Five extra points: Vikings bloody in the red zone. Was Jefferson open?

The Vikings' only lead lasted one series. Thirteen plays. Two plays came on fourth-and-1, enticing the Lions and Dan Campbell — the NFL's most aggressive go-for-it! coach — to do one of the things they do best: go for it! Jahmyr Gibbs converted one with an 18-yard run to the Vikings 16. Jared Goff's 2-yard sneak to the Vikings 5 set up the go-ahead touchdown. Campbell's Lions have converted eight of their last 10 fourth downs against the Vikings, starting with the 11-yard walk-off touchdown pass in his first NFL win in 2021. Campbell has gone for it 35 times this year, second-most in the NFL. He's converted 17 times.

Nick Mullens threw his four interceptions outside the red zone, but his performance inside the 20 also fell short. He completed two of six passes for 20 yards and a touchdown to K.J. Osborn. Mullens had first-and-goal at the 9 with 5:47 left. He threw high to Justin Jefferson. He threw another ball away and then bailed on third-and-9, running for 1 yard. The Vikings started 2-for-2 in the red zone, but Lions rookie nickelback Brian Branch was called for holding on a third-down incompletion and dropped a surefire interception on back-to-back plays in the first quarter. The Vikings are 3-of-7 in the red zone with Mullens.

The Vikings had 10 possessions. Jefferson was targeted in only four of them. He had one catch for 8 yards in the first four, three catches for 77 yards in the two-minute touchdown drive before the half and was invisible until 10 minutes remained. In the final 10 minutes, Jefferson was targeted six times. He and the Lions secondary caught two apiece. Jefferson made Mullens look good, while the Lions made Mullens' arm strength look unfit for the NFL a couple more times. "Jefferson might have looked open, but I just jumped in front of him," said safety Ifeatu Melifonwu of his game-clinching interception of a deep ball with 58 seconds left.

Now's probably not a good time to remind Vikings Nation that Jared Goff is only 29 years old. He won his second straight start against the Vikings and is 4-3 with 13 touchdowns, three interceptions and an average of 293 yards passing against them. The Lions converted six of 12 third downs with Goff completing six of eight passes for 67 yards and four first downs. Goff went into Sunday's game with a 101.6 passer rating against the Vikings, including his only perfect rating (158.3) from when he was with the Rams. Among the teams he has played at least six times, he has a higher rating against only one — the Cardinals (106.4).

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores did pressure Goff more Sunday than his predecessor, Ed Donatell, did in two games last year. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. In 80 pass attempts in two meetings last year, Goff wasn't sacked and was hit only five times. On Sunday, Goff definitely felt some pressure and had multiple throwaway tosses. But he was sacked only once and hit three times in 40 passes. The officials also helped Goff with two questionable calls on one second-quarter field-goal drive: a roughing penalty on Patrick Jones II and a replay reversal that turned a strip sack and 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown into an incomplete pass.