Detroit Lions simply don't freak out when everything goes awry
MINNEAPOLIS — The Detroit Lions didn’t freak out — did you?
Were you worried on Sunday afternoon when the Vikings jumped out to a 10-0 lead?
OK, be honest. On a scale of: I wonder what’s on Netflix … to… hey, let’s go apple picking… how close were you to giving up on this game?
After the Lions’ sluggish start and early penalties and the failed fake punt, were you thinking: Oh, man, is this gonna be worse than the Week 7 debacle in Baltimore in 2023?
And then? Ugh, it got worse.
THE GAME: Jake Bates boots Lions past Vikings in 31-29 slugfest and into NFC North first place
Did you get a horrible sinking feeling when running back David Montgomery was helped off the field? Spoiler alert, he came back.
Now, here’s the thing.
The Lions didn’t freak out.
“We found a way back,” head coach Dan Campbell told Fox at halftime. “We were patient on offense. Our plays came to us.”
Oh, did they ever.
They fought back, got the lead and then — ugh. A fumble, scoop and score, and not again.
The Lions faced even more adversity.
Did you freak out in the fourth quarter?
These Lions sure didn’t.
The defense got a huge stop, and the offense moved the ball, and Jake Bates, the rookie kicker, drained a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left, giving the Lions a thrilling 31-29 win and ending this wild roller coaster of a game
It was a win born of patience and persistence, and keeping composure in adversity.
A horrible start
Of course, that adversity came about mostly by the Lions' own doing.
Because it couldn’t have started much worse for the Lions.
The Vikings' complicated, ever-changing defensive line confused the Lions early in the game.
On the first six offensive plays, the Lions were called for holding on half of them.
And then a fake punt failed miserably.
That gave the Viikings incredible field position.
Two plays later, Aaron Jones started up the middle, sucking in rookie corner Terrion Arnold, and it opened up the outside for an easy, untouched 34-yard TD — the longest against the Lions this season.
The Hutch factor
With Aidan Hutchinson out, Campbell seemed to say: We gotta outscore them.
That’s why he went for an early fake punt, which failed.
And late in the first quarter, down 10-0, the Lions lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 40.
But the Vikings defensive line suddenly moved, which made the Lions flinch — and Campbell sent in the punt team.
Oh, what a blessing in disguise.
The comeback
Even though it was a rough start for the Lions, it felt like they survived disaster — what felt like a 100-0 deficit was, in reality, only 10-0.
“We just gotta settle in,” Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell told Fox during a break. “It’s gonna be a grind. The defense is playing great.”
And then, well, it wasn’t.
Jahmyr Gibbs ran off tackle, made one juke — leaving Camryn Bynum in the dust — and sprinted 45 yards for a touchdown.
That single run seemed to pump life back into the Lions.
Huge day for Branch
A word here about Brian Branch.
The Lions drafted him No. 45 overall in the 2023 draft, and it seems like a steal in retrospect.
Because he had a fantastic day.
He showed his coverage skills, knocking down a ball intended for Jalen Nailor which prevented a first down and ended a Vikings drive.
And he had a fine interception late in the second quarter.
In fact, he jumped the coverage so fast he nearly overran the interception, needing to jump up and snag it.
The trust factor
This was a game about trust.
Facing the Vikings' exotic blitzes, quarterback Jared Goff had to make quick reads, often throwing before a receiver made a cut.
He trusted them to be in the right place, and they were.
Of his first 20 passes, he completed all but one of them — a ball intended for Sam LaPorta that was deflected at the line.
One of those passes was a thing of beauty in all ways.
At one point, the Vikings had seven defenders lined up on the line of scrimmage, dropping one into coverage.
How did the Lions block the rush?
Penei Sewell actually blocked two different guys, and Tim Patrick actually stayed in to block — a fantastic wrinkle.
That gave Goff time to hit Amon-Ra St. Brown wide open down the middle of the field for a 35-yard TD.
And just like that, the Lions had a 14-10 lead.
The fumble bumble
The Lions had a 28-23 lead with less than six minutes to play.
But Montgomery fumbled the ball when Josh Metellus, the fifth-year pro from Michigan, punched the ball away, and Ivan Pace scooped it up for the go-ahead touchdown.
But the 2-point conversion failed, as the Vikings held a 29-28 lead.
And that failed conversion was a huge difference in this game.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.