The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Detroit Lions in embarrassing fashion on Sunday, falling 29-27 on the final play of the game.
The game started on the wrong foot when Adam Thielen left the game with an ankle injury. The injury occurred on the Vikings’ first drive where Thielen caught a screen pass and had his leg rolled on during a tackle by Jerry Jacobs.
Replay of the Adam Thielen injury. His left leg gets rolled up on. He’s in the medical tent pic.twitter.com/0ow2HS5JEl
— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) December 5, 2021
Even with Thielen out of the picture, the Vikings had no issues moving into Lions territory but couldn’t find the end zone. Kirk Cousins was reluctant to push the ball downfield early and Minnesota settled for two field goals to take a 6-0 lead.
But those shortcomings left the door open for the Lions to take over. Jared Goff found T.J. Hockenson on the first of two touchdown passes to make it a 14-6 game and Detroit added a field goal by former Viking Riley Patterson to go ahead 17-6.
Justin Jefferson entered the final drive of the first half with just two targets but Cousins finally started throwing the ball his way during a drive into Lions territory. But with Minnesota facing a 3rd and 10 from the Lions’ 42, Jefferson wasn’t even on the field and the Vikings eventually turned the ball over on downs.
Detroit took advantage, racing back down the field for another Patterson field goal to go into the locker room up 20-6 at halftime.
The Vikings were able to get a stop on Detroit’s first possession of the second half and things looked up as they moved into Lions territory. But a holding penalty by Tyler Conklin derailed the drive and Minnesota had to settle for another field goal.
Down 20-9, the Vikings made their comeback bid, led again by Jefferson, who finished the afternoon with 182 yards and helped Minnesota drive down the field again. This time, the Vikings were able to cash in with a touchdown run by Alexander Mattison but were unable to convert a two-point conversion.
The Lions added Patterson’s third field goal of the day on the following drive and the Vikings had another chance to tie the game when Cousins found K.J. Osborn for a touchdown.
.@KIrkCousins8 hits @KJ_Osborn for 6!#ProBowlVote
đź“ş: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/xf9UI3Fe6T
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 5, 2021
The Vikings went for two again but an uninspiring run up the middle left Minnesota down 23-21. Just as it looked like the Vikings were destined to be the one in 1-10-1, Dan Campbell made Mike Zimmer look like a game management genius.
With the ball on his own 30, Campbell went for it on a 4th-and-1, which saw Jared Goff get sacked. The ensuing possession saw Cousins connect with Jefferson to give Minnesota the lead with 1:50 to go.
But the Lions weren’t finished as they had one last shot on the final play of the game. With four seconds remaining, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for the game-winning score as time expired.
The Vikings (5-7) will try to rebound when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
