Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Five winners came up being for the Lions’ 31-29 win over the Vikings, while three losers need some work. After getting another monkey off of their back last week with a dominant win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions had to go back on the road, taking on the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings put up a good fight, getting up 10-0 quickly, and it wasn’t looking good for the Lions. After calming down, the Lions offense figured out the Vikings defense and was able to take control of the game, until craziness ensued in the fourth quarter. The Vikings would take the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter and despite the Lions offense failing on their next drive, the defense came up big and forced a punt. With the final possession for the offense, the Lions were able to go down and let kicker Jake Bates make the game-winning 44-yard field goal. Check out my winners and losers in the 31-29 victory against the Vikings. Winners Amon-Ra St. Brown When the Lions offense wasn’t able to get anything going, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown stepped up and helped awaken the passing attack. St. Brown had a big first half, getting five catches for 75 yards and a big touchdown to take the lead 14-10. Slot Merchant @amonra_stbrown #DETvsMIN | FOX pic.twitter.com/vQdYNcMPr6— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 20, 2024 St. Brown didn’t just have a good first half, his second half performance was impressive as well. While he didn’t score, he made a big catch on the game-winning drive to help put the Lions in field goal range to win the game in the end. St. Brown finished the game with eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Jared Goff Another very good week for the Lions quarterback Jared Goff, his third game of the season where he was perfect (12-for-12) at halftime. While it probably won’t happen, I think it’s time to seriously consider Goff as an MVP candidate with the way he has been playing so far. Goff had a rough start against the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but since then has been damn near perfect the past four games. Goff couldn’t be perfect again in the second half, but he finished going 22-for-25 for 280 yards with two touchdowns. He did make a poor decision in the fourth quarter where he spun around and fumbled the football, that thankfully the Lions offensive line was able to scoop up. Goff’s two fumbles were thankfully not hurtful in the end, but besides those two plays he did a great job. He helped lead the team down the field on the game-winning drive, making some big passes to St. Brown and running back Jahmyr Gibbs to set up kicker Jake Bates for the game-winning kick. Goff playing well in this type of game, against this type of defense is impressive and something that is hard to do, but he makes it look easy. Brian Branch When the Lions lost defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the biggest question was how will this team respond and who will step up? Well, not that he hasn’t so far this season, but safety Brian Branch I think has taken over as the Lions best defensive player on the field. With Hutchinson out, the secondary is going to get tested more with less pressure coming towards opposing quarterbacks, and with Branch back there it seems like that won’t be a big issue. ️ ️ #DETvsMIN | FOX pic.twitter.com/MQJgAvUED3— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 20, 2024 Branch had arguably his best game of his career against the Cowboys last week, and this week the hot streak and great season has continued. Branch came through big for the team on defense today, finishing with four tackles and two pass deflections to go along with that big interception. He was stiffed on another defensive touchdown as he picked up a fumble for a score that was overturned, and you could tell he really wanted that with how he made the offensive players miss on the return. Jahmyr Gibbs The dynamic duo of running backs Gibbs and David Montgomery faced a test in the game, and they passed. Early in the first quarter, Montgomery went down with an injury and while he was getting looked at on the sideline, Gibbs had to be the main running back. Gibbs took that opportunity—and not just figuratively, but literally ran with it and took over. Gibbs would get Detroit on the board with a big 45-yard touchdown run. Gibbs...GONE #DETvsMIN | FOX pic.twitter.com/VGvo0LHytf— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 20, 2024 Gibbs would finish the game with 15 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns, along with four catches for 44 yards. Detroit got even more good news, as Montgomery did return from the injury scare and continued to play. He had nine carries for 31 yards and three catches for 39 yards, but had a rare costly fumble in the fourth quarter than ended up going back for a touchdown to give the Vikings the lead. The fact the running game was still doing fine with only Gibbs in the backfield is a good thing for this team to see. Both Gibbs and Montgomery are starting level running backs, so they are able to take the bulk of the workload if need be. It’s just not what the Lions want to happen because they like having a fresh running back on the field so their main back doesn’t wear down. While Craig Reynolds and Sione Vaki aren’t bad options, to have them get more carries and the workload that Montgomery would have is asking for too much. Jake Bates For the first time in his NFL career, Bates needed to kick a game-winning field goal and he came through in the end. Bates didn’t feel the pressure as he nailed the 44-yard field goal to give the Lions the lead with 15 seconds left. Bates has played well this season for field goals, making all nine attempts, and even though he has missed an extra point attempt this season, Bates can now be trusted with the team on a clutch field goal attempt. Losers Offensive line Originally, I thought it was a bad day for guard Kayode Awosika, but it was a bad day for most of the offensive line in general. While their performance wasn’t horrible, where they struggled was dealing with penalties. Every starting offensive lineman besides center Frank Ragnow was called for a penalty, whether it was a hold or a false start, the unit had some struggles today. The Vikings heavy blitz defense was the cause for the holding penalties, but the crowd certainly had an impact on the false start penalties. The crowd was loud and it made it hard for the Lions to communicate during the game. Fourth down fake The Lions went for an early fourth down fake punt early in the game and it was one of the worst fake punt attempts I have seen by this team. After getting stuffed in three plays, Lions head coach Dan Campbell wanted to send a message and went for it on fourth down with a fake punt. There was no reason for that to be called in that situation, because Minnesota was already in field goal range with the failed attempt, and it turned into a touchdown for Minnesota to take the early 7-0 lead. There is a time and a place for a fake punt, and that moment wasn’t it. I get you don’t want to start the game with a three-and-out, but going up against a good opponent in the Vikings is a risky decision that ended up costing Detroit. In big games like this, it seems that Campbell likes to push the limits, and that should be something he looks at in the future. Pass rush Life without Hutchinson is going to be looking rough for this defense when it comes to getting after the quarterback. Against the Vikings, quarterback Sam Darnold had a lot of time to throw the ball for most of the game. With that extra time, the Vikings were able to move the ball through the air easier and Darnold was able to escape the few pressures he saw with runs up the middle. Despite getting sacked four times, you have to look at the context of those sacks. Two of them were by linebackers as Darnold was escaping pressure from the defensive line and he was running forward. The last play of the game was a sack where the Lions sent some pressure on Darnold when he needed time for the receivers to move down the field. The only true sack was by defensive end Josh Paschal, and he was in and out of the game dealing with some issues. Darnold had four carries for 39 yards, because when the Lions actually found pressure, he was able to escape. The Lions made some moves on the roster by signing defensive lineman Pat O’Connor to the 53-man roster, and they elevated defensive end Isaac Ukwu from the practice squad. With those two and others seeing more playing time, none of them were able to get to the quarterback to show out when given the chance.