Dec

4

Detroit Lions vs Minnesota Vikings NFL Week 13 - Recap

Posted by Kevin Mack

December 4, 2007 |

  • NFL Week 13 Detroit Lions vs Minnesota Vikings - Recap

Photos in article Source: Detroit News

Detroit certainly had Your ‘Lion Eyes’ blogger fooled. On Sunday morning I predicted the Lions would win the game against the Minnesota Vikings. Clearly I was mistaken as the Vikings won easily 42-10. On an earlier post last week I said I had a good feeling about the game in Minnesota. In fact I said the Lions would not play horribly like they did in Washington and Philadelphia. The only thing I can say in my defense is the Lions played worse than horribly. Minnesota dominated all the phases of the game and after really the 1st drive for each team, to me the outcome was not in doubt. Oh for a minute when Detroit scored a TD early in the 2nd Quarter to cut the lead to 14-10, I gathered some hope. Then the Lions kicked off and the Vikings returner Aundrae Allison set a Vikings record 103 yard kick return for a TD. Just a brutal game for all Lions fans. The Lions defense was very bad giving up 5 TDs on top of the Kick off return. Detroit’s defense really never stopped the Vikings offense. Minnesota stopped themselves once when QB Tavaris Jackson threw an interception at the Detroit 3 yard line. The only other times Minnesota didn’t score were on their last 2 possessions when they had to punt on the first and ran out the clock on the other. Detroit had trouble tackling the Vikings Running Back tandem of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. When Viking QB Tavaris Jackson did go back to pass he easily found wide open receivers and picked apart the Lions secondary. Detroit’s offense seemed to start well but proved it could not protect QB Jon Kitna. Minnesota sacked Kitna 3 times and hurried and hit many more times causing an interception and a fumble. Detroit had 3 rushing attempts for 1 yard with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game. The Lions Special teams gave up the long kickoff return. Playoff hopes have clearly been abandoned at this point as shown by this quote from Lion Center Dominic Raiola:

“Screw playoffs,” center Dominic Raiola said. “We’ve got to win a game.”

 

QB Jon Kitna openly questioned whether all the Players were still buying in to Coach Marinelli’s ‘Pound the Rock’ approach and had this to say:

“Our boat’s not full, I know that,” Kitna said. “We don’t have a lot of people left in our boat. That’s just not NFL football.

“This is a man’s game. It’s about men being men. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered, to be honest. There’s an easy way out and a hard way. But we have to choose the hard way.

“Leaders have got to step up and do their job.”

Coach Rod Marinelli tried to take all the blame for all the ills that befell the Lions on Sunday with this insight:

“Put that 100 percent on me,” he said. “Our fundamentals were off. I thought we came out sluggish, tentative. We looked lethargic.”

Source: Detroit News Mike O’Hara

Here is what is being heard everywhere by all Lions Fans: ‘Same Old Lions’, ‘Fire Millen’, ‘William Clay Ford must Go’. Someday it will be better for us Lions Fans, at least I hope so. Your ‘Lion Eyes’ blogger, just a few short weeks ago when the Lions were 6-2, thought that the Lions would end their Monday Night Football drought next season. Guess I was wrong. I don’t think the NFL will schedule a 6-10 or at best a 7-9 team for MNF.

Marinelli during his weekly Monday Press Conference said that the team had far too many ‘Loafs’ during the Viking game and he will address it with the Players. Marinelli also reported that it is likely that WR Roy Williams has been lost for the season with a knee injury suffered during the game.

