Saying there was doubt with the Detroit Lions defense going into their regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings would be an understatement. There was a lot of love for the Vikings to come into Detroit, put up points and win this game.
Rightfully, so.
The Vikings were red hot on offense and the Detroit Lions defense allowed 30+ points going in three of their last four games. However, they brought back linebacker Alex Anzalone for this game against the Vikings. With his return, it felt like his presence just changed the way the Lions defense was going to play on Sunday night.
Fortunately, it showed on the field too. Anzalone led the Lions defense with 7 total tackles, one pass deflection and a quarterback hit. Adding to that, we saw impressive sacks from Al-Quadin Muhammad and Za’Darius Smith. Both sacks put the Vikings in long down and distances and ultimately, it contributed to them having to punt.
Hutch is fired up for the Lions defense!
📺: #MINvsDET on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/RSDDnCLUZE— NFL (@NFL) January 6, 2025
The Lions blitzed Darnold 55.6% of the time on Sunday night. With that, they generated pressured on 48.9% of his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. This contributed to the Vikings quarterback going 18-of-41 for 166 yards. Additionally, the Vikings went 0-for-4 in the red zone and Darnold went 2-of-11 for 8 yards in the red zone.
The 43.9% completion percentage for Darnold was his lowest of the season. In his first game against the Lions this season, he completed 81.5% of his passes. Playing a huge part in shutting down the Vikings passing attack was Lions cornerback Amik Robertson.
Amik Robertson vs. Justin Jefferson hasn’t disappointed on the biggest stage.#NextGenStats powered by @AWSCloud. pic.twitter.com/UXbu8RKbFE
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 6, 2025
Robertson matched up against one of the best receivers in the league, Justin Jefferson, a total of 15 times. While being targeted 5 times, Jefferson only recorded two receptions for 37 yards against Robertson. The Lions defender finished with five tackles, pass deflection and a game ball from NBC and from Dan Campbell after the game.
In total, the Vikings only gained 262 total yards on offense and 58 of those yards came late in the game after a long run from running back Cam Akers. On 3rd down, the Lions defense forced the Vikings to go 3-for-13 and 0-for-3 on 4th down.
Moving forward, the Lions get a much needed bye week after winning the NFC North and earning the first seed in the NFC. As they await for the results of Wild Card weekend in the NFL, one thing is for sure, the Detroit Lions defense shined when the team needed it most.
