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George Kittle jokingly stated that the Lions “had [them] in the first half” as Detroit jumped out to that 17-point lead, but they didn’t flinch.
The Lions fans in Ford Field were going crazy as the fans in Santa Clara stood silent and stunned, yet the players and coaches didn’t lose hope.
Brock Purdy was 7-for-15 with an interception going into the half but came out in the second half and had a near-perfect performance (13-for-16, 174 yards and two touchdowns, 99.1 QBR per ESPN).
Why? Because no matter the circumstance, when you have the talent that San Francisco has, anything is possible. When you have a player like Aiyuk who has the concentration to find a football that careened off a defensive back’s helmet and turned it into a 50-yard gain, anything is possible. When players like Deebo Samuel can reach the outside and hit another gear to beat the defender to the outside and find yards where there were none, anything is possible. When you have a weapon as versatile as McCaffrey on your roster, anything is possible.
If anyone knows this, it’s the Vikings faithful. When Minnesota was down 38 against the Indianapolis Colts last season, the game plan was simple: Get the ball to the most trusted players on this team. K.J. Osborn and Jefferson combined for 17 receptions on 22 targets for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Dalvin Cook had 135 yards on 16 touches and added a touchdown of his own.
Flores tried to squeeze as much as he could out of this defense this season, but there wasn’t enough talent to be as versatile as they could have been, leading to a stretch of four disappointing games down the stretch.
This team is not ready to compete with the cream of the crop in the NFC. Not yet. This off-season, with a few key moves, such as keeping Jefferson/Hunter, can keep the talent level high for this team. Not to mention a draft where they can bring in another blue-chip talent just outside the top ten.
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