What We Learned from the Lions: The Lions handed the undefeated Vikings their first loss, but the injuries made this 19-15 win feel anything but comfortable
Detroit survived Minnesota, Jahmyr Gibbs took over in the second half and Jameson Williams delivered the winning touchdown — but a frightening injury to Jack Campbell and several other losses changed the mood completely.
It was not the prettiest game we’ve ever seen, but what counts is that the Lions walked into this game against an undefeated Vikings team with a defense everyone was comparing to the ’85 Bears, and they beat them 19-15. A solid win, but there are some major concerns coming out of it.
A very scary situation with Jack Campbell
In moments like this, you stop caring so much about the game. At the start of the fourth quarter, Jack Campbell went limp after what looked like a routine tackle, and that caused a stoppage in which trainers and a stretcher came out while both teams took knees. The Lions announced that Campbell was transported to a local hospital for evaluation of a neck injury. At this point, we don’t know anything beyond that, but we will get an update as soon as we know something.
Goff had an interesting day
Jared Goff had been playing insanely good football and hadn’t thrown an interception since the 2025 season. That streak ended against the Vikings, but I don’t think we can really blame Goff for that one. Jameson Williams fell down on the route as the ball was heading his way, and it just kind of happened.
He turned into a blocker on multiple Jahmyr Gibbs runs and was actually a good blocker on them, all things considered. He also threw a touchdown to Jameson Williams to take the lead in the fourth quarter.
But then he was also sacked four times. So interesting seems like the right word to use.
Jahmyr Gibbs might have some sort of second-half superpower
I think we can all agree that Gibbs had a pretty rough first half, but then Bugs Bunny gave him some of Michael’s Secret Stuff in the locker room at halftime, and he went off in the second half and finished the game with 153 yards and a touchdown.
The NFL has suddenly morphed into that one kid who reminds the teacher to give out homework
I get the taunting thing to a degree. You don’t want any kind of fighting, and you have to keep in mind that kids are watching and all that stuff, but talking to a player or spinning the ball is pretty insane. The NFL acts as if these guys were finger-gunning players or pretending to poop on them. The Lions lost out on a first down on their first drive and then got 15 yards taken on a 46-yard catch from Jameson Williams. There are some things that you just have to let slide.
Ugly penalties
The taunting stuff was bad enough, but the Lions went into halftime of this game with six penalties for 72 yards. Penei Sewell, who is usually pretty clean, had three penalties in the first half, including two false starts in a row and a holding call during a two-minute drill. Then on defense, D.J. Reed had a DPI that I think we can all agree wasn’t a DPI. Still, this is the little stuff that Dan Campbell talked about cleaning up a few weeks ago, and it’s the little things that can kill.
Friendly fire
Brian Branch and D.J. Wonnum had an ugly collision in the second quarter that took both players out for the rest of the game. Wonnum actually had to be carted out. Both players were evaluated for concussions and were ruled out coming out of halftime. We’ll see where that goes, but you have to hope both players are back for the Lions’ Week 9 game in Miami.
A banged-up game all around
Not only did Branch and Wonnum have to leave the game, but Cade Mays, who just got back, had to leave with an ankle injury, and Jacob Saylors left the game with a neck injury. Now that the Lions don’t have a bye week anymore, this is the last time that you want to start getting injuries. The hope is that all four of these are just short-term things and that the Lions will be able to get everyone back against the Dolphins. In terms of Jack Campbell, the hope is that he’s just OK.
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