1st Quarter

Detroit started the game and came out passing the ball with QB Jon Kitna throwing 5 straight passes. Kitna connected on the 1st two passes for a consecutive 1st downs. That was it for the 1st drive as then the Lions went 3 and out from their own 41 and punted to the Vikings. Minnesota started on their own 13 yard line and the Lions defense had the Vikings QB Tavaris Jackson in 3rd and 14 from the 9 and then came the turning point of the game. Jackson handed off to RB Chester Taylor who ran for 15 yards and a 1st down. QB Jackson then hit a couple passes to push the Vikings into Detroit territory at the 44. Next came a run by RB Adrian Peterson for 28 yards then back to Taylor for 14 yards and a 1st and goal at the Lions two. Taylor finished the drive on the next play with a 2 yard plunge untouched into the endzone and a 7-0 Vikings lead. Minnesota used 5:17 to drive 87 yards in 9 plays. Detroit responded on the next drive with QB Jon Kitna directing 11 play drive from the Lions 40 after a good kickoff return by RB Aveion Cason.  Kitna again relying on the passing game, throwing on all but 1 of the plays on the drive, got the Lions to a 1st and 10 at the Vikings 25. Detroit failed to convert on 3rd down and settled on a K Jason Hanson 37 yard Field Goal to make it a 7-3 Vikings lead. Minnesota started their 2nd drive at their own 16 yard line and ran 3 plays before the 1st Quarter ended with the Score Minnesota 7 and Detroit 3.

2nd Quarter

Minnesota continues their drive and Jackson hits a couple passes to get the Vikings to a 1st and 10 at the Lions 22. First hit throws to Sidney Rice for 13 yards and then to Aundray Allison for 35 yards and the Vikings are dominating the Lions defense. On 3rd and 6 from the 16 RB Adrian Peterson makes a nice run for a TD and the Vikings lead is extended to 14-3. This Minnesota drive consumed 5:34 took 10 plays and went 84 yards. Detroit in an attempt to get back in the game went right the down the field with Kitna hitting WR Roy Williams with 2 passes for a total of 67 yards. On 2nd and goal from the Vikings 1 yard line Kitna threw a TD pass to TE Casey Fitzsimmons to make it 14-10 Vikings. The surge by the Lions did not last long as on the ensuing kickoff WR AundraeAundrae Allison Kickoff Return vs LionsAllison returned the kick 103 yards for a TD to essentially end the game and give the Vikings a 21-10 lead. Detroit responded with a 3 and out that included a penalty and a sack of QB Jon Kitna on 3rd and 15. Detroit punts from their own 9 on 4th and 27. Minnesota takes over on their own 49 looking to extend the lead. Jackson, Taylor and Peterson each take turns shredding the Lions run defense to setup the Vikings with a 1st and goal on the Lions 5. After a running play that loses a yard QB Tavaris Jackson throws a 6 yard TD pass to WR Bobby Wade and now the Vikings lead 28-10 with a little more than 2 minutes left in the Half. This Viking drive takes 10 plays and uses 5:31 to go 51 yards for the score. Detroit starts to respond with a couple Kitna passes that gets the Lions to midfield. Faced with a 2nd and 1 at the 50 Kitna is attempting to pass when hit is Ray Edwards hitting Jon Kitna causing interceptionhit by DE Ray Edwards who beats T Jeff Backus. The pass only goes a few yards and is intercepted by DE Kenechi Udeze who returns it to the Lions 27. Minnesota with less than a minute to play in the half moves to the Lions 5 yard line when Jackson spikes the ball to stop the clock and setup a Field Goal on 4th and 1. Detroit DT Langston Moore commits an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give the Vikings 1st and goal at the 2 with 10 seconds remaining. Jackson throws a pass in the corner of the endzone to WR Sidney Rice for yet another TD and the Vikings lead 35-10 with 5 seconds left in the 1st half. Detroit receives the kickoff and the 1st Half ends and the Vikings leading 35-10.

Just a miserable 1st half for the Lions and some interesting stats just in case anybody thought the Lions were ever in the game.

  • Time of Possession in 1st half Vikings 17:24, Lions 12:36
  • Number of Possessions for Vikings 5, Number of TDs 5
  • Number of more than 80 yard drives by Vikings 2, Lions 0
  • Turnovers Detroit 1, Minnesota 0, Points off Turnovers Vikings 7
  • Rushing Yards Vikings 154, Lions 4
  • Redzone Efficiency Vikings 4 for 4, Lions 1 for 2
  • Kickoff Returns for TDs Vikings 1, Lions 0

