Detroit10 Minnesota
42
Detroit
| Detroit 10 | Minnesota 42 |
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| December 02, 2007 | Metrodome-Attendance: 62,996 (64,035) | Time: 2:59 |
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| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER | DET | MIN |
| MIN | TD | 7:27 | Chester Taylor rush to the left for 2 yards for a touchdown. | 0 | 6 |
| MIN | PAT | 7:24 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 0 | 7 |
| DET | FG | 1:57 | Jason Hanson 37 yard field goal attempt is good. | 3 | 7 |
| SECOND QUARTER | DET | MIN |
| MIN | TD | 11:23 | Adrian Peterson rush to the right for 16 yards for a touchdown. | 3 | 13 |
| MIN | PAT | 11:23 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 3 | 14 |
| DET | TD | 9:41 | Jon Kitna pass completion to the left to Casey FitzSimmons for 1 yard for a touchdown. | 9 | 14 |
| DET | PAT | 9:37 | Jason Hanson extra point attempt is good. | 10 | 14 |
| MIN | TD | 9:23 | Detroit kicks off. Aundrae Allison returns 103 yards for a touchdown. | 10 | 20 |
| MIN | PAT | 9:23 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 10 | 21 |
| MIN | TD | 2:17 | Tarvaris Jackson pass completion to the middle to Bobby Wade for 6 yards for a touchdown. | 10 | 27 |
| MIN | PAT | 2:17 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 10 | 28 |
| MIN | TD | 0:05 | Tarvaris Jackson pass completion to the right to Sidney Rice for 2 yards for a touchdown. | 10 | 34 |
| MIN | PAT | 0:05 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 10 | 35 |
| THIRD QUARTER | DET | MIN |
| MIN | TD | 10:12 | Adrian Peterson rush to the left for 13 yards for a touchdown. | 10 | 41 |
| MIN | PAT | 10:06 | Ryan Longwell extra point attempt is good. | 10 | 42 |
| Statistics |
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| Team Stat Comparison |
| DET | MIN | |
| 1st Downs | 14 | 29 |
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| 3rd down efficiency | 3-10 | 6-10 |
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| 4th down efficiency | 1-1 | 1-1 |
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| Total Yards | 254 | 443 |
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| Passing | 231 | 227 |
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| Comp-Att | 27-36 | 19-26 |
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| Yards per pass | 5.9 | 8.4 |
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| Rushing | 23 | 216 |
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| Rushing Attempts | 7 | 39 |
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| Yards per rush | 3.3 | 5.5 |
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| Penalties | 6-48 | 4-25 |
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| Sacks against | 3-29 | 1-4 |
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| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
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| Fumbles-lost | 4-0 | 0-0 |
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| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 1 |
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| Possession | 22:58 | 37:02 |
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| Officials |
''I definitely wanted to go out and get that first hit and see how it felt,'' Peterson said Sunday.
Once he took a few shots from the Detroit Lions, some of which he felt were cheap, Peterson was off and running. So were the Minnesota Vikings, 42-10.
The star rookie rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns in less than three quarters of work and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson continued his steady improvement to lead the surging Vikings over the free-falling Lions.
''I got choked up a couple times, so it kind of pushed my buttons,'' Peterson said.
The favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year showed he is back in a big way, but the Vikings suddenly appear much more than a one-man show.
In the last three weeks, Jackson has shown poise, an accurate arm and command of the offense that simply wasn't there early in the season, and Sunday was his best game yet. He was 18-of-24 for 204 yards and two touchdowns, and the Vikings (6-6) scored TDs on their first six possessions to win their third in a row and fourth in the last five games.
''We feel like we're getting on a roll and we want to stay on that roll,'' Jackson said.
The roll has the Vikings back in the thick of the NFC playoff picture, thanks in large part to a November swoon by the Lions (6-6) that has an all-too familiar feel for their long-suffering fans.
Jon Kitna threw for 260 yards and one touchdown for the Lions, who have lost four in a row to waste a 6-2 start. A month later, the Lions are looking more like the hapless Motor City Kitties who started the season with more losses than any team in the NFL over the last six years.
''Our boat's not very full, I know that. We don't have a lot of people left in our boat right now,'' Kitna said, referring to the sulking Lions locker room.
''I'm talking about us in general. We are not heading in the same direction right now, as a football team.''
Coming in, the Lions talked about needing a sense of urgency to turn things around. But they showed nothing of the sort in a woeful effort.
The Lions rushed for just 23 yards on seven attempts against the league's top-ranked run defense, committed three personal fouls and were manhandled at the line of scrimmage.
''It's a team that's gotten tentative,'' said Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who blamed himself for the loss. ''Today, especially, we looked lethargic. The fundamentals aren't being executed the way I wanted. ... And that's on coaching.''
Peterson returned after missing two games with a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. He looked to be just a step slower than his usual blazing self - but that was still two steps faster than the Lions' defense.
He ripped off a 28-yard run on the first possession to set up a touchdown run by Chester Taylor, then added a 16-yard scoring run to help the Vikings to a 14-3 lead.
The Lions came right back and scored on a 2-yard pass from Kitna to Casey FitzSimmons, but rookie Aundrae Allison returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown to highlight a 28-point second quarter.
Jackson threw touchdown passes to Bobby Wade and Sidney Rice in the period, and the Vikings led 35-10 at halftime.
