Needing a win to snap a three-game losing streak and to keep any hope of making the playoffs alive, Detroit laid an egg in Minnesota by losing to the Vikes by a score of 42-10. They came out looking unprepared and came out looking like they were playing the Patriots instead of the Vikings. That wasn't the case, though, as it was the Vikings that torched the Lions secondary and it was the Vikings that ran over the front 7 of the Lions defense. On top of that, Detroit themselves had another unbalanced gameplan that went virtually nowhere, making this game ugly quickly.
To me, there's really nothing that needs to be said about this game. Just look at the boxscore and it will tell you all you need to know. I will say that this thing started to get out of hand early on thanks to one play. Minnesota was faced with 3rd and 14 on its own 9-yard line and elected to play it safe with a draw play. Somehow the Lions defense allowed the Vikings to pick up the first down, and from then on there was no looking back for Minnesota. Sure, Detroit cut the lead down to 14-10 after a quick drive of only a few passing plays, but a kickoff return by the Vikings on the proceeding kickoff erased any thought of winning.
As I said, there's really nothing further that needs to be added after looking at the boxscore. Here are the scoring plays in this game (Notice the four TDs by Minnesota in the second quarter?):
And here are the most telling stats of this game:
Detroit made another average quarterback look like a superstar and then for the running game I don't even know where to begin. I understand if you get down early that you can't run the ball, but after the first two drives Detroit had only 1 rush, so that excuse is garbage in my opinion. You know, everyone says that Mike Martz is this offensive genius, but after the last four games I'm really starting to have my doubts.
The Lions' schedule doesn't get any easier next week as the Cowboys come to town. Tony Romo and company are the best team in the NFC, and although the Lions finished out 2006 with a win in Dallas, I'm not expecting the same in Detroit in 2007. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX.