Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions: Full Report Card Grades for Minnesota
The best thing you can say about the Minnesota Vikings' 16-14 loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions is that hopefully lessons were learned.
The Vikings were completely dominating the Lions through most of the first half. They were up 14-0 and had the ball in Detroit territory when Teddy Bridgewater overthrew Charles Johnson on a 3rd-and-8 play, and the ball was intercepted by Glover Quin, who returned it 56 yards to the Vikings 11-yard line.
One interception isn't the end of the world, but it was certainly a momentum-changer.
Bridgewater's next throw was from his own 24-yard line, and it was way behind Greg Jennings and intercepted by Darius Slay.
Only a nice stand by Minnesota's defense kept the Vikings from trailing at halftime after completely dominating play for the first 30 minutes.
More importantly, though, the Lions had wrested away the game's momentum, and the Vikings would never regain it. After a first half where Bridgewater seemed like he could move the ball down the field at will, the Vikings were shut out in the second half.
Hopefully, the lesson was learned by Bridgewater. Ball security is always the most important thing for a quarterback. One play obviously doesn't decide a football game, but his second interception was probably as close as you'll ever see to that happening.
While the Vikings defense didn't play a perfect game, it certainly did more than enough to win. It held the Lions to just one touchdown and three field goals, but Minnesota's inability to make its own field goals and generate any kind of offense killed it in the second half.
The Vikings fall to 6-8 on the year, while the Lions improve to 10-4 and pull even with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
Quarterback
1 of 10
And things were going so well for Teddy Bridgewater.
The Vikings rookie quarterback was enjoying his best half in the NFL when things went south in a hurry. Bridgewater threw interceptions on consecutive passes late in the first half, completely derailing a game that the Vikings had completely dominated up to that point.
The good news is it short-circuited a game for a team that was 6-7 at the time and playing for nothing more than pride.
The truth is that some interceptions hurt more than others, and both of Bridgewater's were backbreakers. The first one was far more forgivable. Up 14 points and with the ball in Detroit territory, Bridgewater was probably feeling bulletproof after starting out the game so hot.
Replays show that his intended target, Charles Johnson, probably was interfered with, but it was still overthrown. The fact that Glover Quin returned it 56 yards made it all the worse.
The second pick was a gut-punch. From his own 24-yard line, Bridgewater made a horrible throw behind Greg Jennings and into the arms of Darius Slay.
The Vikings wouldn't score again the rest of the day, and they lost a football game they really had no right losing.
On the bright side, when Bridgewater was good on Sunday, he was very good. He was calm and strong in the pocket and putting good zip on most of his passes. He was picking apart the Lions for most of the day with underneath routes that allowed his receivers to gain yards after the catch.
In the end, Bridgewater was 31-of-41 for 315 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked four times on the day and did a pretty good job of escaping the pocket when he was forced to. He picked up 30 yards on four runs, three of which picked up big first downs.
There were plenty of things to like about Bridgewater's game Sunday, and hopefully he learns from his mistakes. The problem was that his two mistakes were game-changing. Such is life as an NFL quarterback.
Grade: C+
Running Back
2 of 10
It says a lot that Matt Asiata played probably as well has he possibly can and he still only ended up averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Asiata picked up 36 yards on 11 carries and scored a two-yard touchdown.
Asiata was running with as much oomph as we've seen from him in his career in the first half. The guy is a gamer, and nobody will ever question his desire. But he's just not a player who's capable of piling up big numbers.
In the end, the Vikings gained 78 yards rushing against a team that was only giving up 62.8 yards a game, but their final number was greatly enhanced by Bridgewater's 30 yards.
Ben Tate and Joe Banyard combined for just 10 yards on seven carries.
We'd never be one to suggest that Asiata should get more carries, but it did seem strange that Minnesota went with Tate and Banyard for most of the second quarter after Asiata had played so well in the first. The Vikings have obviously preplanned who is going to play during what series, but there's certainly nothing wrong with riding the hot hand.
Asiata was also very good as a safety valve out of the backfield, making seven catches for 50 yards.
Once Asiata's hot start got cooled on the bench, Minnesota was never again able to run the ball.
The Lions defense proved why it's the best in the league against the run. Asiata had some nice carries early on, but after that it was a disaster. The three backs totaled just 46 yards on 18 carries. Asiata's work as a receiver keeps this from being a "D."
Grade: C-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
No, it's not saying much, but Sunday was one of the better days of the season for the Vikings receivers.
