Kevin O’Connell believes that the Minnesota Vikings’ 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions could have looked different had they executed on a few more plays.
O’Connell focused on the red zone, where Sam Darnold finished one for nine in goal-to-go situations. However, Andrew Van Ginkel’s three-play sequence late in the third and early in the fourth quarter might better exemplify his point.
- Jahmyr Gibbs torched him in coverage on his 10-yard touchdown that put the Lions up 17-9 with 2:30 left in the third.
- Following Minnesota’s missed 51-yard field goal on the next drive, Van Ginkel nearly picked Jared Goff’s screen pass. He would have had a pick-six had he caught it.
- Three plays later, a Lions player pancakes Van Ginkel on Gibbs’ 13-yard rushing touchdown that put Detroit up 24-9 with 13:09 left to play.
That play didn’t seal the game. However, the Vikings punted on their next possession, and Gibbs scored again to go up 31-9 with 5:14 left.
“I thought Flo and the guys did some really good things in the first half to keep us in the football game,” said O’Connell. He added that the game could have been very different in the end “if we had one or two more plays down in the red zone.”
Whether or not you agree with O’Connell is up to you. Ultimately, the Vikings didn’t execute in the most hostile environment they’ve played in all year. The faithful at Ford Field decked out in blue, with waves of rabid fans that included Eminem and his famous daughter, Hailey.
They entered the field to “Lose Yourself” and captured the moment. The Lions have won the NFC North in back-to-back years and get a bye week and home-field advantage as the NFC’s No. 1-seed. Meanwhile, the 14-3 Vikings head to Inglewood, where they lost their only other road game this season.
Still, Los Angeles will likely feel like a home game again, given how many Vikings fans travel to road games, especially in Sun Belt locations. Darnold also insisted the Detroit crowd didn’t affect how he played.
“No,” he replied curtly.
Instead, he focused on his red-zone execution.
“Just going down to the red zone and kicking field goals, that’s not going to cut it against a good team like that,” he said. “So, just gotta be a lot better. … Got to hit the throws in tight coverage.”
Darnold played with happy feet in the first half, acting as though he was concerned about what lurked deep within Lake Eerie. He finished the first half nine of 20 for 93 yards, good for a 59 passer rating. Darnold ended the game 18 of 41 for 166 yards and a 55.5 rating.
He was throwing high in the first half and was off-target on half of his passes in the first 30 minutes in a year where he hasn’t missed more than 22% all season. Darnold also had eight overthrows, which is the second-most for a game in his career. The only other game was Week 19 of 2019 when he had 12 with the New York Jets against the New England Patriots. You know the game.
The Vikings have until Monday at 7 p.m. central to get things right. In a full-circle moment, they will play the Rams a week after losing to Detroit, like they did in Week 7 and 8 this year.
“Regardless of the path that either team will go on, both teams are guaranteed 60 minutes,” said O’Connell. “Ours happens to be next Monday night, and we’ll be ready to play football again and hopefully get back to doing a lot of things we’ve done pretty consistently all season.”
Detroit sailed by the Vikings, who looked lost at sea. They have a week to convince everyone they were a couple of plays away from winning. It’ll be sink or swim in a city where they had their worst loss of the season.