– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DETROIT — The second the Detroit Lions clinched a season-defining victory, they soon turned to their thoughts about the harrowing seconds watching one of their own players, Jack Campbell, being taken away from the field with a serious injury and praying for the best outcome.
On the field, the Lions knocked the Minnesota Vikings from the ranks of the unbeaten, coming away with a 20-17 victory inside Ford Field on Sunday afternoon. But before the game was sealed, the Lions and everyone else inside the stadium fell silent after Campbell lay face first and motionless on the ground immediately after attempting a tackle on tight end T.J. Hockenson in the fourth quarter. After being taken to the hospital, there has been no update on his condition as of late Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said.
The Lions’ run game ran wild against the best defense in the league, going for 230 yards on the ground. Jahmyr Gibbs had 153 of those yards, including a 30-yard scamper late in the third quarter as Detroit reclaimed the lead. The Lions were held in check on offense most of the first half before a two-minute-drill drive led to Jake Bates’ 37-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter that cut the Vikings’ lead to 7-6.
Including that drive to end the second quarter, the Lions moved at least 33 yards down the field in five of the final six drives of the contest, scoring touchdowns twice and attempting two field goals (one make, one miss).
Their final drive, after forcing the Vikings to punt with 2:53 left, chewed up the rest of the clock as Minnesota’s defense could not get the stop and get one last chance with the ball.
“We still had all three timeouts and we have total trust and confidence in our defense,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We thought we could get a stop and get the ball back.”
Kyler Murray had one of his best games at quarterback in Minnesota, going 17-of-29 for 210 yards and two touchdown passes, including one from eight yards out to Hockenson midway through the fourth to give the Vikings a 15-12 lead.
Though now tasked with scoring against the best scoring defense in the National Football League in Minnesota, the Lions responded as both running backs came to the fore. Gibbs ran for 36 yards on the drive on three carries, and started the possession with a 17-yard run. Backup running back Sione Vaki caught a pass for five yards and had a 12-yard rush on back-to-back plays, and the drive ended with Jared Goff’s 7-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jameson Williams with 4:35 remaining.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 20 pictures in total.
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