3 toughest losses for the Detroit Lions during the 2021 season

2. Week 5 at Minnesota Vikings

The Lions and Vikings combined to author a pretty boring game in Week 5, until the end at least.

The Vikings carried a 13-6 lead into the fourth quarter, which they made a 16-6 lead with less than five minutes to go. The Lions offense showed some life with a drive that stalled to a field goal, and it was back to a one-score game.

All Minnesota had to do was keep possession and force the Lions to use their final timeout to escape with a win. But running back Alexander Mattison did not simply go down on a carry that went nowhere, and Lions’ linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin forced a fumble that Detroit recovered at the Minnesota 20-yard line.

After a three-yard run by D’Andre Swift and a 10-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Swift cashed in a seven-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion pass from Jared Goff to KhaDarel Hodge gave the Lions a 17-16 lead.

With less than 40 seconds left, against a Detroit defensive plan that prevented exactly nothing, Kirk Cousins completed three passes for 46 yards to land the Vikings at the Lions’ 36-yard line. Then Greg Joseph made a 54-yard field goal on the final play to give Minnesota 19-17 win.

The Lions would put themselves in the win column for the season by beating the Vikings in Week 13 (on a final play as well). But they were so close to a season sweep in a game the Vikings almost gave them.