EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — After the Minnesota Vikings were narrowly defeated by the thriving Detroit Lions, coach Kevin O'Connell invented an only-in-football noun to assess his team's not-quite-complete-enough performance.
“It's just these little self-inflicteds,” O'Connell said, highlighting the pre-snap penalties and handful of other seemingly minor mistakes that added up to the 31-29 loss to the Lions on Sunday. "I've got to get that stuff fixed. When you’re trying to win at the level we’re trying to win at against anybody we play, we can’t do anything to help give football teams an out.”
Falling into a first-place tie in the stacked NFC North with the Lions at 5-1, following a two-point defeat that was remarkably even statistically, the Vikings showed nothing to suggest they're not built to last in the division race and beyond. But there's certainly a formula for beating them when they're not at their best. The Lions used Jared Goff's sharp passing to negate blitzes by working medium-range routes in the middle of the field, the speed of running back Jahmyr Gibbs and an aggressive secondary that produced a key interception of Sam Darnold to hand the Vikings their first defeat.
“In a heavyweight battle like this, it comes down to situational football,” safety Josh Metellus said. "We lost the situational football today.”
The incompletions Darnold threw on third down with 2:46 left to force a punt with the Vikings up 29-28 and on the earlier 2-point conversion after they took the lead on Ivan Pace's fumble return touchdown were glaring, but another more subtle snapshot of a less-than-ideal performance came before both of those plays midway through the fourth quarter.
After the Vikings had a fresh set of downs at the Detroit 32, O'Connell called a reverse pass that Justin Jefferson wisely skipped for a safe 3-yard run when the Lions sniffed out the trick play. Then Darnold was sacked on back-to-back plays to force a field goal.
“What I want to see is the little things that really good teams do to give yourself the best chance to win football games like this,” O'Connell said.
The impact of running back Aaron Jones on the offense has been felt from the start, but the eighth-year veteran had his best game yet against the Lions with a season-high 6.82 yards per touch despite not being at full strength with a lingering hamstring injury from the previous game. Jones entered Monday sixth in the league with an average of 105.5 yards from scrimmage per game. The running game with Jones leading the way has been far more effective than in either of the past two seasons under O'Connell.
The Vikings had four sacks, but most of their pressure came at the beginning and near the end of the game. In the middle, he got awfully comfortable with plenty of time to throw and plenty of open receivers to throw to.
Rookie Will Reichard has been so reliable — making all three field goals including a 57-yarder on Sunday — that O'Connell would have sent him out to try a 68-yarder at the end of the game had the Vikings not taken a penalty that pushed them out of range.
Rookie Dallas Turner played only four snaps on defense against the Lions, a season low for the rookie. The 17th overall pick in the draft has been a nonfactor since suffering a knee injury in Week 2 and sitting out the following game. One reason has been the effectiveness of fellow edge rushers Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Patrick Jones.
“We're going to continue to see Dallas have an impact,” O'Connell said. “It may be a growing thing as we go here, but I've got a ton of confidence in Dallas.”
The outlook in the trainer's room is trending up, with tight end T.J. Hockenson (knee) and guard Dalton Risner (back) nearing their season debuts. O'Connell said Monday more time was needed before determining whether either player would be deemed ready to face the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. The Vikings could wait one more game for Hockenson and two more games for Risner before the end of the three-week window during which they must be activated or be ineligible to return this season.
Linebacker Blake Cashman (toe) has a chance to play this week after sitting out the Lions game, O'Connell said, but if not he's highly likely to be ready in time for the Nov. 3 game against Indianapolis.
Plus-55 — The Vikings have the NFL's best first-quarter points differential by a wide margin, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers next at plus-29 entering Monday. Last season, the Vikings finished at minus-29 in the first quarter to rank just 27th in the league.
The Vikings have only four days to prepare for their next game, a condensed schedule that can serve as a benefit for players eager to quickly make amends for an uneven performance as much as it's a physical challenge to recover for a Thursday night matchup.
The Rams (2-4) are just 17-24, including a wild-card round loss in the playoffs last season, since O'Connell left his post as offensive coordinator after the Super Bowl victory to take the head job with the Vikings.
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