Getty David Blough leads the Lions vs. the Vikings.
Rarely in the NFL is a game completely over before it begins, but that was close to reality for the Detroit Lions in their loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
With injuries taking a toll before the game as well as during, the Lions didn’t have a chance before the game began going on the road to play a team who was obviously better. Minnesota started slow, but managed to maintain their composure on the defensive side of the ball and choke out the Lions. Offensively, the Lions couldn’t move the ball much, and the few times they did, never managed to get points to show for it until the bitter end.
Add it all up and Detroit was blown out again 20-7 and dropped to 3-9-1 on the season, closer to the top of the draft than playoff contention. Here’s some additional takeaways from the contest.
David Blough Got Figured Out
Last Lions fans saw Blough he was carving up the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving. It looked as if Blough had everything, but what he might have had most in that game was the element of surprise. In this game, Blough struggled with the simple things like pocket presence and awareness. There is no question Blough could still be a solid prospect, and there is no point in writing him off after his first start on the road, but it’s clear he will have some re-invention to consider after a veteran coach in Mike Zimmer appeared to work the youngster over on the day.
Jarrad Davis Has Plenty of Heart
Fans might question a ton about Davis in terms of football acumen, but one thing that cannot be questioned is his heart. Davis limped off the field early on with an ankle injury and would leave with the same injury later on, but in the middle, he tried to give it a go and come back to action. In a lost season with a team that’s fallen apart, there was no reason for Davis to do this. Even still, there he was on the field. The Lions have one of the better defensive leaders setting the right tone on that side of the ball no matter how much folks may nitpick his play.
The Team Didn’t Give up
This week, the Lions were expected to lose by double digits given the situation they are in. While they did in the end, the way in which it happened wasn’t usual. Detroit hung in the game against a team fighting for it’s playoff life and managed to stick around most of the afternoon. Being close doesn’t count in the NFL, and in no way should a meaningless late season game play into the murky future of Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn. At the very least, though, the players are continuing to battle no matter what hand they’ve been dealt. Give them credit for that.
Lion? Kenny Golladay, WR. Even through the changes at quarterback, the one constant has been Golladay, who managed to go for his league leading 10th touchdown of the season and make plenty of big catches along the way for the team. Golladay hasn’t given up himself this season and it’s nice to see him continue to get on the scoreboard and remain consistent even through everything that’s changed.
Lamb? None. It’s hard to blame anyone for the undermanned Lions coming up small in yet another game in which injuries played a significant role. The Lions are who they are at this point. Today, nobody played a direct role in the defeat.
Stat of the Game: 2, the number of turnovers the Lions had. Detroit needs to do a better job at avoiding mistakes if they want to win close games, and this was no exception. Even though the Lions lost what looked like a blowout on the scoreboard, it could have been closer had either of those lost possessions been turned around.