DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions knew the Minnesota Vikings were going to blitz their pants off on Sunday.
Minnesota sends the heat more than any other defense in the NFL. That’s not new; it’s been the case since defensive coordinator Brian Flores took over three years ago.
That knowledge and familiarity didn’t save the Lions from an all-around ugly offensive showing. The Lions lost 27-24 to the Vikings, and on top of the struggles, they are dealing with a handful of injuries on the offensive line.
Minnesota finished with five sacks, 10 quarterback hits and 23 quarterback pressures. Jared Goff was on the run all day, with the offensive line struggling, and the running backs had an all-time bad day when it came to picking those blitzes up in the backfield.
Goff and Lions coach Dan Campbell said there were some communication issues in the trenches. The quarterback said those mistakes are inexcusable, while crediting the Vikings for making it hard and challenging them to be at their best.
“Self-induced. Oh yeah. Very disappointing,” Campbell said. “We knew what we were going to get going into this. We knew there would be some wrinkles. But there was nothing that we hadn’t seen before. We did not -- we didn’t handle it. We did not handle it well. I know we got beat on a couple of them, just physically beat on a couple that we expect not to. We expect more out of our guys.
“But some of it, we act like it was something exotic -- it wasn’t. We just didn’t handle it well. We weren’t on the same page. We were not on the same page ... Listen, we did not handle some of the communication well. Not well enough. We all need to be on the same page. That’s the bottom line. We’re better than that, we just are.”
And not to make excuses, but the offensive line went through a handful of injuries in the loss. As noted, the running backs struggled to pick up the blitz, with Jahmyr Gibbs credited with six pressures allowed, per TruMedia.
Right tackle Penei Sewell left for a couple of plays before returning. Left tackle Taylor Decker returned after suffering a knee injury. Rookie guard Tate Ratledge went to the back to get his shoulder looked at before returning. And as Ratledge was coming back on the field, guard Christian Mahogany was down in pain and eventually carted to the back.
Decker said all of his focus has been on getting his shoulder right throughout the week, so the knee doesn’t feel too bad right now. But the team’s longest-tenured player expects to learn more on Monday, as the Lions try to figure out who is available as they try to right the ship.
“But I’m going to wake up in the middle of the night and know for sure,” Decker said in the locker room. “So, we’ll see tomorrow. I have no idea. I haven’t even talked to the training staff yet. I was in there a little bit, and then I just showered. I’m going to go back in there.”
When asked how the offensive line gets back on track with some questions across the line, and Mahogany expected to miss at least the next month-plus, Decker was matter-of-fact about it not matter who is out there. The Lions have a high standard for their offensive line. It’s where they have built their foundation on the ride from cellar-dweller to expected contender.
Rushing for only 65 yards on 20 attempts, while giving up the sixth-highest pressure rate in the Campbell era, doesn’t meet their own standard.
“We have to,” Decker said. “It’s just part of the job. You know, it doesn’t matter who’s out there. It doesn’t matter who’s hurt. It doesn’t matter who’s playing at 100%. I mean, I haven’t been 100% all year, and that’s just part of the game.”
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