MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (Northern News Now) – The Detroit Lions entered Christmas Day needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and the Minnesota Vikings were looking to play Grinch.
The annual white-out game resulted in a Christmas win for the Vikings.
The final score of the game was: 23 – 10.
With Quarterback JJ McCarthy missing the game due to a fractured finger, it would be the second career start for the rookie and former Golden Gopher Max Brosmer.
RELATED: McCarthy out for Vikings’ Christmas Day game against Detroit Lions
After both teams traded punts in the first quarter, the first big play for the Vikings would come on defense when Andrew Van Ginkel would recover a botched snap and set Minnesota up with great field position inside the red zone. The veteran linebacker handed the ball to his son in the crowd, saying, “That’ll be a memory I’ll have forever, and I’m sure he will too.”
The Vikings took the lead after running back Aaron Jones made it past the one-yard line after five plays.
Even with the help of another fumble recovery in the second quarter, Brosmer and the Vikings offense had trouble finding any rhythm and would enter halftime with negative six yards passing.
A late first-half touchdown by Detroit’s Isaac TeSlaa would make for a tie game at the half.
The turnover troubles for the Lions would continue into the second half. Jared Goff would throw picks to Byron Murphy and Harrison Smith in the third quarter, both of which would lead to field goals from Will Reichard.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Goff would fumble for the Lions’ fifth turnover of the day. However, the Brosmer-led Vikings offense could not move the ball down the field. Despite a turnover differential of plus five, the game would remain 13-7 midway through the final quarter.
With under five minutes left, the Lions would get a field goal from Jake Bates to cut the Detroit deficit to three.
With Minnesota needing any kind of spark on offense, they would turn to wide receiver Jordan Addison. He would take a jet sweep handoff from Brosmer and scamper 65 yards that ended with a dive over the goal line to give the Vikings a 20-10 lead.
The Detroit offense then fumbled once more in the following drive as Goff couldn’t handle a bad snap, and Van Ginkel would recover for the Vikings’ sixth takeaway of the evening.
Will Reichard would add a late field goal, and the Vikings would pull off the upset over Detroit, squashing their playoff hopes in a 23-10 win.
Despite having only 30 yards on four catches, Justin Jefferson broke Randy Moss’ record for most receiving yards in a player’s first six seasons. Jefferson said he only cared about the win, though. “It’s always a dream to compete against the best to ever do it, a Hall of Famer…It’s great, but the win is more important,” said Jefferson.
The 8-8 Vikings will close out the season hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 4, who have now secured a playoff spot with the Lions’ loss. The day and time of the game will be determined in the coming days.
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