Minnesota 3 14 0 7--24 Detroit 0 10 3 9--22
PONTIAC, Mich. (Dec 9, 1996 - 00:12 EST) -- Winning in must-win situations is becoming a habit with Minnesota. If the Vikings keep it up, they could land a playoff berth, making a little club history in the bargain.
Brad Johnson's three touchdown passes kept Minnesota even in the race for the last two NFC wild-card spots, and the Vikings held on for a 24-22 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
"We've had confidence in Brad since the first time he came in," said Jake Reed, who had three receptions for 32 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown catch. "But now he knows that he can play in this league, and we know that he can win."
The Vikings (8-6), looking to win their final four games for the first time in franchise history, have Tampa Bay next week, then finish up at Green Bay.
Minnesota, completing a sweep of the season series with Detroit, took a 24-16 lead on Johnson's 30-yard touchdown pass to Cris Carter with 4:56 remaining.
The Lions (5-9) answered 2:22 later with a 2-yard touchdown run by Barry Sanders, capping a 71-yard drive in four plays. But Scott Mitchell's pass to Johnnie Morton on the 2-point conversion effort was knocked away by strong safety Robert Griffith at the goal line.
"It was no big deal," Griffith said. "All 11 of us had a job to do, and it came down to mine. They were counting on me, and I did it."
Still, some of the Vikings were surprised that Sanders, who had runs of 14 and 23 yards earlier in the drive, didn't get the call for the two-point conversion.
"I thought we would stop them, because we had a good defensive call, but we lucked out when they didn't give the ball to Barry," Vikings safety Harlon Barnett said. "He's one of the most dangerous players in the history of the NFL, and I don't think many people will disagree with me about that."
Embattled Lions coach Wayne Fontes said that Mitchell had the choice of calling a run or calling a pass on the play, based on what the defense showed him.
"On the 2-point play, it was a play we felt would work against them," Mitchell said. "It was a little option route to Johnnie that we put in new this week. It happened so quick. But I thought he was open when I threw it, and he ran the right route. But the defender made a great play."
After the big stop, Carter recovered Detroit's onside kick, and the Vikings ran out the clock with two first downs to pull even with Washington and Philadelphia in the NFC wild-card race. One of the three spots definitely will be filled by San Francisco or Carolina.
Johnson, who hasn't thrown an interception in 67 attempts, completed 19 of 29 passes for 195 yards against the Lions.
"Brad did a great job," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "He did everything that he could possibly do. He converted the third downs, and he hit open receivers."
Mitchell completed 21 of 31 attempts for 250 yards and two touchdowns. The electrifying Sanders, who moved up to No. 7 on the NFL's career rushing chart, picked up 134 yards on 20 carries. With 11,472 career yards, Sanders is just 16 yards shy of Kansas City's Marcus Allen, who plays Monday night against the Oakland Raiders.
The Vikings, mixing Johnson's passes with the running of Leroy Hoard, were flawless in the first half, scoring on their first three possessions. Hoard carried 17 times for 66 yards.
Johnson, who has started the Vikings' last five games, took advantage of Detroit's loose coverage, completing short passes underneath. As a result, the Vikings had drives of 65, 62 and 80 yards for a 17-10 halftime lead.
With their receivers almost always wide open, the Vikings converted eight of nine third-down situations during that span. In the process, Minnesota controlled the ball 20:20 of the first 30 minutes.
But the Lions' nearly dormant offense also started clicking. Sanders, who climbed past John Riggins on the NFL list, ripped off several long runs, opening some passing lanes for Mitchell. Detroit didn't punt in the first half, either.
Scott Sisson accounted for all the first-quarter scoring on a 31-yard field goal. Johnson tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Amp Lee and a 13-yarder to Jake Reed in the second quarter. The Lions answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Morton and a 30-yard field goal by Jason Hanson.
The defenses tightened on both sides in the second half.
Hanson, who was wide on a 48-yard attempt in the first quarter, hit one from that distance for the only scoring in the third quarter, cutting the Vikings lead to four points.
The Lions drove from their own 25 to the Vikings' 9, but the drive stalled and Hanson's 31-yarder cut the gap to 17-16 with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Vikings answered with a 66-yard, seven-play drive for what would prove to be the game-winner. Carter got behind Greg Jeffries in the end zone to grab Johnson's 30-yard touchdown strike.
The game drew only 46,043 fans to the Silverdome, a stadium that seats 80,368. There were 8,227 no-shows
Second Quarter
Minn--Lee 3 pass from Johnson (Sisson kick), 2:48. Drive: 11 plays, 62 yards, 5:47. Key plays: Hoard 10 run; Raymond 17 pass interference penalty offsetting Malone interception; Johnson 3 pass to Palmer on 3rd-and-1; Johnson 4 run on 3rd-and-1. Minnesota 10, Detroit 0.
Det--Morton 15 pass from Mitchell (Hanson kick), 6:00. Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards, 3:12. Key plays: Mitchell 22 pass to Moore; Mitchell 11 pass to Moore plus Barnett 15 unnecessary roughness penalty. Minnesota 10, Detroit 7.
Minn--Reed 13 pass from Johnson (Sisson kick), 12:33. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:33. Key plays: Johnson 15 pass to Carter on 3rd-and-5; Johnson 13 pass to Reed on 3rd-and-1. Minnesota 17, Detroit 7.
Det--FG Hanson 30, 14:44. Drive: 11 plays, 68 yards, 2:11. Key plays: Mitchell 11 pass to Moore; Mitchell 16 pass to Perriman; Mitchell 32 pass to Moore. Minnesota 17, Detroit 10.
Third Quarter
Det--FG Hanson 48, 13:44. Drive: 9 plays, 27 yards, 4:01. Key plays: Mitchell 13 pass to Morton; Mitchell 8 run on 4th-and-1. Minnesota 17, Detroit 13.
Fourth Quarter
Det--FG Hanson 31, 6:29. Drive: 12 plays, 62 yards, 6:17. Key plays: Mitchell 14 pass to Price; Mitchell 9 pass to Moore. Minnesota 17, Detroit 16.
Minn--Carter 30 pass from B.Johnson (Sisson kick), 10:04. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 3:35. Key plays: Palmer 32 kickoff return; B.Johnson 6 run on 3rd-and-2. Minnesota 24, Detroit 16.
Det--Sanders 2 run (pass failed), 12:26. Drive: 4 plays, 71 yards, 2:22. Key plays: Sanders 14 and 23 runs; Mitchell 32 pass to Morton to Vikings' 2. Minnesota 24, Detroit 22.
A--46,043. No-shows--8,227.
Minnesota 3 14 0 7--24
Detroit 0 10 3 9--22
Min Det
FIRST DOWNS 21 23
Rushing 7 9
Passing 13 13
Penalty 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFF 11-15 3-10
FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 289 380
Total Plays 62 57
Avg Gain 4.7 6.7
NET YARDS RUSHING 116 145
Rushes 31 23
Avg per rush 3.7 6.3
NET YARDS PASSING 173 235
Sacked-Yds lost 2-22 3-15
Gross-Yds passing 195 250
Completed-Att. 19-29 21-31
Had Intercepted 0 0
Yards-Pass Play 5.6 6.9
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 5-3-1 6-2-1
PUNTS-Avg. 3-43.3 2-39.0
Punts blocked 0 0
FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 106 132
Punts Returns 1-11 1-2
Kickoffs Returns 5-95 4-130
Interceptions 0-0 0-0
PENALTIES-Yds 2-20 7-56
FUMBLES-Lost 0-0 0-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 31:39 28:21
RUSHING--Minnesota, Hoard 17-66, Graham 4-19, B. Johnson 7-18, Lee 3-13. Detroit, Sanders 20-134, Mitchell 2-10, Rivers 1-1.
PASSING--Minnesota, Johnson 19-29-0-195. Detroit, Mitchell 21-31-0-250.
RECEIVING--Minnesota, Carter 7-83, Lee 3-33, Reed 3-32, Evans 2-11, Palmer 2-9, Hoard 1-18, Ismail 1-9. Detroit, Moore 9-126, Perriman 7-42, Morton 4-68, Price 1-14.
PUNT RETURNS--Minnesota, Palmer 1-11. Detroit, Milburn 1-2.
KICKOFF RETURNS--Minnesota, Palmer 2-60, Ismail 1-20, Ri. Brown 1-12, Carter 1-3. Detroit, Milburn 4-130.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS--Minnesota, Fuller 8-2-0, Barnett 6-2-1, D. Washington 7-0-0, Griffith 6-0-0, Brady 0-4-0, Smith 3-0-2, O. Thomas 3-0-0, Bercich 3-1-0, Randall 1-2-0, Harrison 1-1-0, Clemens 0-2-0, Garnett 1-0-0, Alexander 0-1-0, Morrow 1-0-0, Walsh 2-0-0. Detroit, London 1-6-0, McNeil 4-2-0, P. Johnson 3-3-0, Jeffries 5-0-0, Blades 3-2-0, Elliss 2-3-1, Porcher 3-1-1, Malone 2-2-0, Rice 3-0-0, K. Washington 3-0-0, Raymond 2-1-0, H. Thomas 1-2-0, Bonham 1-1-0, Re.Brown 1-1-0, Waldroup 0-2-0, Wells 0-1-0, Beer 2-0-0, Kowalkowski 2-0-0, Rivers 1-0-0, Schlesinger 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS--None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--Detroit, Hanson 48 (WR).
OFFICIALS--Referee Jerry Markbreit, Ump Chad Brown, HL Terry Gierke, LJ Bill Reynolds, BJ George Coleman, SJ Ron Liebsack, FJ Don Hakes.
Time: 2:48.
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