DETROIT — Before Sunday, the Vikings had lost five straight games to the Lions, matching their longest losing streak to Detroit in franchise history. They hadn’t beaten the Lions at Ford Field since the 2020 season, and they entered Sunday as 8½-point underdogs.
It set the stage for the biggest upset victory of Kevin O’Connell’s time as Vikings head coach.
The Vikings (4-4) returned to .500 with a 27-24 win over the Lions (5-3) on Sunday, sacking Jared Goff five times and running for 142 yards while setting up scores with a long kick return, a blocked field goal and a forced fumble. It helped them win on an eventful day from quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his return from a high ankle sprain. He was sacked five times, picked off on a play upheld by replay review, ran for a score and hit Jalen Nailor for a third-down conversion to seal it.
McCarthy finished 14 of 25 for 143 yards and two touchdowns while running for a third.
The Vikings scored two of their three touchdowns with the benefit of short fields, going just 36 yards for their first score after a long Myles Price kick return and traveling only 35 yards for their final TD after Harrison Smith recovered David Montgomery’s fumble. They ran for 142 yards, and though McCarthy completed only nine of his final 18 passes for 75 yards and an interception, he started the day 5 of 7 for 68 yards and two scores on the Vikings’ first two drives.
Rather than watching the rest of the NFC North pull away from them, the Vikings beat the Lions on a day where the Packers fell 16-13 to the Panthers at home. They’ll have two straight home games before a pivotal road trip to Green Bay and Seattle, but if their defense can stand up against the run and generate pressure the way it did Sunday, the Vikings might be able to build a foundation.
With Amik Robertson playing press coverage against Justin Jefferson, McCarthy threw a fade for the wide receiver, who made a one-handed catch over Robertson for the Vikings’ first touchdown of the day. It’s a concept the Vikings have used to beat at press coverage several times, with Sam Darnold hitting Jefferson for a TD in Green Bay last year and Carson Wentz connecting with Jordan Addison on a similar play for the game-winning score against the Browns in London. This time, it capped the Vikings’ first drive of the day after an impressive set of plays from McCarthy.
With the Vikings up 24-17 in the third quarter, Myles Price returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown that would’ve made it a two-score game. But Tavierre Thomas was flagged for holding back at the Vikings’ 35, and after the Vikings had to punt, Thomas picked up a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running down the Vikings’ sideline once he got pushed out of bounds, rather than re-establishing himself in the playing field.