ESPN Conducts ‘Injury Checkup’ for All 32 Teams…

Scoggins also mentioned the “fourth-down gamble” that didn’t pay off for Minnesota. He wrote:

I normally applaud aggressive play calls and game management, but Zimmer went too far past the line with a fourth-down call at the end of the first half, costing his team three points.

The Vikings faced fourth-and-10 at the Detroit 42 with 35 seconds left. Zimmer opted to go for it, and Kirk Cousins was sacked before he flipped the ball away at the last second.

That whole sequence was confounding. On [second] down, Cousins threw the ball 25 yards downfield to Justin Jefferson and was nearly intercepted. [On third down, a deep pass to Dede Westbrook was incomplete.] If Zimmer’s plan was to go for it on fourth down, why not run something higher percentage to make fourth down more manageable? They only needed a handful of yards to get into field-goal range.

Trailing 17-6, even a punt would have been preferable because failing to get a first down gave the Lions ideal field position to squeeze in a field goal before halftime. Those three points proved to be costly.

Scoggins said Zimmer “unnecessarily” opted to “start chasing points” in the third quarter.

Alexander Mattison’s 8-yard touchdown run cut Detroit’s lead to 20-15 with 6 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Vikings had plenty of game left. Just kick the extra point. Instead, Zimmer called for a 2-point conversion, which failed and thus forced his hand after subsequent scores.

The Vikings didn’t put enough pressure on Lions quarterback Jared Goff, Scoggins opined, and they played soft coverage on a final drive that ripped away a Minnesota comeback in heartbreaking fashion.

On the final play, Cameron Dantzler lined up 10 yards off receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and then backpedaled nonchalantly into the end zone. St. Brown ran into the end zone, turned and caught the pass before Dantzler and safety Xavier Woods closed on him. It looked like an easy pitch-and-catch between a quarterback who faced no pressure and a receiver who wasn’t covered tightly.