Lions @ Vikings · Week 15

WEEK 15 · FINAL

THE READ

Lions beat Vikings, 28-23

Lions handled Vikings 28-23. Derrick Moore got after the quarterback for Lions — 2.5 sacks. Jahmyr Gibbs carried the load for Lions — 12 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD. Three weeks of this now from Jordan Mason: 81 rushing yards a game, well clear of his 40 average. Through the air: Vikings 109, Lions 0.

Zoe Bell The contrarian

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Lions	+4.8	-3.7	+8.5	+4
Vikings	-18.6	-2.4	-16.2	-13

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Lions — NFC #2 · division · 14-3 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Caleb Brooks Beat reporter

Detroit won 28-23 by doing what Minnesota couldn't: establish anything on the ground. The Vikings managed 37 rushing yards and turned it over twice, and that's a recipe that doesn't work against a defense getting after you like the Lions did with 4.5 sacks.

Jordan Hayes The armchair coach · replying

Minnesota's pass rush generated only 1 sack all afternoon—that's the difference between competing and getting run over by a team that's locked in for a playoff run.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Derrick Moore

Lions

2.5 sacks

Jahmyr Gibbs

Lions

12 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD

Jameson Williams

Lions

7 catches, 87 yards

THE STORY SO FAR

📈 Jordan Mason is in form: 81 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 40.

📉 Kyler Murray is still searching for it: 96 passing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 172.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Through the air Vikings 109, Lions 0 Vikings

Total yards Vikings 146, Lions 77 Vikings

On the ground Lions 77, Vikings 37 Lions

Pressure Vikings 1 sacks, Lions 4.5 Lions

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 15 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 56% · Rush 44% · 30.9 scored, 22.5 allowed

10.4 yds/att 67.5% completions 4.4 yds/carry 287.7 yds/game 1.3 giveaways/game 6.9% sack rate last 5: 4-1

Primary weapon: Jameson Williams WR — 29% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 72 · Aggressive Balance 94 Ball security 63 Back usage 40% QB runs 1.3/game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 87 WR 87 TE 89 RB 87 OL 81 DL 85 LB 79 DB 87

Best: Jahmyr Gibbs HB 99 Fastest: Jahmyr Gibbs HB 98 SPD 9 at star dev or better

Out: Aidan Hutchinson LEDG 94 · 5wk

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Bosskoss21

Vikings · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back Takes sacks

Pass / run63% / 37% Points for / against22.9 — 29.8 Margin-6.9 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken9.7% of dropbacks Lead backJordan Mason · 12.4/g Top targetJustin Jefferson · 36% QB carries3.4 a game

MurdaCW

Lions · his last 8 games

Runs it One back Takes sacks

Pass / run50% / 50% Points for / against33.0 — 26.8 Margin+6.2 Giveaways a game1.1 Sacks taken9.0% of dropbacks Lead backJahmyr Gibbs · 13.2/g Top targetJameson Williams · 28% QB carries0.4 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES MurdaCW against Bosskoss21 — the men, not the teams

MurdaCW leads it 2-0. MurdaCW has won 2 straight.

2 meetings avg 31.0 — 13.0 biggest: 31 pts to MurdaCW

S1 · week 15 MurdaCW 28 — 23 Bosskoss21 MURDACW

S1 · week 8 MurdaCW 34 — 3 Bosskoss21 MURDACW

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Lions receivers vs Vikings secondary 87 v 81 LIONS

