Lions 17, Vikings 19
Wasn't the prettiest of wins but it was a win and we'll take it. Sometimes when you win games like that it's a good thing because it evens out at some point if you can keep plugging along.
So proud of our guys the way they fought. Not particularly proud of the way we played though.
Questions.
Q. Just thoughts on Greg Joseph. Just three weeks ago missed that kick against Arizona. Just the way he bounced back.
A. Yeah, did a nice job. Made a nice kick. Feels good to win.
Q. Was the plan to rotate in Darrisaw with Hill over the course of the game, or was there something in the game that necessitated a couple changes there?
A. That was the plan.
Q. A win is a win, but does it feel any different when the performance is not there?
A. Well, it's better than a loss, that's for sure, Joe. I think yeah, probably feels different, yeah. We had plenty of opportunities in the second half. We got -- we scored touchdown with Thielen and we get called on a -- some kind of call, stops the touchdown.
Then we get two turnovers and we sack them on the fourth down. You know, I don't know, did we get any points out of those three? Three points? Yeah, we got to find a way to do better than that.
Q. Anything that you think was holding the offense back specifically?
A. You know, they're pretty stout on defense and do a good job mixing the coverages and the different pressures. I think they -- I think it helped them having Flowers back. They did a good job.
You know, there was times we ran the ball well and times we didn't. Probably took our foot off the gas a little bit on the one play, the one series, that we shouldn't have.
Q. Justin Jefferson said that he sees at practice a lot of times Eric Hendricks practicing catches. Did his one-handed interception surprise you, impress you?
A. Reminded me a lot of last year we know we played Detroit. Made a great interception in the end zone last year, so, yeah, it was a great play.
Q. Mike, when you talk about take your foot off the gas on that one series, was that the series before halftime with the two runs?
A. No, no, no. It was -- after we got the sack I believe we ran it. Didn't give them much yards, and we tried to throw and recovered it.
Q. Did you feel overall you were too conservative on offense or just that one series?
A. No, just that one series.
Q. With the series before halftime, was it just a matter of wanting to run the clock out there but you were getting the ball back?
A. I shouldn't have to explain all this to you, but the plan was if -- we screwed up a couple plays at the end of the first half this year, right? Because we ran out of bounds, sure did some things.
So the plan was to run the ball first play, see how much yards we get, and go from there. If we get a first down, we'll get on the ball and move. We got to like no yards, so that was that.
Q. (No microphone.) In terms of the execution you saw...
A. Yeah, it was really good. We had 37 seconds and two timeouts or something like that. Yeah, we've been doing a lot of extra two minute stuff. You know, end of half, end of game. Been doing a lot of extra stuff like that, and paid off today. It was a good deal.
Q. (Indiscernible) getting the start, was that a nod to how he had been playing for you up to this point.
A. Yes.
Q. How did you think he did today?
A. I mean, he got a sack. I think. Did he get a sack? I don't know. It's so hard for me to see individual players unless I'm focusing on them. It's hard for me to evaluate players on the day of the game.
Q. (No microphone.) You guys got sacked on back to back plays twice there, did you kind of sense the pressure was getting to them at the end of the game there?
A. Yeah, I felt good about it. You know, they had -- I think we were up by 10 and there was two something left or something; sacked them two or three times I thought.
Q. Can you offer thoughts on how you thought Anthony Barr looked in his first game this year?
A. Not unless I'm really focusing on them. There are times I focus on guys, but it's really hard for me to see their guys and our guys.
Q. Was there much, if any, deliberation on running the ball on third down and Madison getting the first down and just burn the clock?
A. One more time.
Q. Was there much thought instead of running the ball on third down maybe passing it?
A. We talked about it. If we punted the ball, had a minute 20 seconds left or something, and, you know, the way we been rushing that quarterback, I figured we had a good chance not to let them score a touchdown.
So I think would've been 1:21 left if we ran the ball, and so that was that.
Q. (Regarding Madison's touchdown.)
A. You know, that's what a lot of teams are doing now, they're trying to get guys to leave the box, or you get a chance to roll things back. You start one way and bring it back out the other way.
They were doing a lot of that today with us with rockets and bringing the tight end back, and the tight end was sometimes motioning, like rocket motion, and trying to get to our short side.
Q. What's your approach on the last-second field goal there? Whether it's in Arizona or tonight? Do you look? Do you not look? What are your emotions on a play like that?
A. I usually don't look. If they're kicking, Miss this blankety-blank, and if we're kicking it it's, Make this blankety-blank. (Laughter.)
Q. Mentioned previously heading into the week there may be some conditioning concerns.
A. There is not. There is not. We checked the GPS. We played 70 plays last week on defense. We played -- I was told for a fact that we are not out of shape.
Q. No, I'm specifically asking about Christian Darrisaw and maybe that changing the role in the rotation.
A. No, he practiced 12 times. He's still got a ways to go. He's still got a ways to go. We're just trying to break him in easy. Got nothing to do with conditioning now; it's about practice time.
Q. Is the run defense still not quite where you want it?
A. They hit a couple on us today. I was ticked off early. I think we settled down. Made some adjustments. I thought they copied a few of the plays that Cleveland ran, and then we got out of position.
They were bringing guys -- it's a long story -- but they led up with two guys here, blocked angles on us, bring the other guy around along with another guy, and then they tried to get to the perimeter a couple times.
So early it was ugly, and it was much, much better once we cleared it up. Again they scored one touchdown on us today, so there is a lot of good things. I think they were 27% on third down. You know, 288 yards.
If I'm going to find some things to complain about, it would be that in that last -- after the fumble.
Q. Did you see anything beginning of the game that kind of disrupted Kirk's connection with him?
A. I did not. I know they were mixing up the coverages a lot. They had -- they were -- you know, (indiscernible) was with me before, so he kind of knows how to take some guys away when they are trying to.
So they'll roll the safety over there to him, double him. Do the same things with JJ times two. So it was just a mixture of things.
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