1. No Charlie hurts field goal unit

Who would have thought left guard Charlie Johnson's absence Sunday would have hurt more at right guard on the field goal unit? With Johnson (ankle) inactive, J'Marcus Webb had to fill in at right guard on that unit. Webb, playing his first NFL game since last season after signing with the Vikings just three weeks ago, got stood up and pushed backward by Jason Jones on the 26-yard field goal attempt that Jones blocked midway through the fourth quarter. "Their inside guys come pretty hard," Webb said. "It's definitely the toughest two seconds in football." Jones said he could sense the Vikings were weak there. "They missed their first field goal and I got back there pretty easily," Jones said. "Talking to my special teams coach [John Bonamego], if I got the opportunity again, he just told me to attack it."

2. If only Wright were a few inches taller

First-and-10 from the Vikings 30-yard line with 45 seconds left and Jarius Wright is thinking about a second consecutive game-winning touchdown catch. He's about 15 yards downfield, he's open and the Vikings need only a field goal to win. But Wright was helpless as Teddy Bridgewater misfired. "It was like slow motion, just slowly sailing over my head," Wright said. "You never know. If I catch it, I might score." Bridgewater was thinking field goal. But, as he said, "This is a game of inches."

3. Thumbs up to the five-wide Before Bridgewater handed the Lions 10 points and allowed them back into the game by throwing interceptions on back-to-back passes in the second quarter, Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner was executing the perfect game plan. Facing a pass rush that his ragtag offensive line couldn't match up with, especially in a loud road venue, Turner spread the Lions out with a heavy dose of five-wide, shotgun sets. He also rolled Bridgewater away from the blindside pressure that doomed him the last time these teams met. Bridgewater was throwing quick screens and slants as the Vikings took a 14-0 lead, driving the ball 84 and 75 yards before the Lions had yet to get a first down. "We knew that defensive line is very good, so we did some things so Teddy could get the ball out of his hands quick," Wright said. "I feel like the game plan definitely worked for us." Running back Matt Asiata added: "It caught them off guard, spread them out and kept them running and out of breath."

4. More Asiata, less Tate

The Vikings should have stayed with Asiata at running back in the fourth quarter. Yeah, that sounds crazy to say about a guy who gained only 36 yards on 11 carries, all in the first three quarters. But it's critical not to lose yardage when playing the Lions' dominant, top-ranked run defense. With Asiata as the primary ball-carrier through three quarters, the Vikings didn't lose yardage on all 17 carries. "Straight ahead, hit them before they hit me in the backfield was my mentality," Asiata said. "Be the hammer, not the nail." The Vikings handed off to a running back three times in the fourth quarter. All three went to Ben Tate, who lost yardage twice, including a 1-yard loss on first-and-goal at the 7. The latter definitely should have been Asiata's carry.

5. Say what? Would you believe a well-coached Lions team?

Admit it. Doesn't it feel strange to see a well-coached Lions team that doesn't throw games away with foolish penalties? In a tight game in which the offense wasn't at its best, the Lions committed just one second-half penalty, for 5 yards. They had only five for 35 yards for the entire game. The poise helped Jim Caldwell become the first Lions coach to reach 10 wins in his first season with the team since Potsy Clark won 11 games in 1931. "I got a lot of respect for Jim Caldwell," said Vikings fullback Jerome Felton, who was on the Lions' 0-16 team in 2008. "You can tell his guys play hard for him, and they play the right way. They're taking on the identity of their head coach." That's bad news for the Vikings, who fell to 0-5 in the NFC North.