#469: Minnesota Vikings DEFENSE EXPOSED in loss to Detroit Lions??

In this episode, Minnesota Tim discusses the Minnesota Vikings' loss to the Detroit Lions, analyzing the performance of the Vikings' defense and the implications for the rest of the season. He highlights the Lions' offensive prowess, led by Jared Goff and Amon Ra St. Brown, and emphasizes the need for the Vikings to improve their secondary before the trade deadline. Tim concludes by reflecting on the playoff-like atmosphere of the game and the potential for future challenges if defensive issues persist. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Detroit Lions to fall
to five and one, their first loss of the season,
and the Detroit Lions put up thirty one points on
the Minnesota Vikings defense. So the question that needs to
be answered a day following the loss to the Detroit

(00:29):
Lions is was the Minnesota Vikings defense exposed against the
Detroit Lions. You look at the scoring drives by the Lions,
you look at their touchdown drives, and they scored four
straight touchdowns in this game. After the Vikings went up
ten zero to start the game. The Vikings defense was sensational.

(00:53):
A three and out immediately by Detroit. They couldn't get
a playoff, they had to call timeouts, false starts, struggles,
the crowd was into it, and Detroit couldn't get anything
going offensively for their first two possessions.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
They did score a touchdown in the first quarter.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
The Vikings were up ten zero, and then everything fell
apart from the Minnesota Vikings defense. Four straight touchdown drives
that consisted of sixty nine yards, eighty three yards, seventy
two yards, and seventy yards. And you look at the
stat line in this game by the Detroit Lions, and

(01:38):
it's phenomenal. Jared Goff twenty two for twenty five, two
hundred and eighty yards, two touchdown, zero picks. He was
getting whatever he wanted, one hundred and forty passer rating.
Jamiir Gibbs fifteen carries, one hundred and sixteen yards, two touchdowns,
seven point seven average, a low long run of forty

(02:01):
five yards that he busted for a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
A mon Ross Saint Brown.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Eight receptions one hundred and twelve yards fourteen average and
one touchdown with a long catch of thirty five yards.
Eight receptions on eight targets a Mona Ross Saint Brown
was one hundred percent. There's a few things the Minnesota
Vikings particularly struggled with that I noticed throughout this game.
Third downs. The Vikings could not get off the field

(02:30):
on third down. I think it might have been the
Detroit Lions' last scoring drive where they scored a touchdown,
and they scored a touchdown on third and six Stefan
Gilmore fell down. But prior to that, they had a
couple of third and longs where she's like, you gotta
get off the field, get off the field, and they

(02:50):
couldn't get off the field. So the Vikings cut it
to four points twenty one to seventeen after scoring in
their opening drive in the third quarter, and then Detroit
scores a touchdown marches right down the field, goes up

(03:12):
by double digits. Vikings lose by two points. But this
is why I believe the Minnesota Vikings defense was not
was not exposed against the Detroit Lions one. This is
the best offensive team the Minnesota Vikings defense will face

(03:32):
all season long, from the beginning of the season to Sunday,
and from Sunday to the end of the season. There
is no offense as good as the Detroit Lions. There's
a reason why their head coach is a very good

(03:54):
head coach, but an even bigger reason why that their
offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, will have any head coaching job
that available this offseason.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
To him. Any available head coaching job that.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
He wants is his, and even any potential unavailable head
coaching job that he wants, depending on the situation, is his.
If a team that already has a head coach and
they're okay, maybe they're not in the hot seat, but
if they could guarantee Ben Johnson, they would fire that
head coach and sign Ben Johnson because he is the

(04:38):
brightest offensive mind in the NFL, and we saw that
time and time again in the Minnesota Vikings loss. So
I will not go as far to say that the
Minnesota Vikings defense was exposed because the Detroit Lions are good.

(05:00):
This looked like a playoff game. This looked like two
teams going back and forth and competing against one another
scoring points. It looked like a game of runs. It
looked like a game of momentum swings. It felt like
a playoff atmosphere, a playoff matchup, and the game acted

(05:24):
like a playoff game. Vikers get the earlier run and
then Detroit goes on the run. Then the Vikings went
on their run. It went back and forth, back and forth.
Adjustment here, adjustment there. The Minnesota Vikings desperately missed Blake Cashman,
just like the Detroit Lions missed Aiden Hutchinson.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
But the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Corners Shaq Griffin and Stefan Gilmour did not have a
great day. So improving at that position before the trade
deadline would be huge for the Minnesota Vikings secondary. To
add a guy that is a elite that can cover
one on one that isn't aging would be a big

(06:06):
pickup for the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
We'll see if they do that.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Or not, but I will not go as far as
say they were exposed against the Lions. However, if this
happens again against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night
football in LA after they only put up twenty points
against the Las Vegas Raiders, well then we might have
to change this opinion and say they did get exposed

(06:31):
because Ben Johnson did do some things, particularly in this game,
that other teams might borrow in the future against the
Minnesota Vikings. For example, Vikings blitzed seven the Lions only
had six blockers. Well, they put their receiver in motion,

(06:53):
and as the receiver was in motion, they hiked the
ball and they used that receiver as a blocker, which
free up a'man ross Ain't Brown in one on one
coverage and gave Jared Goff all day to throw and
he just went right up the seam. Go put it
to him and he blew by the Viking secondary easy touchdown.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
So there were certain things.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
That if the Minnesota Vikings aren't careful, this could be
the game that leads to the exposure for the rest
of the season. I'm not going to say they we're
exposed to yet, but maybe I'm wrong, and maybe it was.
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(07:37):
part of your day.