Some details from another All-Pro caliber performance by Eric Kendricks had been discussed in the U.S. Bank Stadium locker room on Sunday when the mood of the moment suggested it was a good time to throw a little harder pitch at the Vikings inside linebacker.
Had the Lions not rediscovered their cursed roots and blown a 10-point lead in a 28-24 meltdown, the story for Monday's paper from these press box eyeballs would have focused on whether the Purple's plan for pressuring Jared Goff was a bit too polite.
Goff is one of the more stationary average quarterbacks still being asked to start games in today's NFL. He was in one of the NFL's loudest venues on Sunday. He was playing behind two backup guards, including Dan Skipper, a practice squad player elevated to the active roster for his second career start. And …
The Vikings mustered zero sacks, zero knockdowns and laid hands on Goff only once, in the closing minutes. Goff built double-digit leads twice while facing only seven blitzes, each of them five-man rushes that produced only two pressures. Only three of the blitzes came after the first quarter.
So, here comes the question, Mr. Kendricks: "Do you think you guys sit back a little too much sometimes in this new defense?"
"Yeah, sometimes," Kendricks said. "Sometimes, we got to be more aggressive. And sometimes we got to make plays on the ball, too."
A fair answer by a respected veteran leader who's earned the right to speak a little more freely.
As Kendricks went on to say, we're not exactly looking at a finished product three games into defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's stint in Minnesota.