11:55am: Pregame Warm-up. We bid adieu today to the 2010 Detroit Lions today with a Ford Field ceremony which will feature a National Football League game between the Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. These sorts of things (National Football League games against Minnesota) typically do not go well, for Detroit. As any Lions fan can tell you, Detroit has lost 6 straight to the Vikings, 16 of the last 17 and 20 of the last 22. This is the 99th all-time meeting between Minnesota and Detroit. The locals have managed wins in only 30 of the previous 98.
But, hey, the Lions have won three in a row and that hasn’t happened in a while. And they ended their 26-game road losing streak (an NFL record, thank you) a couple of weeks ago and 3 weeks ago they won a game against a division foe for the first time in years so who knows? Maybe this is the day they end this losing streak to the Vikings, no?
The last time the Lions had a four-game win streak was in 1999. That streak began with a win over Minnesota and when it ended the Lions were looking oh-so-good with a 6-2 record at the halfway point of that ’99 season. Detroit proceeded to go 2-6 in the second half, finished 8-8, missed the playoffs and everybody got fired. In the 11 years which have passed since then, the Lions have won as many as 8 games in a season only once (9-7 in 2000). Additionally, the Lions are 2-20 vs. Minnesota since that win over the Vikings in ‘99.
Look, don’t tell anybody, but there appears to have been some sort of a mistake made here. I am sitting in the front row of the pressbox this afternoon—an upgrade from the third-row seat I normally occupy. I feel like a kid again. In other words, I feel like an usher will be coming along any minute now to kick me out of the good seat I just snuck into. (Okay, into which I just snuck.) So, as I said, don’t tell anybody…
1:19pm: The Lions actually look good to start the ballgame. They held the Vikings to negative yards or no gain on 3 of Minnesota’s first 8 plays then drove from their 25 to a first and goal at the Vikings 8. It was here, at the Vikings 1, that TE Tony Scheffler fumbled into the end zone after catching a short pass from Shaun Hill. Minnesota’s Jamarca Sanford recovered in the end zone…maybe. The ruling on the field—a fumble recovery for the Vikings—is under review. My guess is that an overturn is coming. Sanford appeared to go out of bounds before the recovery. If he did, then the question becomes, where do you spot the football? We are unsure up here in the box, and when I say “we” I mean “me”. There isn’t another reporter within a dozen seats of me. THE RULING ON THE FIELD STANDS. It’s a fumble into the end zone and Minnesota has the ball, first and ten, at their own 20. A good drive, spoiled.
1:28pm: The Vikings get a pair of 20-yard pass completions from rookie QB Joe Webb (Brett Favre is inactive again today and his NFL career thus ends with him in street clothes on the far sideline) and the Vikings move into Detroit territory at the 40. Lorenzo Booker is some kind of wide open inside the Lions 5 but Webb overthrows him badly and the Vikings miss out on a sure touchdown. They end up punting, pinning the Lions at the 5. That fumble not only cost the Lions a chance to score, it cost them about 93 yards of field position. END OF FIRST QUARTER: DETROIT 0, MINNESOTA 0.
1:50pm: Webb could have strolled to a first down but elected to throw deep across his body and he threw it right to Detroit’s _____ and the pick gives Detroit 1st-and-10 at their own 31. Detroit gets POT (Points Off Turnover) as Dave Rayner hits a 55 yard field goal. It is tied for the 3rd-longest field goal in Detroit Lions history. The kick comes 6:45 left before halftime. DETROIT 3, MINNESOTA 0.
2:20pm: The Lions complete what was probably their nicest drive of the season—a 15-play, 94-yard beauty—when Hill throws his 16th TD pass of the season, a 7-yarder, to Nate Burleson 0:28 left before halftime. It is the 6th TD catch of the season for Burleson and it comes with Calvin Johnson on the bench. Johnson isn’t listed as injured and he’s in uniform on the sideline. Why he isn’t in the game is the question. Meanwhile, halftime arrives and the Lions have shut down Adrian Peterson. His 80-yard run may have been the key to the Vikings win over the Lions in week 3 and he ran for 118 yards this Tuesday past in Minnesota’s upset win at Philadelphia. In the first half today, Peterson has carried 7 times for only 8 yards. HALFTIME: DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 0.
2:44pm: Dave Raynor’s second field goal of the day—a 37-yarder this time—ups the Lions lead to 13-0. The Lions drove to the Vikings 18 on their first possession of the second half but the drive stalled. Calvin Johnson, Detroit’s Pro Bowl wideout He has not been thrown to by the Lions today. I am not sure that he has played a down for the Lions today. I have no explanation for this. 9:58 left in the 3rd: DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 0.
2:57pm: And just when things were going so well…Hill makes his first mistake of the game, failing to spot Vikings DE Jared Allen who had dropped into coverage and is there to intercept the Lions QB and return it 36 yards for the score which puts Minnesota right back into the game. This takes place with 6:03 left in the 3rd quarter. We learn, from sources, that Calvin Johnson, who has not played today, is going to play today on an emergency basis only. He’s generally sore, especially, apparently in a shoulder. DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 7.
3:04pm: In spite of the score, it is being reported by ESPN that Vikings interim Head Coach Leslie Frazier has been named Minnesota’s new Head Coach. The Vikings have the ball and are driving. END OF 3 QUARTERS: DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 7.
3:14pm: Minnesota drives to the Lions 9 but that’s it and Ryan Longwell makes a 27-yard field goal to make it a 3-point game. 12:05 left in the game. DETROIT 13, MINNESOTA 10.
3:29pm: You have to give the Lions credit here today. Just when Minnesota got back into the game, the Lions take them right back out of it. Detroit goes 77 yards in 8 plays (it took 2:36) and Maurice Morris finishes it off with a 5-yard TD run. We are under 9-and-a-half to go now. DETROIT 20, MINNESOTA 10.
3:46PM: Longwell gets another field goal, a 48-yarder, and if the Vikings recover the on-sides kick they have a chance. If they don’t, they don’t. We have 1:55 left and Minnesota has only 1 timeout left. Burleson recovers the kick and Detroit should be able to kill the clock.
3:51pm: They do, but not before Minnesota gets one last chance with 0:20 left. A wild, lateral-filled last lick chance ends the game. The final play lasted for over 30 seconds but there were flags on the field due to forward laterals and whatnot and the referee said simply, "Game over," when the Vikings were finally tackled. The Lions had to punt the ball to Minnesota in the waning seconds as they were unable to completely kill the clock, but in the end it made no difference. And now, it's off to the Red Wings-Flyers game. What a day...
FINAL: DETROIT 20, MINNESOTA 13.
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