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Detroit Lions grades: Jared Goff, Dan Campbell help ace playoff tune-up
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- Detroit Lions grades: Jared Goff, Dan Campbell help ace playoff tune-up
Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Ford Field:
Quarterback
Jared Goff put a fine cap on his best regular season as a Lion, completing 23 of 32 passes for 320 yards, his fifth 300-yard passing day of the season. He threw easy touchdown passes to Sam LaPorta (2 yards) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (70 yards), and he made a nice scramble play in the fourth quarter, when he rolled to his left under pressure and threw back across his body to James Mitchell . Goff did miss a deep shot to St. Brown in the third quarter, but like in the first meeting with the Vikings , he did a good job identifying Minnesota's tricky blitz packages and kept the Lions out of negative down-and-distance situations. He wasn't his sharpest, but it was a nice tune-up for the playoffs. Grade: A-minus
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff scrambles during a play against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
Running backs
The Lions didn't have much room to run Sunday as the Vikings came in determined to bottle up David Montgomery (10 carries, 40 yards) and Jahmyr Gibbs (13 for 30). Montgomery had a nice blitz pickup early in the game and did spark the Lions' third-quarter touchdown drive with a second-and-6 pickup and a 1-yard touchdown run. He topped 1,000 yards rushing for the second time in his career. Gibbs also scored on a 3-yard run, but he had two negative rushing plays and his only gains of any significance came on the Lions' two-minute drive late in the first half, when the Vikings were more worried about the pass. Grade: B-minus
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Receivers/tight ends
Fueled by his Pro Bowl snub , St. Brown caught seven passes for 144 yards to top 1,500 yards for the season. He broke a tackle by Akayleb Evans on his 34-yard catch to open the game and weaved all the way across field on his 70-yard TD grab. LaPorta set a new NFL record for receptions by a rookie tight end before leaving with a knee injury . LaPorta scored on a 2-yard grab but did drop a third-and-1 drag late in the first quarter. Kalif Raymond ran a nice stutter-and-go route against Josh Metellus for a 41-yard gain on the Lions' second touchdown drive, when he stepped out of bounds just before diving into the end zone. LaPorta, Mitchell and Josh Reynolds had key perimeter blocks on Gibbs' 3-yard touchdown run, while Mitchell missed a block on Danielle Hunter when Gibbs was thrown for 3-yard loss on a third-and-1 play. The Lions four straight passes to Reynolds late in the fourth quarter so he could earn a $250,000 incentive for 600 yards on the season. Grade: B-plus
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs the ball against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
Offensive line
The Lions didn't get enough push at the line of scrimmage on many of their run plays, which contributed to their rushing struggles Sunday. They still manage to pick up a fourth-and-1 and they mostly avoided the negative plays that doomed their ground attack last week. Dan Skipper made the key pulling block on Montgomery's 1-yard touchdown run and caught a 4-yard pass on a tackle-eligible play on the same drive that drew the biggest cheers of the day from the Ford Field crowd. Taylor Decker got beat for a late sack by Hunter and Graham Glasgow had a false start penalty in the fourth quarter, but the Lions were solid in pass protection against a good Vikings front. Like Goff, Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow played a big hand in properly ID'ing Minnesota's fronts. Grade: B
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Defensive line
Aidan Hutchinson had another monster game with two sacks, a third tackle for loss and a handful of other pressures. Hutchinson and Josh Paschal pressured Nick Mullens into an incomplete pass on the Vikings' first third down of the day, and Paschal had another pass rush that forced an intentional grounding penalty. Hutchinson beat tight end Josh Oliver for his first sack and used nifty handwork to beat a block from guard Blake Brandel for his second. He also had a pressure on Mullens on a fourth-and-3 pass early in the second half that came up just short of the sticks, and a pressure that led to Levi Onwuzurike 's third quarter sack. The Lions weren't great against the run, though Minnesota finished with just 89 yards on 22 carries thanks to a 12-yard loss on an end-around by Justin Jefferson . Grade: A-minus
Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson attempts to tackle Minnesota Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
Linebackers
Jack Campbell had one of his best games as a Lion. He finished with 12 tackles and had a sack on the Vikings' second offensive series, when he came unblocked up the middle on a zone blitz. Campbell did miss a tackle on Ty Chandler on the next series, when he was late getting off a downfield block, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin got beat for a third-and-20 conversion by Johnny Mundt down the middle of the field. Alex Anzalone (nine tackles) and Ifeatu Melifonwu forced Mullens' first interception with a tandem blitz up the middle. Grade: B
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Defensive backs
In his first game since Week 2, C.J. Gardner-Johnson had four tackles and an interception while splitting time at safety with Kerby Joseph and Melifonwu. Gardner-Johnson made a tackle on his first play of the game and was flagged once for illegal hands to the face. Mullens finished with 396 yards passing and had opportunities for more as the Lions had some major breakdowns in their secondary. Cam Sutton had his first interception of the season, but got sloppy in zone coverage when Mullens hit Oliver for a 20 yards on second-and-7. Sutton also gave up Jordan Addison 's long touchdown, when it looked like Gardner-Johnson was late providing help over top. Kindle Vildor (illegal contact) and Brian Branch (defensive holding) had penalties that helped keep alive the Vikings' first scoring drive, Kerby Joseph bit on a flea-flicker that would have went for a touchdown if Addison didn't slow down before the end zone and Justin Jefferson (12 catches, 192 yards) beat Vildor deep on a fourth-and-1 with the Lions selling out to stop the run. Grade: C-plus
Special teams
Raymond had two big punt returns before leaving with a knee injury in the second half. He took the Vikings' first punt back 42 yards to give the Lions good field position on their first scoring drive of the game and had another 18-yard return in the third quarter. Khalil Dorsey downed two Jack Fox punts inside the 10-yard line, and Fox bounced another punt inside the 5 that the Lions couldn't touch dead before it bounced into the end zone. Michael Badgley made his only field goal of 39 yards, but he missed an extra point proving the Lions are still in a dicey spot with their kicking game. Grade: B-plus
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell looks on prior to the regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field, Jan. 7, 2024 in Detroit.
Coaching
The Lions were in a tough spot coming off an emotional loss to the Dallas Cowboys , and even after the LaPorta injury seemed to momentarily suck the life out of Ford Field, Dan Campbell had his team dialed in for a game that would have been easy to look past. I don't fault Campbell for playing his starters; with the two seed up for grabs, it's a chance he rightfully was willing to take. And I love that the Lions went hard to the Skipper well and even through the swing lineman a pass a week after the ineligible receiver fiasco. The Lions didn't play perfect ball. They're going to need to run the ball better than they have the last two weeks and their secondary remains a concern. But they're primed to make a playoff run with at least one home game at Ford Field. Grade: A
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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions grades: Dan Campbell, team ace playoff tune-up, finale
