Safety Harrison Smith offered a blunt assessment after the Vikings' 29-27 loss to the previously winless Lions on Sunday, which could be interpreted as a description of everything from their individual coverage to their collective approach as Lions quarterback Jared Goff marched 75 yards for a touchdown in 110 seconds.
"We were just too soft on them," Smith said.
The Vikings defense backed off after Goff beat them in the first half, torching single-high safeties for two touchdowns to tight ends down the seam, plus a couple play-action crossers for big gains. Coach Mike Zimmer kept more defenders in coverage, and his passive approach with limited personnel got them by... until they became too passive.
They'd grounded Goff in the second half. He couldn't find the open target while completing 3 of 10 passes for 31 yards and two turnovers before that final drive. Against a three/four-man rush specifically, Goff completed just 1 of 7 passes for eight yards and a pick. Perhaps that fed Zimmer's reluctance to blitz. He was so from the start. Goff didn't throw against a five-man pressure until 3:05 before halftime, when he completed a 27-yard pass over replacement linebacker Troy Dye. Zimmer said he was trying to fortify coverage throughout the game, including on the final drive.
"Just because I know the nature of Zim, I thought we might see a little more pressure earlier," Lions coach Dan Campbell said. "Our first pressure we got was down there when we hit the 20 or around the 20, I guess, and that was close. That was close, so I thought we'd see a little bit more. But also, I'd say this, if I put myself in Zim's shoes, why would I be aggressive?"
1. The Vikings' coverage woes were evident even while grounding Goff in the second half. Cornerback Cameron Dantzler's fourth-quarter interception came while he was one of three Vikings defenders surrounding Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson, to whom Goff forced the pass despite an apparent Minnesota coverage bust that left Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown running open on a crossing route.
Earlier in the third quarter, St. Brown (#14) gets open underneath safety Xavier Woods (#23) as the Vikings run an apparent quarters coverage with four deep defenders. Safeties align about 10 yards off the ball and, theoretically in the coverage's basic form, should be trying to take away the middle of the field. This was one of many play-action passes called against a patchwork Vikings linebacker corps.
Goff has a window to St. Brown (#14) over the middle, but he doesn't pull the trigger as nose tackle Michael Pierce (#58) causes interior pressure. The Vikings defensive line was remarkably better with Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson back, actually giving the defense a chance to hold the line of scrimmage.
