Covert lip-reading skills weren’t necessary to decipher Sunday’s postgame exchange between Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell and Minnesota Vikings counterpart Kevin O’Connell.
“I’ll see you in two weeks,” Campbell clearly and audibly said.
Those six words presuppose the results of three yet-to-be-contested NFC wild-card games. Moments after the Lions clinched the NFC North and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs with a 31-9 victory against the visiting Vikings, Campbell had his division rivals pegged for a return to Ford Field in the divisional round.
Whatever the case, the newly maudlin among the once-buzzing Minnesota faithful should like what they heard. To an opposing coach, anyway, the Vikings, tied with Philadelphia for the second fewest losses in football, are not in a state of 14 and 3-fall.
Stages of Sunday night’s game surely suggested otherwise.
Primed to secure the division crown and home-field advantage that ultimately went to the Lions (15-2), the Vikings sputtered instead. Quarterback Sam Darnold was 18-for-41 passing for a season-low 166 yards with zero touchdowns and interceptions. His completion percentage (43.9) also marked a season worst, and while Darnold’s quarterback rating (55.5) and QBR (17.4) didn’t reach his 2024 cellar, they weren’t exactly optimal for someone guiding the attack of the winningest team in league history not to claim its division.
“Don’t get me wrong; losing sucks,” Darnold said. “But it is what it is at the end of the day. I missed some throws and we lost to a good team.”
O’Connell took a similar tack about an injury-plagued Lions defense that limited Minnesota to a meager 262 yards of offense and was especially stout in clutch situations, keeping the Vikings out of the end zone on four visits to the red zone while stiffening in goal-line situations.
“They were able to defend us,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes that happens.”
It all smacked of, “Oh, well. We’ll get ‘em next time.”
Make no mistake, a third Vikings-Lions matchup could materialize if Philadelphia defeats Green Bay and Tampa Bay handles Washington before Minnesota exorcises the demons of another regular-season rematch.
Fifth-seeded Minnesota travels to No. 4 Los Angeles on Jan. 13, roughly 2 ½ months after the host Rams handled the Vikings 30-20 in the same venue.
The Vikings trailed 21-17 entering the fourth quarter in Week 8, staying afloat behind a pair of Darnold scoring passes.
The Minnesota defense struggled to contain a Rams offense finally operating at all cylinders, though, as LA QB Matthew Stafford wasted little time getting reacquainted with receivers Cooper Kupp (two TD receptions) and Puka Nacua (106 yards) in their returns from injury.
Minnesota rolled to nine straight victories after that. The run ended Sunday night. With a thud.
The Lions and Rams are the only teams to defeat the Vikings this season. If Minnesota is to fulfill Campbell’s prophecy and return to Detroit—and ideally beyond—the Vikings must channel the efficiency and fundamentals that helped them through every other game this season.
“You can’t win nine in a row and then lose one and have that change how we operate,” O’Connell said. “But that also doesn’t mean you can’t improve. … Sometimes you are hit in the mouth a little bit and you’ve got to respond.”
The Vikings will get their chance in the wild-card round.