Vikings receivers vs Lions secondary 88 v 87 EVEN

Lions line vs Vikings front 81 v 81 EVEN

Vikings line vs Lions front 82 v 85 LIONS

Lions backs vs Vikings run defence 87 v 80 LIONS

Vikings backs vs Lions run defence 78 v 83 LIONS

Lions passer vs Vikings secondary 87 v 81 LIONS

Vikings passer vs Lions secondary 75 v 87 LIONS

TOP PERFORMERS

Jameson Williams WR Lions 87 rec yds

Jahmyr Gibbs HB Lions 77 rush yds

Isaac TeSlaa WR Lions 53 rec yds

Justin Jefferson WR Vikings 51 rec yds

Derrick Moore REDG Lions 2.5 sacks

Tyleik Williams DT Lions 1.5 sacks

Byron Murphy Jr CB Vikings 1 INTs

Kerby Joseph FS Lions 1 INTs

Ifeatu Melifonwu FS Vikings 1 INTs

Blake Cashman MIKE Vikings 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

LIONS

nothing recorded

VIKINGS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Kyler Murray QB	11/21	109	1	1	4	24	63.3

LIONS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Jahmyr Gibbs HB	12	77	6.4	1	3	8	52
Jameson Williams WR	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Isaac TeSlaa WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Amon-Ra St. Brown WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

VIKINGS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jordan Mason HB	12	25	2.1	1	10	8	0
Kyler Murray QB	2	12	6	1	7	9	1
Myles Price WR	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

LIONS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Jameson Williams WR	7	87	12.4	0	40	43
Isaac TeSlaa WR	3	53	17.7	0	9	29
Jahmyr Gibbs HB	3	43	14.3	1	12	20
Amon-Ra St. Brown WR	2	21	10.5	0	12	14
Sam LaPorta TE	2	15	7.5	1	3	10
Isiah Pacheco HB	1	14	14	1	0	14
Greg Dortch WR	1	7	7	0	8	7

VIKINGS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Justin Jefferson WR	3	51	17	1	2	24
T.J. Hockenson TE	3	25	8.3	0	5	11
Jauan Jennings WR	2	18	9	0	2	13
Jordan Addison WR	3	15	5	0	7	8

LIONS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	FF
Derrick Moore REDG	5	2.5	0	0	0
Tyleik Williams DT	3	1.5	0	0	1
Brian Branch SS	3	0	0	0	0
Jack Campbell MIKE	2	0	0	3	0
Jimmy Rolder WILL	2	0	0	0	0
Stephen Griffin FS	1	0	0	0	0
Christian Izien SS	1	0	0	0	0
Kelee Ringo CB	1	0	0	0	0
D.J. Reed CB	1	0	0	1	0
Malcolm Rodriguez WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Marques Sigle SS	0	0	0	1	0
D.J. Wonnum REDG	0	0.5	0	0	0
Ephesians Prysock CB	0	0	0	2	0
Kerby Joseph FS	0	0	1	0	0

VIKINGS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	TD
Blake Cashman MIKE	5	0	1	1	0
Jakobe Thomas SS	3	0	0	0	0
James Pierre CB	3	0	0	0	0
Andrew Van Ginkel REDG	2	0	0	0	0
Josh Metellus SS	2	0	0	0	0
Byron Murphy Jr CB	2	0	1	0	0
Isaiah Rodgers Sr CB	2	0	0	0	0
Jalen Redmond DT	1	0	0	0	0
Bangally Kamara WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Ivan Pace Jr WILL	1	1	0	0	0
Jake Golday MIKE	1	0	0	0	0
Jay Ward FS	1	0	0	0	0
Caleb Banks DT	1	0	0	0	0
Ifeatu Melifonwu FS	1	0	1	0	1

LIONS

nothing recorded

VIKINGS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Will Reichard K	1/1	2/2	49

RECENT FORM

Lions

L 21–23 vs Titans WK 14

W 41–24 vs Falcons WK 13

W 38–31 vs Bears WK 12

Vikings

L 37–41 vs Patriots WK 14

L 21–27 vs Panthers WK 13

L 10–36 vs Falcons WK 12

TEAM STATS

Lions		Vikings
77	TOTAL YARDS	146
0	PASSING YARDS	109
77	RUSHING YARDS	37
0	SACKS ALLOWED	4
4.5	SACKS MADE	1
0	GIVEAWAYS	2
2	TAKEAWAYS	3

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

2 LIONS — 0 VIKINGS

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