The Detroit Lions no longer have a chance of making the playoffs. In the defeat at the Minnesota Vikings, Amon-Ra St. Brown’s team suffered too many turnovers.
The Detroit Lions can put the slide rules away, their last chances for the playoffs are gone.
German receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown’s team suffered a 10:23 defeat at the Minnesota Vikings on the night from Thursday to Friday German time.
The Lions offense showed a poor performance overall. Quarterback Jared Goff threw for 162 yards and a touchdown and had two interceptions. St. Brown had 68 receiving yards and went without a touchdown.
On one of the final drives, St. Brown injured his knee and limped off the field. There is no diagnosis yet.
But the Vikings also had little going on offensively, and the passing game in particular was weak. Quarterback Max Brosmer didn’t get more than 51 passing yards. He failed to score a touchdown.
After the NFL’s second Christmas game – the Cowboys had previously defeated the Commanders – both the Vikings and the Lions now have a record of 8-8.
Lions fumble gives Vikings lead
The game started disjointed. Punts were punted several times, both quarterbacks were sacked several times – the defense set the tone.
It took until 1:35 minutes before the end of the first quarter before Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. finally ran into the end zone and put the first points on the scoreboard.
Bitter from the Lions’ perspective: The TD drive was preceded by a fumble at the snap and Goff couldn’t get hold of the ball.
The Lions offense didn’t get going in the second quarter and Goff couldn’t find his rhythm. Nevertheless, the Lions managed to equalize shortly before half-time.
Goff found his receiver Isaac TeSlaa from four yards on the fourth attempt. The score was 7:7 and rapper Snoop Dogg provided the halftime show at US Bank Stadium.
Jared Goff with two interceptions
The third quarter also started uneventfully. Ultimately, it was an interception by Goff that led to the next points. The Vikings capped off the following drive with a 52-yard field goal by kicker Will Reichard.
Goff made the next interception on the next drive. After two previous fumbles, it was the Lions’ fourth turnover overall.
Again it was Reichard who punished the loss of the ball and scored three more points for the Vikings from 56 yards.
Lions commit six turnovers
Things continued to be similarly unfortunate in the last quarter. Goff was immediately sacked, and the Vikings again secured the fumbled ball. This time, however, the Vikings offense failed to score any points and the game remained disjointed.
After all, Lions kicker Jake Bates shortened the lead to 10:13 from 48 yards with 4:39 minutes left.
Just when tension seemed to be building up again, wide receiver Jordan Addison ran 65 yards for a touchdown.
The Lions’ last hopes were dashed by the Lions’ next fumble, the snap went wrong again and Goff lost the ball. Reichard made the final score 23:10 with his third field goal of the evening.
