Well, as much as the Vikings tried to hand this one to the Motor City Kitties, the Lions just refused to take it from them.
In the first meeting between these two teams, the Lions rushed for 16 yards as a team. You'd be hard-pressed to do worse than that. . .yet today, the Lions DID manage to do worse. As a matter of fact, their average running play went backwards, as they ran 10 times for -3 (yes, that's minus-three) yards. That. . .that there isn't good.
The Lions ended up being a one-dimensional team as a result. . .and Jon Kitna was bad. Real bad. "Brad Johnson" bad. Sure, he threw for nearly 300 yards (294, to be exact). . .he also barely completed 50% of his passes. He was also responsible for 4 of the Lions' 6 turnovers on the afternoon, 3 of the interception variety, and one of the fumble variety.
Brad Johnson got the start at QB for Minnesota, and while he wasn't as bad as he was last week, he didn't exactly light it up, either. Of course, with former Lion Artose Pinner (who?) lighting it up to the tune of 125 yards and 3 TDs on 29 carries, he didn't really have to. Johnson DID manage to give the Lions their first TD on a horribly thrown pass that was intercepted by Jamar Fletcher and returned for a TD, which was pretty bad. But, Brad Childress said after the game that Johnson had "done enough to keep his job." Not the most ringing endorsement, but hey. . .we have no say in who the Vikes start at QB.
This was the Vikings' 10th consecutive win over the Lions.
More analysis tomorrow, folks. Until then, enjoy this Vikings victory!