DETROIT -- Sure, it was a game to forget for the Detroit Lions. But there was still plenty to learn from looking back at what went wrong against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The Lions (5-3) lost to the Vikings (4-4), 27-24, from Ford Field. Outside of their first and final possessions, the offense was lifeless and predictable. The running backs struggled in pass protection behind a brutal day from the offensive line, and there is plenty to consider ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
Here are three things we learned from the loss:
The OL isn’t helping. But the Lions need more from Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery:
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery might just be the best running back duo in the league. But they also might have just had their worst all-around showing since joining forces.
They combined for only 65 yards on 20 carries, with Montgomery adding 40 of those and the lone rushing touchdown. Montgomery lost a fumble while fighting for extra yardage on a catch in the third quarter. That fumble put the Vikings in position to take a commanding 10-point lead. Gibbs was bottled up as a ball carrier and beaten into a pulp when forced into pass protection.
Gibbs allowed seven pressures on 16 pass-blocking snaps. Before that, no other NFL running back had allowed more than three pressures in a single game. Those seven pressures are also the most allowed by a running back since 2018.
The Vikings found ways to exploit that over and over again, sending the heat and mixing things up on the defensive line throughout the game.
The offensive line needs to do better, no doubt, concerning opening rushing lanes or holding the blitz off for a tick longer. Any scenario with Gibbs saving the day isn’t great. Still, the Lions know this opponent well, and it’s not like the Vikings blitzing at an aggressive clip is anything they haven’t seen.
Back to the rushing attack, though, because it has to be efficient and explosive. Those 65 rushing yards were the team’s fewest since the opener, when they mustered only 46 yards.
In terms of rushing success rate, three of the four worst showings since Dan Campbell took over have come this season. The 4.4 yards per carry average would be the lowest mark since Campbell took over, too. Plenty of time has been spent talking about the third-down struggles recently. One thing that could help would be an improved running game on first or second down, with the Lions averaging 7.5 yards to go across 17 third-down plays on Sunday.
“We didn’t run the ball well, 3.3 average, that ain’t good enough,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “You can’t run it, it’s hard to be an explosive offense because now you’re a sitting duck. You’ll sit back there in (the) gun and everybody knows you’re passing, and they just pin their ears back and they go after you ... ”
Detroit needs to make its offensive line the priority at Tuesday’s trade deadline:
We covered this in our Monday morning column. But of all the things specifically learned from this loss, this is the point that sticks out like a sore thumb.
If anything gets done this week ahead of the trade deadline, it needs to be for the offensive line. That’s not an easy proposition. This isn’t a video game, and offensive linemen aren’t easy to come by, especially the ones worth rostering. But there is too much riding on the line, and the expectations are too high to sit idly by.
Taylor Decker has been battling a shoulder issue all season long. He’s already missed two games while trying to manage his shoulder for the long haul. Now, he needs to hope for the best after exiting due to a knee injury for a couple of plays. Christian Mahogany is out until at least late December, creating a hole on the new-look interior line.
On top of that, Graham Glasgow has not been at his best. Glasgow was the worst-graded center through Sunday’s games in Week 9, per Pro Football Focus. The veteran lineman is an important presence in the middle of that offensive line, and he’s earned some leeway, especially with two newcomers on his hips. But it needs to be better in pass protection in the middle of the line, full stop.
With Mahogany out and Decker banged up, the Lions need to boost their depth on the offensive line. Tate Ratledge has been solid as a rookie, playing his best over the last month of the season.
With Glasgow’s struggles, the Lions need to do more than bank on internal depth to fill Mahogany’s void on the interior at left guard. Another insurance option wouldn’t be the worst idea at tackle, either. It won’t be cheap. But the Super Bowl window is wide open. Making a move to keep everything about the offensive line completely worth the price.
The Lions have some problems to fix, but their defense doesn’t feel like one of them:
It was one of those games that felt like a three-phase meltdown. Detroit’s defense wasn’t perfect, but they managed to hold their own on the short field a few times, and battled through some tough spots.
The Lions also got burned by a couple of questionable roughing the passer penalties that moved the chains on third down. In all, the Vikings were awarded a first down via penalty five times.
Minnesota gained only 258 net yards of offense, getting held to four-of-12 on third down. When the Lions needed it the most, their defense held the Vikings to a 20-yard field goal in the waning minutes to give them a small window despite that drive starting on Detroit’s 26-yard line after the blocked field goal and lengthy return.
The first touchdown allowed of the game also came on the short field, with Myles Price returning the kickoff 61 yards. Detroit’s defense notched five sacks, hit J.J. McCarthy nine times and cornerback Terrion Arnold even grabbed the first interception.
Veteran running back Aaron Jones was working the Lions over in the first half. But he exited in the second half, and the defense held backup Jordan Mason in check. The Vikings ran for 142 yards, with Jones responsible for 78 of those on just nine rushes. McCarthy was held to 14-of-25 passing for 143 yards with three total touchdowns and one interception. Star Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson made an impressive touchdown catch. But even he was held to fewer than 50 receiving yards.
It’s worth noting that punting five times, going three-and-out four times, turning the ball over, giving up big kick returns and having a field goal blocked puts the defense in a brutal situation.
“The penalties, the turnovers (during) inopportune times really bit us there,” Campbell said. “Defense gets put in some tough spots, but there again, we expect our defense to get stops when it’s (a) sudden change. Man, we just did not handle today well. So, we got to clean it up and move on.”
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