The Detroit Lions’ lost to a third-string, undrafted rookie quarterback who completed eight passes for 51 yards—just barely enough to offset the 48 yards of sack yardage he lost.
That’s how bad the Lions’
offense was against the Minnesota Vikings in their (essentially) season-ending loss on Christmas. Let’s break it all down in our penultimate report card of the Lions’ 2025 season.
Quarterback: D-
Goff had a fantastic drive where he made a few incredible plays that helped the Lions convert a third-and-16, a third-and-9, a third-and-15, and a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Everything else was a pretty big disaster. Goff was sacked five times—sometimes his fault, often not—and turned the ball over four times. The only thing the Lions really needed to do to win this game is win the field position battle, and Goff’s turnovers explicitly lost Detroit the game.
Running backs: D
Speaking of turnovers, Jahmyr Gibbs’ fumble was extremely costly. The Lions were just crossing over into Vikings territory when Gibbs coughed up the ball, taking away one of Detroit’s few scoring opportunities on the day.
Against an aggressive defensive front, pass protection was going to be key for the running backs in this game, and they did not step up to the plate.
Montgomery, to his credit, did run tough and converted a fourth-and-1 he had no business converting, but Detroit’s running game is too far gone that even those physical yards amounted to a paltry 2.5 yards per carry for Montgomery and 2.3 yards per carry for the team.
Tight ends: F
Giovanni Ricci had a brutal false start when the Lions were attempting to go for it fourth down. The tight ends continue to look lost in both run blocking and pass protection. And they offered exactly zero catches for 0 yards in this game.
This team may miss Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright more than they miss Frank Ragnow.
Wide receivers: C-
There wasn’t anything offensively bad from this unit, but they failed to make a big enough impact in this game. Goff was holding onto the ball far too long, and I am assuming that’s because the receivers weren’t getting open enough.
That said, Isaac TeSlaa made a nice touchdown grab.
Offensive line: F
The offensive line is an absolute disaster. Detroit made an interesting decision by starting Kingsley Eguakun at center with a healthy Graham Glasgow, and it resulted in three critical errors. There were two failed quarterback/center exchanges that resulted in turnovers, and Eguakun was also called for a false start on a fourth down attempt (admittedly a poor call).
But there’s nothing positive to say about anyone else, either. The Lions gave up five sacks, got absolutely zero push in the run game (longest run was 8 yards), and just looked overmatched against a defense missing its best pass rusher.
Defensive line: A
Aidan Hutchinson had two sacks. Al-Quadin Muhammad had two sacks. Tyleik Williams even added one. All evening, Detroit was making Max Brosmer uncomfortable.
In the run game, the Lions made a big step in the right direction. Outside of the game-sealing 65-yard run—which was not the defensive line’s fault—Minnesota managed just 93 yards on 27 carries, an average of just 3.4 yards per carry.
Granted, the Lions were going up an offensive line more beat up than Detroit’s, but it’s good to see them take advantage finally.
Linebackers: C+
I don’t think the Lions linebacker player particularly well or poor in this game. Alex Anzalone did produce a sack, but it’s hard to think of many more plays where this unit had a positive or negative impact.
Secondary: C
When Brosmer threw the ball, he rarely had anywhere to go with it. Jalen Mills and D.J. Reed picked up pass breakups, and Vikings wide receivers finished with just a total of four catches for 30 yards—all from Justin Jefferson.
However, the Lions secondary was called for three penalties, and they looked completely lost on the critical 65-yard run that sealed the game. Jalen Mills—the play-side safety at the time—took an angle that not only lost outside contain, but picked Amik Robertson, who was following the ball carrier stride for stride.
Special teams: C
In a game where field position matter a ton, there were a couple of troubling plays and one outstanding one. Early on, Jack Fox booted a midfield punt into the end zone for a disappointing touchback. On the ensuing drive, the Vikings drove to midfield, and they were able to pin the Lions inside their 10-yard line after Kalif Raymond oddly fielded it at the 6-yard line. Detroit would promptly fumble and the Vikings would use the short field to score. That’s a prime example of special teams mattering in a big way.
Late in the game, though, Fox would redeem himself with one of the best punts you’ll ever see. His 70-yard bomb impressively bounced out of bounds at the 1-yard line.
That long field led to a three-and-out, and gave Detroit’s offense a much-needed short field. They turned it into 3 points.
Coaching: D
In terms of game management, I don’t really have any qualms with timeout usage, time management, going for it vs. punting, or anything like that.
However, the offensive game plan was a disaster. As soon as I heard Dan Campbell say out of halftime that they need to get some explosive runs to get the offense going, I knew the team was doomed. The Lions running game has been dead for weeks, and Campbell appears to be the last one to figure that out.
I’m not saying he needed to abandon the run completely, but some sort of variety or creativity was needed. All you need to do is look across the sideline. The Vikings offensive line is even more depleted than Detroit’s, and they still managed a much more palatable 3.4 yards per carry before the final big run. Speaking of, that’s a great example of coming up with a big play call in a big moment—something Campbell failed to do all game.
I know the deck is stacked against Campbell when the offensive line can’t pass block or run block, but it took Detroit until the last half of the fourth quarter to throw a running back screen pass against that aggressive Vikings defense—and it worked. There’s a reason Drew Brees immediately said, “Where has that been all game?”
Campbell, instead, insisted on propping up the Detroit’s corpse of a run game like Christmas Weekend at Bernie’s, and it ended in predictable disaster.
But credit to the defense for showing a ton more variety of looks in the coverage game that clearly had Max Brosmer’s head spinning for all four quarters. For as much hell as Kelvin Sheppard has been getting for months, this was a smart and effective game plan.
I know some of you will be mad that I didn’t go full F on coaching considering how flat the team looked in a must-win game, but at some point, the six turnovers have to be put on the players, as well. I will say, though, I did not like the idea of starting Eguakun at center over a veteran like Graham Glasgow against his complicated defense. That was an odd decision that felt doomed from the start.