Peterson finished off the Lions on the first drive of the second half. He burst through a gigantic hole and then made safety Kenoy Kennedy look foolish with a paralyzing juke on his way to a 13-yard touchdown.
Taylor added 70 yards on the ground and the Vikings rushed for 216 yards.
Jackson said the Vikings were confident after watching Peterson in practice, but ''we just wanted to see if he could get up after taking a shot.''
The team as a whole started 2-5 and took quite a roundhouse shot in a 34-0 loss at Green Bay a month ago that dropped it to 3-6. But just like their biggest offensive star, the Vikings are back up off the mat.
They moved into a tie for the final wild-card spot in the NFC, with games remaining at San Francisco, home against Chicago and Washington, and at Denver. But they may not have to worry about Detroit for that much longer.
Receiver Roy Williams left in the first half with a knee injury, and the Lions are in serious trouble.
''There's an easy way out and a hard way out,'' said Kitna, 13-25 lifetime in games played in December and January. ''We have to choose the hard way if we want to do it. But we have to choose it - all 53 guys. We can't have some and not the others.''
You can stick a fork in the Lions 2007 season. In what was a clone of the Philadelphia debacle in September, the Lions failed on all facets of the game. The Offense, Defense, Special Teams and Coaching all contributed to one embarrassing afternoon of football. Minnesota scored on their first SIX possessions - all touchdowns!!!What on earth happened to the Defense that was making big plays in the first half of the season? Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor could not be stopped. Tarvaris Jackson had one of his best games picking apart the Lions Defense. As for the Offense, it was much of the same as they only had ten points the entire game. Roy Williams complained about not getting the ball enough and had a good game until he injured his kneee. The Special Teams continue to be a major disappointment as they yielded a 103 yard kickoff return after the Lions got their only touchdown of the game. Just like the Giants game, the Lions kept saying how important this game was to them. And as they have done in the past four weeks, they layed a rotten sticking egg. And with the Cowboys and Chargers looming on the horizon, all I can say is get used to games we saw against the Vikings.
Offense: --- F. The Offense has been a total disppointment for the second straight year on what was expected of them before the season began. How many 3rd down conversions longer than 3rd and 10 have they had since September? Try ZERO!!! Calvin Johnson, as much as it pains me to say it, was the wrong pick for the Lions in the draft. He had one catch and another drop. And to think the Lions could have drafted Joe Thomas or Adrian Peterson - two players that would definitely be making more contributions than the Lions fourth WR. Once again the run game was abandoned as they had ONE yard midway through the fourh quarter. They ran the ball seven times the entire game. The offensive line is a complete joke as is Jeff Backus - what an awful year he is having.
Defense: --- F-. If I could give a grade lower than an F- I would. This was one of the worst efforts I have seen since the Philadelphia debacle. How can you let an average Vikings offense at best score six straight touchdowns?!?!? Where has Shaun Rogers been during this losing streak??? Corey "the most overpaid player on the Lions" Redding? Nothing like seeing him sign a huge contract and have zero sacks so far. Yet another Millen mistake. The Defense gave up 216 yards on the ground and the Vikings lethal duo of Peterson and Taylor ran with ease. Jackson had one of his best games ever against a porous Lions secondary. What has caused the defense to completely unravel during this losing streak? Not making the big plays! They have hardly forced any turnovers the past few games and the Tampa 2 is getting exposed badly. If they gave up 42 to Minnesota, i'm scared to see what the next two games will be like.
Special Teams: --- F. Stan Kwan took over for Chuck Priefer in the offseason and has been a complete flop as special teams coach. He deserves the axe more than any coach on the Lions. After the Lions scored a touchdown to pull within four, the special teams gives up a 103 yard kickoff return to a backup returner!!! Coverage again was piss poor. Cason had one good run back, but he lacks any play making ability. Just one awful year for the special teams.
Coaching: --- F-. Gee what a surprise! Marinelli says to blame the coaches for the loss. Haven't I heard that before? Coach, try with the lack of talent on this team. And whose fault is that? None other than Matt Millen! It was Millen who has had bad draft after bad draft. I still cannot get over the drafting of injury riddled Drew Stanton instead of finding a player who most likely would be starting on the offensive line. As for Mike Martz, the so called greatest show on turf he was allegedly supposed to bring has been the most over hyped show on turf. Why he keeps abandoning the run is beyond me. I sure hope Marinelli is smart enough to cut his losses with Martz before it gets any worse next year. They tried his crazy style of coaching and it did not work out.
Overall: --- F-. The Lions had plenty of time to get ready for this game. They were healthy and knew what was on the line. Minnesota was a beatable team and they knew it. But, the Lions always find a way to lose in Minnesota, where they have not won in 10 years. To play like they did against the Vikings shows how fraudulant their 6-2 record was. They will be lucky to win one more game. Up next are the Dallas Cowboys and if the Lions keep it within 20 points i'll be shocked! It will be a definite blowout as Romo and TO will torch the Lions secondary. After that game, LT and company will butcher the Lions leaving them on a six game losing streak. The bandwagon has offically broken down and I would not be surprised one bit if the Fire Millen brigade is back in full force in the 3rd quarter after the Lions are getting blown out next Sunday. But, as the Lions will say - we are still in the playoff hunt with Arizona ahead of us on tie breaker. If I hear the "P" word out of the Lions one more time this year I may throw up the cornbread and koolaide I inhaled after the Denver game. That sure seems like an eternity ago.
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