Tag: Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions

Lions unsung hero: Isaiah Buggs is a true leader for the franchise

Isiah Buggs has turned into a defensive catalyst for the Detroit Lions and emerging as a true leader for the franchise.

I’m sure as a kid (or an adult), when you were outside, you would go searching for little treasures, lifting any log or rock you could find, and the majority of the time, you would come across a lot of creepy crawlers. Well, the Detroit Lions lifted a massive rock this offseason and found their own bug, Isaiah Buggs, to be more exact.

I know it’s a bad pun joke, but seriously the Lions struck gold when they brought in Buggs after the sudden retirement of John Penisini. He fits exactly what GM Brad Holmes and Coach Dan Campbell are trying to build in Detroit as a man with grit, tenacity, and a no-quit attitude. Even though Buggs was a late addition in the offseason, it has not stopped him from turning into not only an impact player but a leader in Detroit.

The way Buggs presents himself, you would think he is a seasoned vet, but this is only his fourth year in the league, and he is making one massive impression on a defense full of young talent. Even Aidan Hutchinson has spoken out about Buggs and how much of an impact he has made in Detroit.

“He’s huge. He’s really become one of the vocal guys in our room,” Hutchinson said of No. 96. “Kind of I’m not going to say it came out of nowhere. But it’s something that, when we were down and out, he was one of those guys that was an anchor for our team. Now he’s going out there and making the plays. It’s just that’s what you want your leaders to do.”

Buggs is about as selfless as they come, usually not blowing up the stat sheet, but that is due to opening up avenues for others to make their impact felt. Now and again, though, the silent assassin comes up with a play of his own, and none of them were bigger than the forced fumble against Dalvin Cook this past week.

The Lions were up by a touchdown, but the Vikings were looking to double-dip as they would receive the ball to open the second half. It was 1st-and-goal, three yards from the end zone, prime territory for the dangerous Dalvin Cook. The play did end up going to Cook, but the Vikings were trying to catch the Lions off guard and have Cook dump it to one of their tight ends. The play might’ve worked as the tight end was open, but Buggs had other plans as he blew through the line and knocked the ball out of Cook’s hand into his teammate Kerby Joseph’s.

The reason for the immediate disruption is because Buggs caught wind of the something and instantly notified his teammates of the trickery,

“We smelled a rat. I kinda smelled it at the beginning, they was doing a lot of talking and I kinda smelled it out. I had to alert the line, let them know what was going on and then just went and made a play,” Buggs told Ben Raven of MLive.

The Lions rookie pass rushers, Hutchinson and James Houston, have been quite the tandem as of late, recording sack after sack. One of the reasons why they can tee off like they are is because of the focus offenses have to put on Buggs. The pressure he can create in the middle is nothing you can ignore because if Hutchinson was able to get the sack, Buggs was right there waiting for Cousins to clean up the mess.

Coach Campbell noticed Buggs’s effort this week and rewarded him with a game ball during the locker room celebration. Campbell referred to Buggs and others as “glue guys” to describe the hard workers that do the dirty work and may go unnoticed. Even Buggs got the game ball for this week; it’s the effort he has brought every week this season.

“If you don’t have enough of those guys, you won’t win in this league and you need a certain amount you certainly need the guys that can give you some juice over the top and all those things as well,” Campbell said. “But man, if you don’t have the guys that are just 100% unselfish, do exactly what they’re asked to do. Do all the dirty work, it’s hard to get places. But we do, we’ve got a lot of those guys and we trust a lot of those guys and we value them.”

The Lions are the talk of the league right now as they continue to show doubters they are for real and are hungry. They are fighting for a playoff spot, and if you ask anyone, the Lions are probably a team you don’t want to run into with how they have been playing as of late. The defense has stepped up massively, and you don’t have to look any further than Buggs, who helped elevate the players as the motivator and dominator for Detroit. He has been a diamond in the rough, and Buggs himself can sense the tides changing surrounding the Lions,

“I love this team. This team coming together tremendously. We finding a way how to win. And everybody is just buying in, collectively — the coaches, the players, everybody. We’re a family here. And as long as we keep doing that, we’ll continue to win.”

