Detroit Lions Run Game LEVELED Up BIG In WIn Over Vikings!
No points were scored on the Detroit Lions most important drive of the game. No long downfield passes were thrown. No trick plays either.
The Lions got the ball with 3 ½ minutes remaining on the most important drive of the game. The plays were simple. Jahmyr Gibbs left. Jahmyr Gibbs up the middle. It was Sione Vaki left. Sione Vaki up the middle.
Gibbs finished with 153 yards on 23 carries (6.7 yards per carry). Vaki ran for 65 yards on 11 carries (5.9 ypc).
The drive was completed by quarterback Jared Goff kneeling to drain the rest of the clock.
“We knew going into this, we were going to have to be able to run the football,” coach 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.”
To understand why this drive was so important let’s go back to the days of “same ol Lions.” The Lions rarely got blown out. Sometimes, they led games late. In order to secure wins all they had to do was pound their way to two first downs.
Instead, they would pound the ball up the middle three times and punt at the two-minute warning. Fans would scream “we knew what plays were coming. No wonder it did not work.”
But isn’t that exactly what the Lions did Sunday. They ran plays everybody knew was coming. This time the offensive line worked in conjunction with the running backs and the Lions drained the clock and secured an important 19-15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings are a poor offensive team. But everybody’s two-minute offense seems to work in the NFL. Who knows what could have happened against a Lions defense missing Brian Branch, Jack Campbell and D.J. Wonnum.
“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,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “And Vaki ran his tail off. 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. And the O-line loved it. They loved the challenge of, like, we’re going to keep leaning on you guys. And I thought they played great.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terry Foster is the self proclaimed Minister of Words with Woodward Sports and fills in on shows when folks need time off. He worked at the Detroit News and Free Press for 37 years and co-hosted the Valenti and Foster Show for 13 years at the Detroit Lions flagship.
