Ugly game- turnovers key again

Shurmur made a stupid decision to call a wildcat play on a drive that was moving well. That flipped the momentum in Detroit's and put the team in an awful situation. Cook then fumbles and gets hurt on the next series, but he wouldn't have been in that position if they had not killed the previous drive with the wildcat.

It sounds like they are concerned that Cook tore his ACL, which is consistent with him being able to walk after his injury. We really need Bradford back, because things get a lot harder on offense without the threat of a running game. We have better depth with Murray and to a degree McKinnon, but it is a huge dropoff from Cook.

I felt bad for the defense. They fought hard. Definitely ugly and brutal. 

This game played out pretty much as I thought. People around here were a little too giddy after last week's win. Detroit is serious this year. Probably a better all around team than GB.

Vikes gave this one away.  I really don't see a dominant team in the NFCN.  Really sucks about Cook, this team really is snake bit.

@"Vikergirl" said: I felt bad for the defense. They fought hard. Definitely ugly and brutal. 

Tired of that. They are highly-paid and lauded. Tom Johnson proclaimed them one of the best defenses in the NFL.

But they never win close, low-scoring games. A GREAT defense would win at least half its low-scoring games. It would CAUSE turnovers more often than their opponents. It would setup the offense, and step up and make up for a bad day by our offense.

Zimmer's defense is above average. That's all. Maybe Tom J meant they are one of the best when they aren't on the field much and the offense spots them a nice lead. Big deal.

@"Vikergirl" said: I felt bad for the defense. They fought hard. Definitely ugly and brutal. 

Yup - I could fault Kendricks for missing tackles all over the field today, but the scoreboard said the Vikings gave up only 14 pts...

14 pts and this team cant win - at home. 

Smells like a mediocre team to me...We'll see, they need to win the next 2 and they need Bradford back.

@"1VikesFan" said: Vikes gave this one away.  I really don't see a dominant team in the NFCN.  Really sucks about Cook, this team really is snake bit.

Detroit should be 4/0. I think the Lions are a top 4 team in the NFC. 

Rather see them win The North instead of the F'ing Packers again. 

Outcoached. Period. Got run on by one of the worst rushing teams in the League.  How many LOS pick plays resulted in Lions wide freaking open in the flats? Where the H was the tackling? 

And Shurmer sure humped the bunk today. Down 2 LBs should equal lots of room for the intermediate game. But Rudolph was invisible until the Fourth Quarter. Slants? Screens? Pick plays? 

Nope. Looked like Uncle Norv at OC again.  And no halftime adjustments at all. Combine that with brutal special teams and turnovers and the fact that Detroit simply didn't regress from the Playoff team they were last year and the fact that the game was eminently winnable late in the 4th proves the damn talent is there.

Coaches lost this game.

@"FSUVike" said: Outcoached. Period. Got run on by one of the worst rushing teams in the League.  How many LOS pick plays resulted in Lions wide freaking open in the flats? Where the H was the tackling? 

And Shurmer sure humped the bunk today. Down 2 LBs should equal lots of room for the intermediate game. But Rudolph was invisible until the Fourth Quarter. Slants? Screens? Pick plays? 

Nope. Looked like Uncle Norv at OC again.  And no halftime adjustments at all. Combine that with brutal special teams and turnovers and the fact that Detroit simply didn't regress from the Playoff team they were last year and the fact that the game was eminently winnable late in the 4th proves the damn talent is there.

Coaches lost this game.

Very disappointed in Shurmur and in the offensive game plan today...As wonderful as it was to watch last week, it was depressing and non-effective today.

edit: and some of this falls on Keenum as well. He F'ed up the line call big-time when S broke free near the goal-line. He's a backup for a reason. Was hoping he'd have two weeks of magic in him, but he didnt. 

@"FSUVike" said: Outcoached. Period. Got run on by one of the worst rushing teams in the League.  How many LOS pick plays resulted in Lions wide freaking open in the flats? Where the H was the tackling? 

And Shurmer sure humped the bunk today. Down 2 LBs should equal lots of room for the intermediate game. But Rudolph was invisible until the Fourth Quarter. Slants? Screens? Pick plays? 

Nope. Looked like Uncle Norv at OC again.  And no halftime adjustments at all. Combine that with brutal special teams and turnovers and the fact that Detroit simply didn't regress from the Playoff team they were last year and the fact that the game was eminently winnable late in the 4th proves the damn talent is there.

Coaches lost this game.

Agreed. Once again, I thought JBC called a masterful game on offense for the Lions. He exploited our weakness at covering TE's and playing soft zone coverage. Our terrible tackling led to so many first downs after initial contact was made by Vikings' defenders short of the first down marker. Maddening. Not to mention we got gashed by the Lions' anemic running game. Abdulah looked like Earl Cambell the way he was breaking tackles on every run. That being said, we only gave up 14 points and 11 of those were after the 2 unforced fumbles. Despite my criticism of the D, they held the high powered Lion's offense in check. They did enough to win this game. To me the blame falls on the offense once again with questionable play calling, inability to attack the Lions' weakness at LB, and zero adjustments by Shurmur.    

The bad part was this was a winnable game by just eliminating the mistakes.  Keenam missed several over top throws that were open completely.  Defense should have seen that the zebras were letting DBs grab and did likewise enough playing ten yards off your man.   For gawd sakes how many picks bounced off our hands.  McKinnon,s hands looked like troy W was back in there. Winnable