SAD NEWS: Due To The Injury Crisis This Is What Detroit Lions Fans Are Expected To See Against San Francisco 49ers
DETROIT (AP) — The goal of Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was to win the team’s final regular season game, even if it meant risking player injuries in the process. The goal was to move up to the No. 2 seed in the NFC and maybe host two or more playoff games.
Detroit defeated Minnesota in a game that set a franchise record for wins, but they also lost talented rookie tight end Sam LaPorta to a potentially devastating knee injury.
Midway through the first quarter, LaPorta caught a 2-yard touchdown pass, but he then hobbled off the field due to a knee injury. The Lions went on to defeat the Vikings 30-20 on Sunday. A week before the postseason, it was a concerning development for the NFC champs.
Campbell replied, “You’re either all in or all out.”
After matching the winning total of the 1991 squad, Detroit (12-5) will host a postseason game for the first time since the 1993 campaign, when it took place at the Pontiac Silverdome.
For the first time in thirty years, the Lions won a division championship, guaranteeing them at least the third seed. To move up in the NFC, they needed Dallas to lose at Washington later on Sunday.
Over the next week, Detroit will be hopeful that LaPorta is well enough to lead the team to its second postseason triumph since capturing the 1957 league championship.
With 86 receptions, LaPorta broke Keith Jackson’s 1988 Philadelphia Eagles record of 81 receptions as the NFL’s rookie tight end leader. The Iowa native, selected in the second round, scored 10 touchdowns and 889 receiving yards.
Quarterback Jared Goff stated, “That chemistry is something you can’t replace.”
Including a 70-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the fourth quarter, Goff completed 23 of 32 passes for 320 yards.
Following four straight losses and six of seven in a season hampered by Kirk Cousins’ injured Achilles tendon and the team’s inability to replace him, Minnesota (7-10) was knocked out of the running for the playoffs.
Coach Kevin O’Connell of the Vikings stated, “I appreciate the way these guys battled all the way to the end, despite all the adversity and all the injuries.”
Nick Mullens, one of three quarterbacks to start for the Vikings over their final five games, lofted a 38-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson in the final minute of the third quarter and had a 42-yard pass to Jordan Addison for another score on his next possession to keep Minnesota within a touchdown.
Mullens threw interceptions to Cam Sutton and C.J. Gardner-Johnson late in the fourth, ending Minnesota’s comeback hopes. He finished 30 of 44 for 396 yards.
As usual, Jefferson did his part for the Vikings.
He had a career-high-matching 12 catches for a season-high 192 yards and a score. Jefferson, who missed seven games with a hamstring injury, joined Wes Chandler (1982) and Jim Benton (1945) as the only players in league history to have 1,000 yards receiving in 10 or fewer games.
“It is so impressive what he has been able to accomplish in a year with so much adversity and with all the defensive looks he saw,” O’Connell said. “When he is available for a full game, he’s as dominant as anyone in the league.”
SUMMARY FAVOURITE
Fans at Ford Field erupted every time offensive lineman Dan Skipper was reported as eligible, and they rejoiced even more when he caught a 4-yard pass, only one week after a highly contested call negated a go-ahead, 2-point convert against the Cowboys.
INDICATES OF INJURIES
Vikings: Original After being labelled as questionable, Ed Ingram (shoulder) was added to the list of inactive players along with OT Brian O’Neill (ankle) and CBs Mekhi Blackmon (shoulder) and Byron Murphy (knee).
Lions: LaPorta’s injury looms large. Return specialist Kalif Ray was also ruled out during the game with a knee injury. WR Jameson Williams (ankle) was inactive with an ankle injury.
