Dominant Lions ground game paves way to victory over Vikings

On an emotional, sometimes scary day for the Detroit Lions, their rushing offense was the constant.

Detroit rushed for 230 yards as a team, on a rate of 5.9 yards per carry, in its 19-15 home win over the Minnesota Vikings. It gained 164 of those yards in the second half.

The Lions won the rushing battle over the NFL’s final undefeated team by 149 yards. They’re now 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in divisional play.

“I think Drew and our whole offense kind of felt something,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “The dam broke at some point in that second half, where it was like ‘Oh we can just keep leaning on this run, and good things are going to happen.’”

Right now, it’s a bittersweet victory for Detroit. Linebacker Jack Campbell went down with a concerning injury that had players emotional on both sides. He was taken to a local hospital with a neck injury. Head coach Dan Campbell said the team didn’t have any new information on his well-being after the game. 

Lions' run game revitalized team against Vikings

As far as the football aspect of Sunday’s game, the thing that helped the Lions navigate the devastating scene and come out with a win was the run. They wore down the NFL’s best defense as the game went on. 

Star running back Jahmyr Gibbs had another excellent day with 153 rushing yards on 23 attempts (6.7 yards per carry). It included his longest play of the season, a dazzling 30-yard touchdown. He continues to make his case for Offensive Player of the Year.

Third-year back Sione Vaki ran hard for a career-high 65 yards on 11 carries. It was a breakout day for Vaki, and easily the best he’s had since the Lions trusted him with the No. 2 back job this season.

“Vaki ran his tail off,” Goff said. “And when he's able to do that, it just gives Gibbs that much more of a breath on the sideline to come back and do his thing at his full capacity.”

Dan Campbell said the team challenged Vaki to make major contributions this week, as both a ballcarrier and pass protector.

“I thought he took a big step today,” he said of Vaki’s performance. “That's a huge step. He gained a lot of trust today.”

Detroit attacked a Minnesota Vikings defense that had allowed the fewest points in the NFL by letting its all-world left tackle lead the way.

The Lions ran it to the left side alone 27 times for 185 yards and a touchdown, on 6.9 yards a pop according to Next Gen Stats. Penei Sewell and left guard Christian Mahogany did work all day long paving lanes, even though Sewell was called for four penalties.

Center Cade Mays got hurt in the first half and was replaced by Juice Scruggs, who had started the first five games of the season.

Detroit trusted its tight ends to do their part in the run game. Offensive coordinator Drew Petring deployed them in creative ways to counter Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ perpetual chaos, blitz-from-anywhere approach. Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright and Tyler Conklin each lined up in the background at points (including at the same time.)

As Tice noted following the post referenced above, the Lions ran 14 under-center run plays with 2 or more skill players in the backfield. Those plays went for 125 yards and a touchdown, on 8.9 yards per carry, according to Next Gen Stats.

The success on the ground helped Lions overcome Minnesota’s swarming pass rush, which sacked Goff four times in the first half. 

Trailing 7-6 in the third quarter, Petzing pulled out a new kind of run play on 3rd-and-8 on a CFL-style concept where receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown lined up about 30 yards off the line of scrimmage, essentially got a running start after the snap and followed his blockers for a first down.

READ MORE: 4 winners (and 1 loser) from Lions' Week 8 statement win over Vikings

“What they do is kind of wacky, and so you kind of have to do some wacky things your own way to fight fire with fire in a bit of ways,” Goff said. “I guess wacky is probably the wrong word— what they do is very good. It's just very aggressive.”

On the next play, Gibbs made three different Vikings miss and finished with authority on a 30-yard touchdown to put Detroit up 12-7 in the third quarter. 

“In the locker room we said, ‘We need to get the run game going,’” Gibbs told Fox Sports in a postgame interview. “We leaned on the big guys up front, we just trusted our landmarks and we got it rolling.” 

After Jack Campbell went down, the game stopped for several minutes. Players from both teams knelt on the field, and Lions teammates were in tears. 

Detroit’s defense, now down several starters and visibly emotional, responded by getting a fourth down stop on the first snap after play resumed. Minnesota later scored to take the lead, 15-12, but then the Lions’ ground game took over.

On their final two drives, Detroit rushed for 92 yards on 11 attempts (not counting kneeldowns) between Gibbs, Vaki, Goff and tight end Sam LaPorta. The first of those possessions ended in Goff finding Jameson Williams for the go-ahead score. 

Detroit’s defense forced a three-and-out, and the offense’s final drive ensured the Vikings wouldn’t get it back. With the chance to put it away late, the Lions delivered the knockout punch on the ground. Goff’s 3rd-and-1 quarterback sneak sealed a huge divisional win, and their first over Minnesota since 2024. 

The commitment to the run game was ultimately the biggest on-field reason for Detroit’s key victory. Overcoming the shock and devastation of such a frightening injury to their captain and centerpiece on defense is no small feat. 

The Lions needed something to rally behind today, and they found it by imposing their will on the ground. Their murky injury outlook will be worth monitoring over the next several weeks, but this offense looks like it’s rediscovered the thing that made it so hard to stop from 2022-24.

The running backs complement each other well, the offensive line is one of the league’s best and the skill players block as hard as any such group in the NFL. The Lions’ running game might be back.

“We knew going into this, we were going to have to be able to run the football,” Dan Campbell said. “We had to be able to run the football, and we did.  We actually gained strength in the fourth quarter. I was proud of those guys.”

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