🏈 Wk 08 ~ LIONS GAME DAY ~ Tame Those Kitties!

Vikings RB snaps Sunday vs. Lions...
Aaron Jones: 21
DeeJay Dallas: 17
Jordan Mason: 15

Reflects the pass-first approach in yesterday's plan. Vikings consider Jones a better receiver and Dallas a better blocker than Mason.

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 2, 2026

Does Kyler Murray's hamstring tightness + two shaky games = Carson Wentz in Week 9? Let's take a deep breath first. VIDEO:https://t.co/IVUKCColtR

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 2, 2026

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/50355826

This was the back breaker.

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/SeifertESPN/status/2117206439911366721?a=bg27OFNHCNzaQeEtXJk&s=20

Pass first, when run first got you 11 wins in a row.

JustInTime wrote:

https://twitter.com/stevepalazzolo_/status/2117099795558875535This was the back breaker.

I was like WTH???

I’ve never seen so much criticism around a 6-1 football time and the wildest part is it’s entirely valid.

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) November 2, 2026

Dan Campbell wisely declined the Vikings' intentional offside penalty on Sunday. https://t.co/ijgYan8WMR

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 2, 2026

With 2:00 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday in Detroit, the Lions had a 19-15 lead and the ball, facing second-and-2. Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel jumped offside, and fans in Detroit cheered, thinking the Vikings had made a mistake. But Lions coach Dan Campbell knew better.

Campbell declined the penalty because he knew the Vikings had jumped offside on purpose, wanting to concede a first down while the clock was stopped so that they could then use their three timeouts after the Lions’ first, second and third-down plays and then get the ball back with time left for a comeback drive.

Tom Brady, calling the game on Fox, immediately recognized what was happening.

“They’re not gonna accept that,” Brady said as soon as Van Ginkel jumped. “They’ll decline that penalty.”

It was obvious to Brady, but it wasn’t obvious to Bears coach Ben Johnson when he faced the same situation against the Patriots. Coach Mike Vrabel told his team to jump offside to concede a first down, and Johnson accepted the penalty. That allowed the Patriots to use their three timeouts on the Bears’ next three plays, forcing the Bears to kick on fourth down with 1:38 remaining. The Bears ended up winning when kicker Cairo Santos made it a two-possession game with a 58-yard field goal, but if the Bears had missed, Johnson’s decision to accept the penalty could have proven costly.

It’s a situation that doesn’t arise in most games, but it happens often enough that every coach should understand it as well as Vrabel, Campbell and Brady do: Sometimes, the smart thing for one team is to commit a penalty on purpose, and the smart thing for the other team is to decline the penalty.

In theory, if the defensive team continued to jump offside and the offense continued to decline the penalties, it could reach the point where the referee would have to warn the defensive team’s head coach that he could invoke the “palpably unfair act” rule, which gives the referee wide leeway to use his own discretion to enforce penalties. The referee could, for instance, charge the defensive team a timeout if it refused to stop committing intentional penalties.

It didn’t reach that point on Sunday, as Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell realized that Campbell was on to the intentional offside. Campbell is a smart in-game coach who recognized on Sunday what the right strategic decision was in the final two minutes.

Cricket wrote:

I was like WTH???

I used stronger language than that.

Film Work vs the Lions - The ALL 22 game film is the best way to see where the problems occurred in the Viking offense. For the most part, Kyler Murray is having trouble playing "on-time" and getting off his first reads (JJM did too). 2nd and 3rd receivers do appear to be open.

— VikeFans (@VikeFans) November 2, 2026

JustInTime wrote:

I used stronger language than that.

Actually, I did too, to myself. 😆

Kevin O'Connell on this failed 4th-and-5: "We got the exact look we wanted them to play. I think there was a little bit of internal pressure when we had JA versus a 1-on-1 matchup screaming across the field. We'd love to be able to just take a hitch and drive that ball." pic.twitter.com/AiRn06z4pz

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 2, 2026

#Vikings 1st round pick Caleb Banks this season:

• 107 Defensive Snaps
• 11 Tackles
• 5 QB Pressures pic.twitter.com/G0HPXusgpT

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) November 2, 2026