DETROIT -- The Minnesota Vikings, and quarterback Sam Darnold in particular, picked the wrong week for their worst offensive performance of the season.
The Vikings failed to score a touchdown on four trips to the red zone, and Darnold finished with the second-highest off-target percentage of his career (34%) as the Vikings absorbed a 31-9 beatdown Sunday night from the Detroit Lions. Despite a spectacular season that far exceeded expectations, the Vikings (14-3) are now the winningest team in NFL history that did not finish first its division.
Instead, the Lions won the NFC North after sweeping their season series with the Vikings for the second consecutive year. The teams could meet for a third time in the divisional round of the playoffs, if the No. 5 seed Vikings can defeat the Los Angeles Rams in a Jan. 13 wild-card game. But for now, the Vikings will be left to sift through the wreckage of a game in which their season-long sustenance -- the passing game -- failed them.
"We didn't do a lot of the things that we have consistently done all season long," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said. "This game could have looked differently in the end, very easily, with one or two more plays down in the red zone being successful, the way that works with momentum and the way that works for the energy of your whole team."
The Vikings dropped back on nine of their first 11 goal-to-goal passes, with only two runs. O'Connell said afterwards that the Lions were playing man-to-man defense on many of those plays, which typically favors the Vikings' receiving corps.
"They were able to defend us," O'Connell said. "Sometimes that happens."
At the same time, however, Darnold was in the midst of an unusually inaccurate stretch. The Vikings settled for field goals of 25 and 31 yards from Will Reichard, along with two failed fourth-down plays. ESPN Research credited Darnold with eight overthrows in the first half. The only game during his career in which he exceeded a 34% off-target rate was when he played for the New York Jets in 2019, in a matchup with the New England Patriots in which NFL Films recorded him saying that he was "seeing ghosts" on the sideline.
The Lions rarely let Darnold settle in the pocket, blitzing him on 56% of his dropbacks, the highest such percentage he has faced in any game in his career. Darnold said he "could have been a little more grounded instead of trying to backpedal or escape" on some of the throws near the goal line.
"Don't get me wrong," Darnold said. "Losing sucks. But it is what it is at the end of the day. I missed some throws and we lost to a good team."
Receiver Justin Jefferson was unable to come up with a pair of passes in the end zone, one that Darnold threw over his head in the corner and another that was just out of his grasp. The Lions defense is known for playing exceptionally physical coverage, and referee Brad Rogers' crew called them for four illegal contact penalties and twice for defensive holding. But Jefferson said afterwards it could have been many more.
Between Darnold's inaccuracy and the Lions' physical defense, Jefferson caught only three of the eight passes thrown his way. Tight end T.J. Hockenson managed just two catches on eight targets.
"I mean we felt like some of the calls that should have been called out there didn't get called," Jefferson said. "They held us a lot. A lot of calls that were left out there. But that's not something we're looking toward. That's not something we're going to put the blame on. We still need to go out and execute the plays that we had."
Instead, the Vikings will be left with time to conduct what O'Connell called a "full debrief" after record a season low in points with Darnold putting up the worst passing yardage total (166) and completion percentage (43.9%) in a game this season.
They are hoping to avoid a repeat of the only losing streak they suffered this season, when the Lions beat them in Week 7 and the Rams defeated them in Week 8.
"It doesn't change anything about what this team is made up of," O'Connell said. "You can't win nine in a row and then lose one and have that change how we operate. But that also doesn't mean you can't improve. ... Sometimes you are hit in the mouth a little bit and you've got to respond."
