MLive Detroit Lions reporter Benjamin Raven grades the offense, defense, special teams and coaching after the team's 20-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions (3-9-1) have now clinched their second consecutive last-place finish in the NFC North with three games left on the schedule.
Quarterbacks: D-minus
David Blough struggled mightily in his second career start under center for the Lions. Detroit's offense went three-and-out on 50% of its 12 total possessions.
Drives in the first half finished with a punt, punt, punt, punt, missed field goal and three plays as time ran out in the second quarter. Blough completed 24 of 40 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Most of those completions came in the second half as the Vikings were pulling their foot off the pedal. He had just 59 yards passing at halftime as the Lions trailed 17-0.
Blough took five sacks, with a couple of those falling on his shoulders, one on the play design and the other on the offensive line itself. His first of two interceptions was a poor decision and throw that veteran Vikings safety Harrison Smith plucked. The second came in the end zone late in the two-score game.
In the quest to find something positive, he did get it clicking with Danny Amendola with three first-down passes on third down plays. He also hit Kenny Golladay late for a touchdown to avoid getting blanked for the first time in a decade. The offense was lifeless against the Vikings as Blough looked like a third-string undrafted rookie quarterback starting on the road against a likely playoff team.
Running backs: D+
Bo Scarbrough continued to get a near-bell cow workload, but couldn't break through Minnesota's defense. Scarbrough ran 19 times for 65 yards with a long of only 7 yards. He dominated the touches out of the backfield as Ty Johnson had two carries for 3 yards and J.D. McKissic one for 2 yards.
Scarbrough was even targeted three times while bringing in his first career catch for 5 yards. McKissic caught four passes for just 16 yards, while Johnson hauled one in for 7 yards. The touches and looks were there, but Scarbrough couldn't get one to the next level.
Related: Bo Scarbrough among slew of Lions players injured against Vikings
Wide receivers: D+
Kenny Golladay caught his 10th touchdown of the season while passing the 1,000-yard mark in the loss. Golladay put up most of his work in garbage time with the Vikings slouching off in coverage at the line of scrimmage.
He hauled in four of his five catches on the team's final two drives while trailing 20-0. Marvin Jones caught three passes on seven targets for 38 yards while Danny Amendola moved the sticks three times. The veteran receiver finished with five grabs for 34 yards.
Golladay was also called for offensive pass interference on a 9-yard catch by Amendola on a third-and-2 play.
Tight ends: D
In the first game since T.J. Hockenson landed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, the tight end room was quiet once again. Jesse James caught one pass for 23 yards, Logan Thomas two for 21 yards and Isaac Nauta caught his first career ball for 3 yards.
James was severely beat on one of Danielle Hunter's three sacks of the game, but that's more play design. Expecting the tight end to block one of the league's top edge rushers in a one on one situation is an ill-fated concept.
Related: What they're saying nationally after Detroit Lions lose for ninth time in 10 games
Offensive line: D
Danielle Hunter sacked Blough three times, and Everson Griffen and Jaleel Johnson each added one of their own. Griffen went untouched for a sack on third-and-4 to start the fourth quarter to lead to a Sam Martin punt near midfield. Hunter beat Rick Wagner twice in the first quarter alone.
Hunter's third sack of the game resulted in a massive swing at the end of the first half. It came on third down and set up a much longer field-goal attempt for Matt Prater, which he missed. The Vikings went down the field and extended their lead to 17-0 at halftime.
Scarbrough didn't see a ton of holes and was hit in the backfield quickly on a third-and-1 attempt. Wagner left with an injury, so it was an all-around rough day for the offensive line.
Defensive line: D
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins led the league in average time to throw the last time these two met back in Week 7 (3.38 seconds). Detroit's pass rush was even worse on Sunday as Cousins averaged 3.51 seconds to throw each time he dropped back.
Trey Flowers bulldozed ex-Lions offensive tackle Riley Reiff for his sixth sack in as many games. The Vikings didn't light up the box score on the ground, but Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison helped grind the game out in an ultra-conservative second half.
Cook ran 18 times for 62 yards and one touchdown while Mattison carried the ball 14 times for 46 yards. Mike Boone came off the bench and picked up one first down with five runs for 13 yards.
Related: Observations: Lions nearly shutout for first time since 2009, clinch last place in ugly loss
Linebackers: D
The linebackers played a role in the semi-bottling up of the rushing attack. Rookie linebacker Jahlani Tavai was all over the place while racking up 11 tackles. Still, Minnesota torched the Lions with the play-action pass as Cousins hardly ever felt any danger. Vikings fullback C.J. Ham caught a 25-yard pass that put the offense in the red zone and led to a Dan Bailey field goal.
Jarrad Davis left the game on two occasions with ankle injuries, and appeared to get beat on the big pass to Ham. Tavai and Christian Jones were each called for 15-yard lowering the head to initiate contact penalties in the first half to help put Detroit in a hole.
Defensive backs: C-minus
Once again, the defensive backs received absolutely no help from the defensive line or linebackers in the pass rush. Kirk Cousins sat in the pocket and completed 24 of 30 passes for 242 yards and one touchdown. Cousins was also 14 of 16 passing for 127 yards and the score on play-action alone in the win.
Darius Slay had a nice pass breakup early but was beat by Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs in a couple of big spots. One came on an impressive toe drag along the sideline and the other set up Dalvin Cook's touchdown late in the first half. Diggs beat Slay for a 44-yard pass with about 30 seconds left in the half. Slay was also called for defensive holding on Minnesota's first scoring drive of the game.
Related: Lions CB Darius Slay: Officials botched call on crucial catch right before halftime
Rookie Amani Oruwariye got the start despite Rashaan Melvin being active, and got beat by seventh-round rookie Olabisi Johnson on a 9-yard touchdown catch. Safeties Tracy Walker and Tavon Wilson were each very active with 13 and 11 tackles, respectively.
Special teams: C-minus
Sam Martin was a busy, busy man on Sunday in Minneapolis. He punted the ball seven times for 347 yards with a long of 56 yards and an average of 49.6. Martin dropped three inside the 20-yard line and did his best to keep Minnesota's offense backed up.
Matt Prater missed a field goal late in the first half, and the kickoff coverage was reliable after a couple of down weeks. Chris Lacy returned one kick for 23 yards while Danny Amendola fielded two punts for 11 yards.
Coaching: D
One has to wonder what the final score in this one would look like if the Vikings hadn't taken it so easy in the second half. Detroit's defense held Minnesota to a lone field goal after the break, but its offense didn't put points on the board until the final 5 minutes.
The Lions have lost nine of their last 10 games, six in a row and five straight in the series with the Vikings. Detroit has clinched the last-place spot in the NFC North for the second year in a row, and have won only nine games in Matt Patricia's first 29 tries.
Related: In latest round of questions about his future, Matt Patricia says Lions are better than record indicates
The problems on defense have been the same all season long. No weight on facing quarterbacks, no relief for the secondary, an inability to defend the play-action and breaking down in crucial parts of the game.
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