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Quick takeaways from the Lions Week 14 win over the Vikings

Notes and observations from the Lions 34-23 win over the Vikings in Week 14

Sunday was a great day in Detroit. The Lions proved that being favored over the Minnesota Vikings despite Detroit being 5-7 and the visitors at 10-2 was justified. Dan Campbell’s Lions ripped off their fifth win in six games, toppling the Vikings, 34-23.

The win prevented the Vikings from clinching the NFC North inside Ford Field and elevated the Lions to just one game back of the final playoff berth in the NFC. It was a game where the Lions never trailed but had to consistently fight off a good Vikings team.

Here are some of the quick takeaways from watching the Week 14 game in real time.

Look: Check out these top photos from the Lions Week 14 win over the Vikings

Look: Check out these top photos from the Lions Week 14 win over the Vikings

A sellout crowd in Ford Field witnessed the Detroit Lions beat the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings, 34-23, in a Week 14 matchup. Detroit never trailed in the Lions’ fifth win in six games.

There were several big plays and outstanding moments for Dan Campbell’s Lions as they improved to 6-7 on the season. The professional photographers on hand in Ford Field captured all the action with some amazing photos from the game.

Here are some of the best photos from the Lions’ Week 14 win over the Vikings.

Dan Campbell: Week 3 loss to the Vikings will burn him ‘until the day I die’

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said his poor decisions in the Week 3 Vikings loss will burn him “until the day I die”

The last time the Detroit Lions faced the Minnesota Vikings, a road victory was in sight for head coach Dan Campbell and the Lions. Detroit led 24-21 and had the ball with under three minutes to play, rolling towards what would have been the first road win in Campbell’s coaching tenure with the Lions.

And then Campbell made a ponderous choice, or really series of choices. With the ball in Minnesota territory and the Vikings out of timeouts, Campbell called two dead-to-rights runs. That set up 4th-and-4 from the Minnesota 36-yard line.

At that point the Lions could have gone for it with the full playbook at their disposal. They could have taken a delay-of-game penalty and given Pro Bowl punter Jack Fox a chance to pin the Vikings deep in their own territory with zero timeouts and about a minute to play. Campbell choice option C: a long field goal attempt that wouldn’t have provided any more help on the scoreboard even if it was successful.

Kicker Austin Seibert missed, and it wasn’t close. That gave the Vikings the ball near midfield and brimming with confidence. Kirk Cousins only needed three plays to lead the Minnesota offense to the go-ahead touchdown.

“It burns me,” Campbell said earnestly when asked about how he feels about the decision over two months later. “Of course it burns me. It’ll be there until the day I die. I mean, that’s not going to go away.”

Then Campbell turned more pensive and thoughtful.

“But I also know I can’t wallow in that and let it pull me down. It is what it is and it happened for a reason. And honestly, I think us losing five (games) in a row is why we’re at where we are right now. So that’s kind of how I look at it — maybe we needed this to happen to get to where we’re at (winning four of five).”

Campbell has grown in his situational football since the Week 3 loss. But he will not forget the mistake he made in that game.

“I let my players down,” Campbell said. “It’s hard enough to have success and to win in this league without your coach doing something that pulls you back. And I felt like that was one of those.”

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Lions vs Vikings: Best and Worst PFF grades from Week 3

Here are the Detroit Lions best and worst PFF performers for this Week 3 game against the Minnesota Vikings.

It is never easy losing against your division opponent, but what happened for the Detroit Lions at the end makes it hurt that much more, losing their second game against the Minnesota Vikings, 28-24.

The Lions looked to be in control, but after some heavily questionable playcalling, ill-timed injuries, and miscommunication, they felt that win slip through their fingers. It has been documented enough that Coach Dan Campbell wishes he would’ve made a different call at the end, so we don’t need to beat a dead horse while it’s down. The Lions will look to redeem themselves next week against the Seattle Seahawks in hopes they can rebound from this devastation.

