Vikings Leaps and Bounds Better than Lions, Win 20-7
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The Vikings have been leaps and bounds better than the Lions all season long, and were on Sunday afternoon as well.
The Vikings smacked around the Lions from start to finish, and won the Week 14 contest, 20-7.
It dropped the Lions to 3-9-1 on the season.
Detroit quarterback David Blough, in his second career start, struggled mightily in the first half.
Signs were present immediately it was going to be a long afternoon for the Lions.
Blough's first two pass attempts were batted down at the line of scrimmage.
The first drive abruptly ended with a 3-and-out after Bluogh was sacked by Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter.
Hunter's first half made all Lions fans jealous.
He disrupted the Lions' offense all afternoon.
Detroit right tackle Rick Wagner struggled with Hunter, and was routinely beat.
The Vikings scored first, taking a 7-0 lead when Minnesota veteran passer Kirk Cousins found rookie wide receiver Olabisi Johnson for a nine-yard touchdown.
Cousins was able to utilize the play-action pass to move the football against the Lions.
Going into Sunday, fans of the Lions were looking for some sign of fight from the organization.
But in the end, it was more of the same.
On the Vikings' first scoring drive, both Darius Slay and Jarrad Davis missed game action.
Both returned, but neither was able to make many impactful plays.
In fact, Slay, playing in his 100th career game for the Lions, was burned on the Vikings' second touchdown drive.
With under a minute remaining in the first half, Cousins was able to find wide receiver Stefon Diggs deep for a gain of 44 yards.
The drive was capped off with a Dalvin Cook three-yard scamper to the end zone, which gave the Vikings a 17-0 halftime advantage.
Minnesota scored once more, via a Dan Bailey 50-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter.
For Detroit, a microcosm of the season was on full display on its fifth offensive possession.
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Blough started the game 0-for-5, and did not complete his first pass until midway through the second quarter.
At this point, the Lions were finally able to put together a drive, but failed to capitalize after Matt Prater missed a 45-yard field goal attempt.
The Lions' defense was able to stop the Vikings' offense early in the second half, but Detroit's offense failed to take advantage of it.
The Vikings had film on Blough, and made the necessary plays to stop him all game long.
In the third quarter, Blough threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Vikings safety Harrison Smith.
Detroit avoided the shutout by getting on the board in the fourth quarter with 2:09 to go.
Blough connected with Kenny Golladay on a 10-yard score that capped off a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
Lions franchise passer Matthew Stafford missed his fifth consecutive game with a back injury.
Next week, the Lions return home to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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