Winners and losers: 4 takeaways from crushing Vikings loss to Lions in Week 7

In a battle between the two best teams in the best division in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings saw their undefeated season come to an end as they took a 31-29 loss to the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

This instant classic was a wild back-and-forth affair, as both teams held a double-digit lead. As they've done all season, the Vikings owned the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-0 lead on an Aaron Jones touchdown and a Will Reichard field goal. Minnesota has now outscored opponents 58-3 in the opening frame this season.

But the second quarter belonged to the Lions, who put up 21 points on two touchdowns from Jahymr Gibbs and another from Amon-Ra St. Brown to take an 11-point lead into halftime.

The two teams traded scores in the third, with the Vikings getting a TD from Justin Jefferson before the Lions matched it with one from Kalif Raymond.

After two field goals from Reichard, the Vikings took a 29-28 lead when Ivan Pace Jr. returned a fumble 36 yards for a touchdown. However, Minnesota missed the opportunity to extend the advantage by failing to convert the two-point attempt. The Vikings also missed the opportunity to seal the game with a poor drive on their next offensive possession.

And the Lions took advantage, driving 44 yards to set up what turned out to be a game-winning 44-yard field goal from Jake Bates with just 15 seconds remaining. The Vikings got another shot, but a sack of Sam Darnold on the game's final play wrapped up the victory for Detroit.

Overall, there were plenty of positives for Minnesota to take away from this game. But there were also several things that could have been better. And that's where we'll start, as we look at the winners and losers of the Vikings' Week 7 loss to the Lions.

Loser: The Vikings' secondary

Coming into Week 7, the Vikings had allowed 263.0 passing yards per game, the third-most in the NFL. And while it didn't seem like it in real-time, that average will actually go down as Minnesota surrendered 247 yards in that regard.

While Jared Goff, who's rapidly rising in our NFL MVP rankings, threw for 280 yards, the Vikings' pass rush sacked him four times, taking 33 yards away from the final number. And that pass rush deserves some credit. The Lions have a very good offensive line, and Minnesota was able to put plenty of pressure on Goff.

The problem was that he was still able to pick apart the Detroit secondary, completing 22 of 25 passes, many of those completions going to wide-open receivers.

To be fair, it was the Vikings' secondary that allowed Minnesota to take the late lead, as it was safety Josh Metellus who punched out the football that Ivan Pace Jr. picked up and took to the house. But this same secondary gave up far too many big plays throughout the game and allowed the Lions to pick up easy yards on what proved to be the game-winning drive.

The Vikings have often been able to offset the damage done in yardage with interceptions, as they entered this game with a league-leading 11 picks. But that wasn't the case on Sunday, as Goff was interception-free for the third straight game.

Loser: Sam Darnold

Hear us out on this one.

Overall, Sam Darnold had a fine day, completing 22 of 27 passes for 259 yards with his aforementioned touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson in the third quarter. However, the few mistakes he did make were critical and ultimately helped the Lions win this football game.

First, during what looked to be a promising Minnesota drive in the second quarter after Detroit had taken a 14-10 lead, he had Aaron Jones wide open in the flat but instead opted to force a pass to Jordan Addison, which was intercepted by Brian Branch.

Yes, Branch made a fantastic diving play for the pick. But it was a massive decision-making error on Darnold's part, and the Lions ended up scoring a touchdown on the ensuing possession.

Then, on the two-point conversion attempt following Pace's fourth-quarter touchdown, Darnold threw a poor pass in Jefferson's direction, again missing Jones, who may have had a clear path to the end zone on the other side.

After the Minnesota defense forced a Detroit punt, all the Vikings had to do was pick up a couple of first downs, but they couldn't even get one. They had a shot on 3rd & 4, but Darnold overthrew Jefferson, thus forcing the Vikings to punt. The Lions then embarked on their game-winning drive.

Again, overall, Darnold played a solid game. But in most of the moments that mattered, he couldn't get the job done.

Winner: Aaron Jones

If there were any doubts surrounding Aaron Jones' hip or hamstring or anything else that was bothering him, he put those to rest quickly with the 34-yard touchdown run that helped the Vikings take their 10-point lead in the first quarter.

Overall, Jones rushed for 93 yards on just 14 carries and added another 23 yards on three receptions. One has to wonder why Kevin O'Connell didn't call more plays for him.

It's no secret that the Lions are much better against the run than they are against the pass. But even taking away his 34-yard score, Jones averaged 4.5 yards per rush on his other 13 carries. O'Connell certainly deserves his fair share of blame for this loss, as his play-calling was suspect on several drives. And failing to utilize a player who was finding success in multiple ways didn't help matters.

Winner: Will Reichard

Rookie kicker Will Reichard continues to impress.

Going two-for-two on extra-point attempts and three-for-three on field-goal tries, all three of which were from 42 yards or longer, including his 57-yarder in the opening quarter, the Alabama alum still hasn't missed a kick as a professional.

And here's exactly how much faith O'Connell has in him.

In the final moments of the game, had Christian Darrisaw not been flagged for the illegal formation penalty that backed the Vikings up five yards to their own 45-yard line, O'Connell was prepared to send Reichard out to attempt a 68-yard game-winning field goal.

A make, of course, would have given him the longest field goal in NFL history by two yards, surpassing Justin Tucker's 66-yard game-winner in September 2021, which, oddly enough, came against the Lions.

Reichard obviously didn't get that chance, but it would have been incredible to see him attempt to keep his perfect run alive with a history-making bomb.

The Vikings won't have much time to regroup, as they'll kick off Week 8 with a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.