Motor City Beatdown: Vikings earn another easy win over the Lions

The Minnesota Vikings kept their playoff hopes alive as they picked up a much-needed victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Entering their matchup against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings had a chance to be playoff bound with a win and a loss by the Philadelphia Eagles to the Houston Texans.

The Vikings took care of business on their end, defeating the Lions by a final score of 27-9. However, the Eagles were also able to come up with a win over the Texans on Sunday. Despite getting a victory in Detroit, Minnesota was still unable to secure their spot in this season’s playoffs thanks to Philadelphia defeating Houston.

With Sunday’s results, the Vikings can now clinch a postseason berth next week with a win over the Chicago Bears or if the Eagles lose to the Washington Redskins.

As for their game against the Lions, Minnesota did what was expected of them and put in another solid performance for the second week in a row.

After punting on each of their first four offensive drives on Sunday, the Vikings pulled it together and responded with 27 unanswered points, including seven from a last-second Hail Mary touchdown catch by tight end Kyle Rudolph at the end of the second quarter.

With Christmas just being two days away, the guy named Rudolph decided to have his best performance of the season on Sunday against Detroit. The veteran tight end finished with a team-leading nine catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

Overall, Minnesota’s offense had another impressive performance in their second game with interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski calling the plays. The Vikings ended Sunday with over 335 total yards and at least 100 rushing yards for the second straight week as the team’s decision to put Stefanski in charge of the offense still looks like the correct call.

Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins had himself a performance to be happy with against the Lions this week. Cousins ended Sunday having completed 21 of his 28 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings completely shut down a Detroit offense on Sunday, especially in the second half. Minnesota’s defense held the Lions to just 223 total yards, which included just 116 passing yards by Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford.

For their final matchup of the 2018 regular season, the Vikings will attempt to clinch their spot in the playoffs as they host the Bears inside U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday.