Adrian Peterson is back, Teddy Bridgewater is good and the Vikings are a better team than they showed in Week One.
Those are the conclusions after the Vikings put a beating on the Lions today in Minnesota.
Another possible conclusion: Maybe the Lions just stink.
Bridgewater completed 14 of 18 passes for 153 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions, and looked poised and in control -- quite a bit different than he looked in the Vikings’ Week One loss to the 49ers. Peterson added 134 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards, making a big statement that he’s back. The one concern the Vikings may have about Peterson is his fumbling: Peterson lost the ball three times, though he recovered one of his own fumbles and got bailed out by a Lions penalty on another, so it could have been worse.
The Lions’ offensive line didn’t give Stafford a lot of time to pass, and couldn’t open any holes for the running backs. Both Ameer Abdullah and Joique Bell were repeatedly hit behind the line of scrimmage, including on a desperation two-point conversion attempt after the Lions scored to cut the deficit to 26-16 with less than two minutes left: On that play, Bell had absolutely nowhere to go, and the Vikings won by that 26-16 margin.
That’s a good description of the Lions’ offense for much of this game. Detroit fell to 0-2, and the Lions -- a surprise playoff team last year -- look like a mess.
But the 1-1 Vikings look like they may be able to get something going. This was a big win.