Lions at Vikings: Matthew Stafford sacked 10 times in loss
Second Quarter
Opening up the second quarter, a false start penalty pushed Detroit back five yards and right after that Kerryon was swallowed up on his next carry. On 3rd & Goal, Stafford absorbed a sack at the worst possible time for the Lions which ended their forward progression. As a result, Matt Prater came in to kick a 35-yard field goal and he knocked it right down the middle, 7-3 Minnesota.
In his quest to break Calvin Johnson‘s consecutive 100+ receiving yard games, Adam Thielen caught his first pass for 11-yards. On 3rd & 3, Cousins found Beebe again for the first down as he slid his way past Slay on defense.
On the next snap, Slay wasn’t beaten again. “Big Play” intercepted Cousins and he ran it back 21-yards to the Vikings’ 44-yard line. LeGarrette Blount then came in and powered his way for a strong seven-yard pickup. Kerryon was then stuffed for no gain on 3rd & 1 but Detroit decided to go for it on 4th down.
On another play fake, Stafford decided to just tuck the ball and gain the first down with his legs. The young runner Kerryon lowered his head and gained another five yards. Stafford again hit his tall target Golladay downfield for another significant gain through the air. Unfortunately, Stafford got sacked for the second time on 2nd & 10 for a loss of three yards deep in Viking territory.
On the next play, Stafford was mauled for the third time by Viking defenders and from there, Prater came out for another 35-yard field goal and once again he was successful 7-6 Minnesota.
On their next offensive series, Viking runner Dalvin Cook burst through the Lion defense for a gain of 70-yards and he was only just barely tripped up by Glover Quin which prevented the score. Undaunted though, the Vikings managed to score their second touchdown of the game with a 2-yard catch by Adam Thielen, 14-6 Minnesota.
Stafford led his troop back out onto the field and quickly found Riddick with another pass. After that play, Detroit was content to let the play clock tick down to hit the two-minute warning. On 3rd & 3, Stafford had to evade the Viking defense and though he wound up running for the first down on that play, Stafford was sacked on the next snap and he then missed on a pass attempt to Marvin Jones.
The next down and distance was 3rd & 18 for the Lions and even though Riddick picked up decent yardage, he was tackled short of the first down.
Marcus Sherels got a 24-yard return and the Vikings took over with great field position with less than a minute to go in the half. In his return to live game action, Ziggy Ansah was able to bull-rush his way to his second sack of the year in his first game since Week 1 and that forced the Vikings into settling for a field goal. Dan Bailey was successful, 17-6 Minnesota.
Luke Willson fielded the kickoff and from there the two teams went into the half.
Despite being down by two possessions, the game remained close. Detroit’s inability to score touchdowns in lieu of field goals in addition to being unable to protect their quarterback are the main two reasons for their deficit. The Lions were set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half.