The Detroit Lions made a whole lot of mistakes and had a whole lot of bad breaks on Sunday. But they still managed to win.
In a weird game at Ford Field, the Vikings took an early lead while the Lions couldn’t get out of their own way. Among the early mistakes the Lions made:
-- Leaving the middle of the field wide open for Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who had an easy 78-yard touchdown run on his first carry.
-- Bobbling the snap on what should have been a chip-shot field goal, resulting in an impressive early drive yielding no points.
-- A completely unnecessary personal foul on Ndamukong Suh negated a pick-six by Detroit’s defense.
-- Lions cornerback Bill Bentley dropped an interception when he was in position for a pick-six.
The good news for the Lions was that after all those early mistakes, they trailed only 14-6. And once they stopped making all those mistakes, they dominated the rest of the game, winning 34-24.
New Lions running back Reggie Bush looks like the perfect fit in Detroit’s offense. Bush caught four passes for 101 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown on which he looked as fast as ever. Bush also gained 90 rushing yards.
Peterson wasn’t a factor after that initial touchdown, gaining just 15 yards on 17 carries the rest of the game. The Lions’ defensive tackles, Suh and Nick Fairley, both had very strong games -- other than Suh’s bonehead personal foul.
The biggest question facing the Lions going forward is whether they can avoid those mistakes. When they’re not shooting themselves in the foot, they’re an impressive football team. But they can’t afford to start every game shooting themselves in the foot, the way they did today.