Loss to Lions Reveals Reason for Optimism for Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention before Sunday’s 16-14 loss to the Detroit Lions. Now in full evaluation mode, the Minnesota coaching staff should come away happy in its takeaways from Week 15, despite the loss. Reasons for optimism certainly exist, so Vikings fans can put down the flasks of bleach.

Most importantly in evaluation of the entire game, Minnesota accomplished almost everything it needed to in order to win. Controlling games had been an issue in the not-so-distant past, yet the Vikings were in control for a majority of Sunday’s game.

In terms of overall yardage, first downs and time of possession, Minnesota was the better team.

	Total Yds	Pass Yds	First Downs	T.O.P.
Vikings	360	284	21	34:43
Lions	233	153	11	25:17

The Vikings accomplished all of this against one of the league’s stingiest defenses and against an offense that had hummed the last two weeks with the return of a healthy Calvin Johnson.

Two turnovers will sour the end product, but Minnesota’s offense set the table from the get-go. After two drives stagnated, Teddy Bridgewater led the Vikings on back-to-back touchdown drives. The first was 10 plays for 84 yards and the second was seven plays for 75 to take a 14-0 lead.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Minnesota would also launch an 18-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a missed field goal in the third quarter. For an offense that tends to find pits to fall into quite frequently, the sustained drives were promising.

Norv Turner’s play-calling was the driving force behind the offensive success against a defensive juggernaut.

For starters, he went with a pass-heavy plan, calling for throws on 48 of 66 offensive plays just a week after leaning too heavily on the run. He called for all those passes, despite Minnesota leading for a majority of the game. For the most part, it worked.

To dodge Detroit's stout run defense, Turner crafted the attack to lean on Bridgewater’s arm while keeping Detroit’s defensive line from dominating like it did on paper. Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN provides some insight:

"

The ball is out of Bridgewater's hands quick or he's rolling out of the pocket. #Vikings neutralizing Detroit's DL so far.

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) December 14, 2014"

Quick coverage reads and sharp underneath throws tore up Detroit’s coverage on a number of occasions. Turner opted to utilize empty backfields quite frequently, removing one more defender from the box and giving Bridgewater more space to operate. The rookie QB used the variety of formations to quickly read the defense and make timely decisions.

Minnesota receivers were able to accumulate yardage after the catch consistently because of how efficient Bridgewater was in the short to intermediate passing game. The quick throws and moving pockets also enabled a beleaguered offensive line to play above its talent level.

Leon Halip/Getty Images

Turner then used the ground game to complement the passing game. His scaled-back load for Matt Asiata led to the bruising back having one of his better games of the season.

Mustering only 14 points was the disappointing ending to an otherwise effective day for Minnesota’s offense. Two missed field goals would have moved the score to 20, but finishing drives with touchdowns needs to occur more often. Never getting opportunistic field position after turnovers also limited Minnesota’s offense.

Losing the turnover battle certainly changed the game, but that need not sour the day the Vikings defense had. When it gives up only 17 points, Minnesota should win.

The proceedings went exactly as Mike Zimmer would have scripted for the majority of the game.

	Yds/drive	Pts/drive
Weeks 1-14	30.9	1.9
Week 15	23.3	1.6

Early on, Minnesota was able to rattle Matthew Stafford with a few different pressure packages, forcing inaccurate throws. Detroit’s first four offensive drives netted only 18 yards. The Lions failed to move the chains until the second quarter, giving Minnesota’s offense the right of way to race out in front.

Showing his adaptability, Zimmer shadowed Calvin Johnson with his ace Xavier Rhodes for a majority of the game, something he had not done all season. Results followed. Johnson caught only four balls for 53 yards coming off back-to-back games of over 100 yards. The majority of his yardage came after the catch against Minnesota too, limiting his big-play impact down the field.

Detroit struggled to establish any kind of ground game as well, averaging 3.3 yards per carry over the course of the game with a long of only 15.

Minnesota’s defense suffocated the Lions for long stretches of the game without Sharrif Floyd, Anthony Barr or Robert Blanton in the lineup. The unit’s ability to execute the game plan despite the losses to injury is promising.

Finally, the Vikings can take solace in the way they battled in a hostile environment. Zimmer was ultimately pleased with his team’s effort, per Master Tesfatsion of the Star Tribune:

"

Zimmer not into moral victory but was proud of how team fought. "We played well enough to win,but we just didn't win on scoreboard" #Vikings

— Master Tesfatsion (@MasterStrib) December 15, 2014"

Encouragement from what Minnesota did in Detroit is not misplaced. If the persistent pusher in Zimmer gives his team some love after a loss, it must have held its own.

For now, especially with the playoffs no longer in consideration, young players proving to be valuable building blocks and the entire team’s processes being executed effectively should encourage all onlookers. If the Vikings were to play like this every week, they would win more games than they would lose. Even in most of the team's wins this season, that much could not have been said.

The arrow is pointing up in Minnesota.

Statistics via ESPN.com unless noted otherwise.