Detroit Lions report card: Offense needs an overhaul after Vikings mess

The Detroit Lions lost to an undrafted third-string rookie quarterback who completed eight passes for 51 yards, just enough to make up for the 48 yards of sack yards 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 2025 Lions season.

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Quarterback: D-

Goff had a fantastic drive in which he made some 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 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 was win the field position battle, and Goff’s turnovers explicitly caused Detroit to lose the game.

Running backs: D

Speaking of turnovers, Jahmyr Gibbs’ fumble was extremely costly. The Lions were about to drive into Vikings territory when Gibbs coughed up the ball, denying one of Detroit’s few scoring opportunities that day.

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Against an aggressive defensive front, pass protection was going to be key for the running backs in this game, and they didn’t pick up the slack.

Montgomery, to his credit, ran hard and converted a fourth-and-1 that he didn’t have to convert, but Detroit’s running game is too far gone for even those physical yards to amount 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 as the Lions tried to go for the fourth down. The tight ends continue to look lost in both run blocking and pass protection. And they offered up exactly zero catches for 0 yards in this game.

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This team might miss Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright more than Frank Ragnow.

Wide receivers: C-

There was nothing bad offensively from this unit, but they failed to make a big enough impact in this game. Goff held the ball for way too long, and I suspect that’s because the receivers weren’t getting open enough.

That said, Isaac TeSlaa scored a nice touchdown.

Offensive line: F

The offensive line is an absolute disaster. Detroit made an interesting decision to start Kingsley Eguakun at center with a healthy Graham Glasgow, and it resulted in three critical errors. There were two botched quarterback/center exchanges that resulted in turnovers, and Eguakun was also called for a false start on a fourth down attempt (admittedly a bad call).

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But there’s nothing positive to say about the others either. The Lions gave up five sacks, got absolutely no push in the running game (longest run was 8 yards) and looked simply outmatched against a defense that was missing its best passer.

Defensive line: A

Aidan Hutchinson had two sacks. Al-Quadin Muhammad made two sacks. Tyleik Williams even added one. All evening, Detroit made Max Brosmer uncomfortable.

In the running game, the Lions have taken a big step in the right direction. Aside from the game-sealing 65-yard run, which was not the fault of the defensive line: Minnesota only managed 93 yards on 27 carries, an average of only 3.4 yards per carry.

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Certainly, the Lions were putting together an offensive line that was more beaten than Detroit’s, but it’s good to see them finally take advantage of it.

Linebackers: C+

I don’t think the Lions linebacker is particularly good or bad in this game. Alex Anzalone produced 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 a place to go with it. Jalen Mills and DJ Reed caught the passes, and the Vikings receivers finished with just 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 drive that sealed the game. Jalen Mills – the play-side safety at the time – took an angle that not only lost outside control, but also picked out Amik Robertson, who was following the ball carrier step for step.

Special teams: C

In a game where field position matters a lot, there were a few troubling plays and one exceptional one. Early on, Jack Fox threw a punt to midfield in the end zone for a disappointing touchback. On the ensuing drive, the Vikings drove to midfield and managed to pin the Lions inside their 10-yard line after Kalif Raymond oddly lined it up at the 6-yard line. Detroit would quickly fumble and the Vikings would use the short field to score. This is a great example of the tremendous importance of special teams.

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However, near the end of the game, Fox would redeem himself with one of the best punts you’ll ever see. His 70-yard bomb bounced impressively out of bounds on the 1-yard line.

This long field led to a three-and-out and gave the Detroit offense a much-needed short field. They turned it into a 3-pointer.

Framing: D

In terms of game management, I don’t really have any qualms with using timeouts, time management, rushing against punting, or anything like that.

However, the offensive game plan proved to be a disaster. As soon as I heard Dan Campbell say at halftime that they needed to make 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 to realize it.

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I’m not saying he had to give up racing completely, but he needed some sort of variety and creativity. All you have to do is look across the sidelines. The Vikings’ offensive line is even more depleted than Detroit’s, and they still managed a much more acceptable 3.4 yards per carry before the big final drive. Speaking of, It is a great example of an important game decision in an important moment – something Campbell failed to do all game.

I know the play is against Campbell when the offensive line can’t block or block, but it took Detroit until the last half of the fourth quarter to throw a screen pass against this aggressive Vikings defense – and it worked. There’s a reason Drew Brees immediately said, “Where did all that play go?”

Campbell, instead, insisted on supporting Detroit’s corpse in a race game like Christmas weekend at Bernie’s, and it ended in predictable disaster.

But admittedly the defense showed a lot more variety of looks in the coverage game, which clearly had Max Brosmer’s head spinning all four quarters. Despite the hell Kelvin Sheppard went through for months, it was a smart and effective game plan.

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I know some of you will be angry that I haven’t coached my best, given how flat the team looked in a must-win game, but at some point the six turnover must also be imposed on the players. I will say, however, that I did not like the idea of ​​starting Eguakun at center against a veteran like Graham Glasgow against his complicated defense. It was a strange decision that seemed doomed from the start.