure.
Regardless, it’s hard not to think about where Minnesota is now. Cousins led the Vikings to a 13-4 record in 2022 but left for the Atlanta Falcons after the 2023 season. Minnesota pivoted to Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy, and Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024. McCarthy is slated to take over in 2025 and could be the quarterback of the future, surrounded by a loaded roster. It’s fun to think about, compared to the vortex the Vikings were in, and it had a similar effect on the Lions.
Campbell hand-picked Goff to be his quarterback when he came to Detroit. Goff recalled the excitement the front office had during his recent appearance on the Netflix docuseries “Quarterback.” A California-born signal caller didn’t seem like he would mesh with Detroit, but his laid-back personality and redemption arc instantly made him a fan favorite.
Goff teamed with Ben Johnson, and after a rough start to the 2022 season, the Lions rebounded to end the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay. St. Brown became a star, and Detroit added more pieces, such as Jack Campbell and Jahmyr Gibbs, that would lead the Lions to the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and a 15-2 record in 2024.
The Lions didn’t finish the story last season after the Washington Commanders knocked them out. Still, they have a lot to look forward to. Goff is the franchise quarterback they had in Matthew Stafford, but he’s surrounded by an infrastructure that will be part of one of the most explosive rivalries in the NFL over the next five years.
The league has caught on, scheduling the Lions and Vikings for a Christmas Day showdown this season. But that may have been unfathomable when they played on that December afternoon just five years ago. It was the big bang that ignited a rivalry, one that will determine whether either team can reach its ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl.
