VikesCentric: Lions pick and kick their way to a win over the Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings went into Ford Field to get their first divisional win of the season, and had the best chance to grab it. But two Teddy Bridgewater picks and two missed Blair Walsh kicks later, and the Vikings came up short, 16-14.

The visiting Vikings looked in command of the game throughout most of the first half, as the Lions, reportedly suffering from a flu-filled locker room, seemed to sleepwalk through the contest early. But then Bridgewater threw interceptions on two consecutive series and shrunk the Vikings' two-touchdown lead into a 14-10 halftime score. The Lions were suddenly awake and engaged and did enough to eventually win the game.

"We played well enough to win, but we just didn't win on the scoreboard," head coach Mike Zimmer told the Star Tribune after the game. But unfortunately the scoreboard is where they tally the wins and losses, and the Vikings came on the short end of another winnable game. Zimmer says there are some positive things to take from the game, but a win wasn't one of them.

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The Vikings offensive line has taken more than its share of heat this season, so they need to be commended for their performance against the Lions. Going against the one of the toughest lines in the league (one that sacked Bridgewater eight times last time they met), the offensive line played very well—particularly when you consider they were down three starting players. Bridgewater was sacked four times, but not all of them were on a breakdown in the line. It is still too many, but I can't call the line out for a poor performance this week when the odds were stacked so highly against them.

The Vikings defense had a great bounce back game after last week's sluggish performance against the New York Jets. They shut down a decent Lions offense, giving up the only touchdown after the offense gifted them with a very short field. The defense gave up 233 total yards and 153 to the Lions' potent passing attack. The job the secondary did on Calvin Johnson was masterful and really kept the Vikings in the game. This is also a defense without several starters, so it is a good sign for its depth and how Zimmer has the whole unit playing.

Speaking of shutting down Megatron, cornerback Xavier Rhodes gets the lion share of credit. After Zimmer said all week he wasn't going to do so, he assigned Rhodes to shadow Johnson all game long, and Rhodes rose to the challenge. It was the first time in Rhodes career that he shadowed a player, and he helped hold Johnson to four catches for 53 yards and no touchdowns. The Xavier Rhodes star keeps rising, and I expect him to get a similar assignment in two weeks against Alshon Jeffery of the Bears.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played like a rookie quarterback against the Lions (the good news is that he didn't play like rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel). Bridgewater was on top of his game for a quarter and a half, hitting seven different receivers in the first quarter, and leading the team to two scoring drives and a 14-point lead. But then with 7:21 to go in the second quarter he threw a pass to the wrong shoulder of Charles Johnson and nearly gave up a pick six. Just two plays later he threw another one. The Vikings never scored again, and the Lions scored 16 unanswered points.

Teddy gets plenty of praise for building the lead (on the game he was 31 of 41 for 315 yards and a touchdown, plus his 31 completions and his 75.6 completion percentage were both career highs). But he needs to get knocked for the picks and the high throws that crept back into his game on Sunday—one that sailed over Jarius Wright's head could have put the team in better field position for a game-winning field goal. I still say he is a rookie and give him a pass. He looked poised and in charge, and didn't let the picks affect him in the second half. He has to take a heavy does of blame, but I like where he is headed.

Tight end Kyle Rudolph had the kind of game closer to what we were hoping to see all season—seven catches for 59 yards. But his sports hernia earlier in the season prevented that from happening. To his credit, he is still getting back to 100 percent and into game shape the past four weeks, and is trying to play through it. Rudolph even went down with a knee injury against the Lions when a player rolled up on his leg, but he came back in the game. The Vikings will need him back on the field all season next year for the offense to take another step forward.

Zimmer said last week that he probably gave the ball too much to running back Matt Asiata against the Jets, and Asiata appeared spurred on by that slight as he ran with power and passion in the first half the game. His final rushing stats were not huge—11 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown—as the Vikings spread it around in the second half. But Asiata also caught seven passes for 50 yards and was Bridgewater's dump-off safety valve all game long, and did well in the role. While he is not the flashy running back the Vikings have had in the recent seasons, Asiata showed his value to the team and will get plenty more snaps going forward.

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The problem is his overall numbers. Walsh's percentage has been dropping from the 92.1 percent in his Pro Bowl rookie year, to 86.7 percent last season (when he was suffering some from an injury) to 78.6 this season. I am not saying they should start looking for another kicker (the team did move outside this season and will move back inside in a couple years), but Walsh hasn't been the reliable kicker he has been. Are we spoiled by his rookie success? A little. But when that's the bar you set, the pressure rises to keep reaching it.

There was a little too much confusion on the sidelines in the final minutes of play. The Vikings could have done better with the clock, better with getting plays in to Bridgewater, better to getting to the line, and maybe even better at calling plays (a pass to the middle of the field to Rudolph on 4^th down took too long, and a delay of game penalty was very untimely). Some of that goes on a rookie quarterback trying to negotiate the final frantic minutes, but the last coaching staff wasn't very good at clock management, and I am hoping this one is better.

Just when we thought we might never see Cordarrelle Patterson do anything again, he almost single-handedly put the team in position to win the game in the last minutes. After seeing his season kickoff return average drop to 24.9 (compared to an NFL-high average of 32.4 yards last season), Patterson broke off a 51-yarder. Then he caught two Bridgewater passes (when Jarius Wright left the game with an injury) to put the team even closer. On a third he got mugged in what looked like pass interference that wasn't called, but the bottom line is Patterson was contributing to the team like hasn't really done for weeks.

Perhaps Patterson's confidence will begin to build again, and even more important maybe the quarterback's and the coaches' confidence in Patterson may be on the rise, as well. That doesn't mean he should start next week against Miami, but I'm hoping we don't have to see his time in Minnesota completely waste away riding the pine.

Head over to Vikings Journal and check out AJ Mansour's article on the Vikings' missed opportunities in Detroit and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.