3rd Quarter

Minnesota starts the 2nd half with the ball and continues right where they left off making Adrian Peterson TD run vs Lionsit 6 possessions 6 TDs. Jackson completes a couple passes and Adrian Peterson has a few runs and finishes the drive with a beautiful 16 yard scamper into the endzone. Peterson puts a fake on Lions Safety Kenoy Kennedy that is shown on numerous NFL Highlight shows on Sunday and Monday. The Vikings lead has grown to 42-10. Another drive of 9 plays, 66 yards and 4:54 possession time. It is clear the Lions defense can not even slow down the Vikings offense. Detroit’s 1st possession of the 2nd half is a 3 and out to setup a punt to the Vikings. Minnesota now with RB Chester Taylor carring the load and with a couple passes from QB Tavaris Jackson move to the Lions 35. On 3rd and 3 Jackson throws an incompletion and the Lions have finally stopped the Vikings. Minnesota is forced to attempt a 51 yard Field Goal. The Vikings perfectly execute a fake Field Goal with holder Chris Kluwe flipping a pass to TE Jeff Dugan and Dugan takes it down to the Lions 6 for a 1st and goal. On 2nd and goal from the 5 RB Chester Taylor takes a handoff and attempts a halfback pass to TE Visanthe Shiancoe who dropped the pass. On 3rd and goal Jackson has a pass intercepted by Lions CB Travis Fischer at the 3 and Fischer returns it to the Lions 16. Finally the Lions defense has kept the Vikings out of the endzone and in fact no points are scored by the Minnesota offense or special teams for the 1st time all day. Detroit runs 4 plays and gets to the Lions 36 before the 3rd Quarter ends. Minnesota leads 42-10 at the end of the 3rd Quarter.

4th Quarter

Detroit continues their drive and makes it to the Viking 29 when mis-fortune falls on the Lions. On 1st down Kitna is sacked and loses 8 yards. On 2nd down a 2 yard pass to WR Shaun McDonald ends with McDonald being assessed a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Kitna is faced with a 3rd and 31 from midfield. Kitna completes a pass to RB Aveion Cason to setup a 4th and 20 and Detroit once again is forced to punt. Minnesota moves from their own 11 to the Lions 38 with mostly runs by Chester Taylor and a couple passes from QB Tavaris Jackson. On 3rd and 3 RB Mewelde Moore loses 3 yards and the Vikings are forced to punt for the only time in the game. The drive did take over 7 minutes off the clock and now the Lions get the ball back at their own 20 with under 4 minutes remaining in the game. QB J.T. O’Sullivan replaces Jon Kitna and the Lions run 5 plays all rushing attempts before punting back to the Vikings. Mercifully the game ends with the Vikings kneeling on the ball twice.

Final Score Minnesota 42 - Detroit 10.

Complete NFL Game Statistical Summary can be seen here.
National Football League Game Summary Source: NFL

Stats for Detroit vs Minnesota NFL Week 13

Passing Attempts Completions-Yds-Int TDs Rating/Sacks
Jon Kitna - Detroit 36 27 - 260 - 1 1 92.4 - 3
Tavaris Jackson - Minn 24 18 - 204 - 1 2 110.4 - 1
Receiving Catches Yards TDs Yards/Catch
Mike Furrey - Det 7 57   8.1
Shaun McDonald - Det 6 54 9.0
Roy Williams - Detroit 5 85 17.0
Kevin Jones - Detroit 3 16 5.3
Casey Fitzsimmons - Det 1 1 1 1.0
Sidney Rice - Minnesota 5 53 1 10.6
Bobby Wade - Minn 4 54 1 13.5
Aundrae Allison - Minn 2 52 26.0
Jeff Dugan - Minnesota 2 29   14.5
Chester Taylor - Minn 2 17 8.5
Time of Possession 3rd Down Efficiency
Detroit 22.:58 Detroit 3-10 30%
Minnesota 37:02 Minnesota 6-10 60%
Rushing Carries Yards TDs Avg Per Carry
T.J. Duckett 3 22 7.3
Kevin Jones - Det 3 1   0.3
Adrian Peterson - Minn 15 116 2 7.7
Chester Taylor - Minn 14 70   5.0

Week 12 in the NFL brings the powerful Dallas Cowboys to Ford Field to probably eliminate any shred a hope left for the Lions, but they must play the game. Coach Marinelli believes they will respond.  

Cast your vote in this weeks Poll, Please.

Which Team will Win the Game on Sunday December 9th, 2007?

  • Dallas Cowboys (77%, 34 Votes)
  • Detroit Lions (23%, 10 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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