Most of this week’s PFF grades fall right in line with the eye test, good and bad. So we will go ahead and highlight the best and the worst PFF performers for the Lions for Week 3 against the Vikings.

Lions vs. Broncos: How to watch, listen, stream and wager on the Week 14 game

Detroit Lions vs. Denver Broncos: How to watch, listen, stream and wager on the Week 14 game

The Detroit Lions look to follow up last Sunday’s thrilling win over the Minnesota Vikings in a trip to Denver to face the Broncos from the AFC West. It won’t be easy with a dilapidated roster and the Broncos fighting for playoff vitality.

Detroit Lions (1-10-1) at Denver Broncos (6-6)

When: Sunday, December 12th, 4 p.m. ET
Where: Empower Field at Mile High, Denver
Referee: John Hussey

The game will be broadcast on FOX. The yellow markets in the map below (courtesy 506 Sports). Kevin Kugler will have the play-by-play with Mark Sanchez providing color commentary.

 

Radio: 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit is the flagship station. The full list of over 30 radio affiliates is here.

Sirius XM Radio: The Lions audio feed featuring Dan Miller is on channel 226. The national broadcast is on channel 88.

Stream: NFL Game Pass

Watch free on FUBO TV

Wagering

From our friends at Sportsbook Wire:

  • Money line: Lions +300 (bet $100 to win $300) | Broncos -400 (bet $400 to win $100)
  • Against the spread (ATS): Lions +8.5 (-108) | Broncos -8.5 (-112)
  • Over/Under (O/U): 42.5 (O: -108 | U: -112)

Dan Campbell would change one play from win over Vikings, but not the failed 4th-and-1

Lions coach Dan Campbell would change one play from the win over Vikings, but not the failed 4th-and-1

Lions head coach Dan Campbell faced some serious scrutiny for a questionable play decision late in Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Vikings. Faced with a 4th-and-1 from his own 28-yard line and nursing a 23-21 lead with just over four minutes to play, Campbell rolled the dice and went for it.

The play wound up being an abject disaster. Quarterback Jared Goff rolled to his right and was sacked before he had a chance to do anything, fumbling the ball away. The Vikings would score the go-ahead touchdown before the Lions rallied on an epic final drive to steal back the win.

When asked about the decision to go for it, Campbell offered up a surprising take. He wanted to take a play back, but not that particular one. It’s the third-down play just before it that Campbell laments.

“That’s a good question and honestly it’s funny because when I go back to it, if I could have a play over in that game, it wouldn’t have been the fourth-and-1, it would’ve been the third-and-2 right before it,” Campbell said in his press conference on Monday. “That’s the one I regret because I wish that I had given a better play to Jamaal Williams there and we wouldn’t even have been sitting in a fourth-and-1.”

Later in the press conference, Campbell again reflected on the offense’s struggles on third downs. Coach Campbell sees progress but not enough of it.

“And so, there again, there are so many little things that you’ve got to hone in on,” Campbell said. “And so, I feel like we’re beginning to find some of these schemes we think that we can work with and find ways to get our guys open. (Amon-Ra) St. Brown and some are stepping up, Josh Reynolds. So, we’re getting there, but certainly – our third-down percentage is still not good enough, so we’ve got to continue to improve so we can stay on the field.”

Interestingly, most analytical data indicates that Campbell made the correct decision in choosing to go for it on fourth down. But the play called was a suboptimal hedging of the odds.

Play of the game: Amon-Ra St. Brown secures the first win for Lions

Rookie WR Amon-Ra St. Brown makes the play of the game to lead the Lions to victory

In true Detroit Lions fashion, the team was able to just barely come out victorious on a last-second touchdown.

This rollercoaster of a game featured several huge plays on both offense and defense that would have been worthy of the ‘Play of the Game’ title if this were any other day for the Lions. Of course, with four seconds left on the clock, one play would decide whether the 0-10-1 Lions would walk away with their first victory or go on another week being winless.

It’s fourth-and-two. Down four points. Four seconds left. 11 yards to go. Jared Goff is 8-of-13 for 72 yards on this drive and it’s a no-brainer that they’ll attempt another pass here.

The Lions come out in the shotgun formation with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, and T.J. Hockenson in trips on one side and Josh Reynolds as the sole receiver on the other. Jamaal Williams is in the backfield.

The ball is snapped. Williams initially moves into pass protection before cutting out for a short comeback route behind the line of scrimmage. All four receivers run vertical routes deep and just try to get separation.

Reynolds and Hockenson are each met with double coverage. Raymond gets jammed up by the Vikings defender and fails to get open. The rookie St. Brown makes a smart move and sits on the route, faking out the two defensive backs and giving him some room to make a play.

With two seconds left on the clock, Jared Goff gets the ball out, intended for St. Brown. The rookie’s heads-up play opened up some space between him and the Viking defenders couldn’t close in on time. Touchdown!

St. Brown is immediately swarmed by teammates as the entire sideline rushes onto the field to celebrate the rookie’s remarkable catch that handed the Lions their first win of the season.

As this is both his first career touchdown and first win as a professional football player, this will surely be something St. Brown will remember for the rest of his life.

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Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings: Everything we know

Breaking down the keys to victory, stats, stars and more from the Lions 29-27 win over the Vikings

For the first time since Week 13 of the 2020 season, the Detroit Lions have won a game. It took until Week 13 of 2021, but the Lions finally secured the first victory of the Dan Campbell era as the team’s head coach with a 29-27 win thanks to a go-ahead touchdown on the last play of the game.

The thrilling comeback erased what was otherwise a forgettable second half for Detroit. The Lions raced out to a 20-6 halftime lead behind strong play from both QB Jared Goff and the young defense. Minnesota turned the tables in the second half and surged into a late 27-23 lead with under 90 seconds to play, but the Lions triumphantly answered the challenge.

Lions pull off the comeback, score last-second TD to beat the Vikings

Lions pull off the comeback, score last-second TD to beat the Vikings

The Lions tried to give the win to the Vikings but Minnesota wanted to lose even more

The winless nightmare is over. The Detroit Lions have won for the first time in a full year, coming from behind to vanquish the visiting Minnesota Vikings, 29-27.

Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown just over the Vikings goal line with an 11-yard touchdown pass in front of the Minnesota coverage. St. Brown clutched the ball in both arms, sat down in the end zone and the Lions secured their first win since Week 13 of last season.

It was not pretty, but the Lions don’t need style points. They desperately needed a win and the injury-depleted Vikings proved to be the perfect victim. Detroit raced out to a 20-6 halftime lead with a brilliant half of football, led by Goff playing the best he has all season and a savvy defense that wasn’t missing tackles or blowing coverages.

The tables turned in the second half, alas. Minnesota’s offense figured out to ride star WR Justin Jefferson, and the Goff glass slipper of the first half turned into a rotten pumpkin. The Vikings took a late lead after an abysmal Dan Campbell coaching decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Lions 28-yard line with four minutes to play and Detroit desperately clinging to a lead. Goff was strip-sacked on a hopeless play design, and Minnesota cashed in when Kirk Cousins found Jefferson alone in the end zone.

But the Vikings left over a minute on the clock, and Goff and the Lions proved capable of making them pay. An effective barrage of short passes to the sidelines moved the Lions deep into Minnesota territory. Given one last play, Goff and St. Brown, who caught 10 passes for 89 yards on the day, delivered the Ford Field faithful from yet another devastating loss.

The win improves the Lions to 1-10-1 and drops the Vikings to 5-7. It’s the first win for Campbell as a head coach and the first time Goff has ever won a game for another coach other than Sean McVay in Los Angeles. Detroit snaps the NFL’s longest losing streak in the process.