Minnesota Vikings Best and Worst: Week 17 at Detroit Lions

More Good Stuff

Let’s be honest. There weren’t a lot of reasons to be excited about this game. Aside from what was going on with Justin Jefferson, it was a rather droll game and the fan base seemed divided on whether they wanted the Minnesota Vikings to beat the Lions or lose the game in order to improve their potential draft positioning.

Despite the lack of excitement, there were some other things the purple and gold actually did well on Sunday and deserve to be mentioned. Here are some more of the positives.

Other good things from Week 17

• Cousins is a baller. Hidden in this game was Kirk Cousins throwing for 405 yards while completing 28 of his 40 passes and adding one rushing touchdown at the goal line. He avoided a huge error when a Detroit lineman dropped a pass Kirk tried to throw away that would have been a pick-six for sure.
• The veteran stepping up. Minnesota was forced to play a lot of backups and practice squad players in Week 17 but that didn’t stop Harrison Smith from using his experience to lead the defense. He led the team in tackles with nine (seven solo) and intercepted Matt Stafford once.
• Getting revenge. There is something about Ameer Abdullah that activates when he plays against the Lions. This week saw him returning kickoffs with some extra oomph and shining when given a chance on offense. He had four kickoff returns for 107 yards to go with three catches for seven yards and a score. Abdullah’s previous touchdown happened earlier in the season during their first matchup against Detroit.
• Controlling the game. Thanks to a strong running game from Alexander Mattison and some good passing from Minnesota, the Vikings beat the Lions in all these categories in their one-score win: time of possession, plays ran, total yards, and passing first downs.