Charles Johnson once again led the way with 72 yards on five catches, including a huge 40-yard gain that helped set up Minnesota's second touchdown.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph had a big day and gave a glimpse of how huge he can be for this offense when he's having an impact. Rudolph had seven catches for 69 yards while still clearly not 100 percent healthy.
Greg Jennings and Jarius Wright both had some big moments and pitched in during Minnesota's great first half. Jennings had three catches for 43 yards with a touchdown. Jennings made a great adjustment to a poorly thrown pass for a giant 26-yard gain that set up the Vikings' first touchdown of the day.
Wright made four catches for 49 yards. Then Cordarrelle Patterson came in late after Wright was injured, and he caught two balls for 16 yards.
Tight end Rhett Ellison had two catches and turned one of them into a spectacular 10-yard gain and a first down when three Lions weren't able to bring him down.
All in all it was a pretty good day for the Vikings' receivers, with eight different players catching passes for 315 yards. It only added up to 14 points on the scoreboard, though, and not enough guys stepped up and made plays in the second half when Minnesota needed to rally.
Grade: B
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Considering how ferocious the Lions defense is and considering how banged up the Vikings offensive line is, you'd have to say that Minnesota's offensive line did a pretty good job on Sunday afternoon.
The running backs didn't have much room to run, and Bridgewater certainly didn't have all day to throw. But you certainly wouldn't say the Vikings offensive line got dominated.
Bridgewater was only sacked four times, which is only half as many times as the Lions got to him in October.
With only two out of five starters playing on Sunday, Minnesota's offensive line did an impressive job. And kudos to Matt Kalil, who kept Ziggy Ansah silent for almost the entire afternoon.
It was not a great blocking day for the line, but we've seen plenty worse during this season. Holding calls on Matt Kalil and Vladimir Ducasse hurt second-half drives by putting Minnesota in terrible down-and-distance situations.
Grade: C+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Lions rushed for just 80 yards on 22 carries, an average of only 3.6 yards per carry. They didn't pick up a first down in the first quarter.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, while he wasn't sacked all day, was never allowed to get comfortable in the pocket and threw for only 153 yards.
The Lions only gained 233 yards of total offense on the day, and you can't ask for a whole lot more than that from your defense.
Playing without starting defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, the Vikings got good games from almost everyone on their defensive line. The numbers don't look like it was a huge game for anybody, but the fact that the Vikings allowed just one touchdown and three field goals is pretty impressive.
Linval Joseph led the way up front with four tackles. Tom Johnson had two and ends Brian Robison, Everson Griffen and Justin Trattou each had one.
Robison had two quarterback hits, per ESPN.com, and made a great hustle play in running down Stafford near the end of the first half. He kept Stafford short of the first-down marker. And that held the Lions to a field goal, which seemed huge at the time.
We've said this way too many times this season, but we'll say it again. The defense deserved a better fate on Sunday.
Grade: B
Linebacker
6 of 10
You can pretty much reread the defensive line slide and apply it to the Vikings' linebackers.
Gerald Hodges continues to impress. Starting his second straight game for the injured Anthony Barr, Hodges led the Viking with nine tackles and had two of the team's four passes defensed. Hodges brings speed and athleticism and will make a nice pair with Barr down the road.
Chad Greenway had five tackles, and Jasper Brinkley pitched in with four and had one tackle for loss.
The Minnesota defense didn't necessarily come up with any "big" plays on Sunday—no sacks, no interceptions, no forced fumbles—but the held down a high-octane Lions offense.
The bottom line is: If you hold Stafford and Company to one touchdown and three field goals, you deserve to win the game.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
There aren't a lot of receiver duos who bring more to the table than Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
The Vikings held them to just 91 receiving yards.
Like the defensive line and the linebackers, the secondary didn't necessarily make any big plays, but it didn't give any up either. Ultimately, the difference in this game was that Detroit's defense was able to come up with two huge turnovers, and then the Lions converted their field goals when they had their opportunities.
Andrew Sendejo filled in admirably for Robert Blanton and had six tackles, matching Harrison Smith's total.
Xavier Rhodes did an excellent job shadowing Calvin Johnson all day long. Johnson finished with just four catches for 53 yards, and Rhodes was basically picked by a teammate on Johnson's biggest gain of the day.
Rhodes continues to play at a very high level and has developed into one of the best cornerbacks in the league.
Josh Robinson had one pass defensed and a tackle. Rookies Antone Exum and Jabari Price got their most significant playing time of the season, and both acquitted themselves nicely, Exum making two tackles and Price one.
Matthew Stafford threw for only 153 yards and threw one touchdown pass of just seven yards. The defense held the Lions to 16 points.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
You can make an argument that every other positional unit on the team played well enough to get a win on Sunday afternoon.
The fact that Vikings kicker Blair Walsh has missed five of his last six field-goal attempts sounds a lot worse than it actually is. The truth is the Vikings tried a 68-yard kick on the last play of the game, and it really didn't seem like that absurd of an idea.
That said, it's not a good day for your special teams when you miss all three of your field-goal attempts in a game that you lose by two points.
"Blair Walsh post-game: "It's tough, I miss a kick from 53 that I should easily have, and I came up a little short on that last one."
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) December 15, 2014"
Obviously, nobody is blaming him for coming up short on a 68-yard try, but he shouldn't be missing from 53 yards. And he shouldn't be getting field-goal attempts blocked either. Perhaps it's not his fault, but it's the unit's fault. If either one of those kicks was good, the Vikings probably would've won the football game.
It was a good day for Jeff Locke, who oddly only punted twice (odd because if you only score 14 points, you'd think that you had to punt more than that), but he averaged over 50 yards a boot.
Cordarrelle Patterson had a huge 51-yard kickoff return after the Lions' last field goal that gave Minnesota great field position before its failed last drive.
The Lions were perfect in their three field-goal attempts. The Vikings didn't make any of their three. The Lions won the game by two points.
Grade: F
Coaching
9 of 10
The better football team lost on Sunday afternoon in Detroit.
The Vikings dominated in nearly every statistical category except turnovers, and that turned out to be the difference in the game.
Norv Turner had a great game plan in place for Bridgewater with a ton of quick passing plays where Bridgewater didn't need a ton of time in the pocket for the play to develop.
One small quibble with the play-calling is from the start of the second half. Bridgewater was coming off two straight interceptions to end the first half, and the Vikings coaches basically took the ball out of his hands during that possession.
He threw two short passes to backs, and the Vikings ran the ball the rest of the drive. It was clear they weren't going to get anything done on the ground, and in a game where every possession was going to matter, they probably should have had Bridgewater get right back on the horse to start the second half.
"Very positive postgame message from #Vikings’ Mike Zimmer, who shot down moral victory talk but said team did nearly everything he asked.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) December 15, 2014"
Sure, the last series of the game was probably botched a couple different ways, but that's going to happen with a rookie quarterback and a first-year head coach.
This was probably a game that will have the Vikings coaches gnashing their teeth for a couple days, but in the end, it's just one loss in a season that wasn't going anywhere anyway.
The best you can hope for in a disappointing loss like this is that everyone learns from it and uses it to get better.
If the Vikings lose a game like this next year, when they're in the thick of a playoff hunt, then we'll have a completely different discussion.
Grade: C
Overall Grade
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | C+ |
| Running Back | C- |
| Wide Receiver and Tight End | B |
| Offensive Line | C+ |
| Defensive Line | B |
| Linebacker | B |
| Secondary | B+ |
| Special Teams | F |
| Coaching | C |
Overall Grade: C+
Little things matter in close football games. Getting field goals blocked matters. Throwing an interception when you're up by two touchdowns and in your opponent's territory can hurt you a heck of a lot more than you might think.
As Zimmer was quoted as saying in the coaches slide, the Vikings did nearly everything he asked them to do on Sunday. They just didn't make enough plays to win.
The Vikings thoroughly dominated the first half, and when they went to the locker room only ahead by four, most longtime watchers of the Vikings probably had a feeling it wasn't going to end well.
It didn't.
Detroit's offense got up off the mat after being completely throttled by the Vikings for most of the first half and did just enough to win.
Detroit's defense wasn't as dominant as it usually has been this year, but it came up with enough plays to win.
In the end, a loss like this during a season that will end at .500 at best isn't the end of the world, especially if Bridgewater and the other young players on the Vikings learn from it. You can't turn the ball over and win games. You can't go 0-of-3 on field-goal tries and win games.
It's back on the road next week for the Vikings, when they travel to Miami to take on an improving Dolphins team that sits at 7-7, a game better than Minnesota.
But the Dolphins certainly aren't as good as the Lions, and the Vikings should have won Sunday's game.
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