Lions Win as the Vikings Fall Flat, 41-21 : Three Early Minnesota Turnovers Help Detroit to 31-Point Blitz

Minnesota Coach Bud Grant knew he was in trouble when he didn’t see any fire in the Vikings’ eyes during pregame warm-ups.

But not even Grant could foresee just how flat the Vikings would be against the Detroit Lions Sunday.

Detroit took advantage of three early Minnesota turnovers with the sharp passing of Eric Hipple to blitz the Vikings with 31 first-half points as the Lions breezed to a 41-21 victory.

“I didn’t think either team was gung-ho,” Grant said. “When you see that, you wonder what’s going to happen.”

But Detroit Coach Darryl Rogers saw things differently.

“I think our team was ready to play,” he said. “They may not have been bouncing around ‘wahoo and yippee,’ but I don’t think that’s particularly the way to get ready to play anyway.”

The victory gave the Lions sole possession of second place in the NFC Central Division behind the undefeated Chicago Bears and avenged a 16-13 last-second defeat in Minneapolis two weeks ago.

Detroit is 6-5 and a perfect 5-0 at home, while the Vikings, who had five turnovers in the game, fell to 5-6.

The Vikings turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions--two fumbles and an interception--and the Lions converted all three into touchdowns. A fourth-quarter interception resulted in a Detroit field goal.

“The three touchdowns gave them impetus,” Grant said. “We gave them that and they jumped on it.

“I guess we have to win 5 of 5 now. There’s not much else we can do.”

Grant said he felt the Vikings may have been drained from a number of tough games recently.

“We played a big game against Green Bay last week,” he said. “It drained us a little. It’s hard to go out and maintain the same pitch game after game. We haven’t had a breather.

“Detroit, now, has had a breather. They didn’t use up a lot of emotion after the three quick touchdowns.”

The Lions kept the pressure on, however, and also kept the ball away from the Vikings. Detroit had the ball 40:49, while Minnesota had it only 19:11.

“I think we were ready to play,” Hipple said. “We were fired up. The whole game keyed on us keeping their defense on their heels. We caught them off guard.”

Hipple completed 14 of 20 passes for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns.