For the Christmas Day game against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings didn’t have much to play for, as the team was out of playoff contention. However, as the saying goes, misery loves company.
The Lions were playing to keep their playoff hopes alive, but even though the Vikings are out of the postseason picture, they wanted to take Detroit down with them.
After the win over the Lions, Vikings star Justin Jefferson revealed that one of the team’s motivating factors was playing the role of the Grinch and eliminating Detroit’s playoff hopes.
“It feels great,” Jefferson said on December 25 about the Vikings beating the Lions. “I wish we [had] started [like this] earlier on in the season. But it just feels good, really, just to see this team continue to fight to continue to strive for better.
“And of course, just like I said, we’re not in the dance, but to eliminate one of our division opponents out of the playoffs as well, that’s definitely something that we were trying to do.”
Justin Jefferson Gets Honest About Vikings’ Defense
Moreover, Jefferson gave the defense its love for how they have been playing during the Vikings’ win streak. Nonetheless, he noted that the Minnesota offense needs to score more points off these turnovers.
“We definitely [have] to do better at turning those into points and scoring off of those turnovers,” Jefferson said. “But they’re playing lights out, and they’ve been playing lights out all year. It just all has to come together. Our offense has got to do a better job of helping them out. This game shouldn’t have been anywhere near as close as it was. We just [have] to do better, and that’s something we’ve been working on this whole year.”
Jared Goff Talks Vikings Defensive Performance
Minnesota’s defense dominated Detroit, forcing six turnovers with two interceptions and four fumble recoveries. They also sacked Jared Goff five times while limiting the Lions to just 3.6 yards per play. The win marked the Vikings’ fourth straight victory as they aim to finish the 2025 NFL season strong.
After losing to Minnesota on December 25, Goff spoke to the media and noted what the Vikings did well on defense to frustrate them.
“They did a good job on defense, had a good plan, and exploited some things on us,” Goff said. “They were able to get after us, adding an extra rusher a lot of times. Whenever that happens, it’s a free rusher. They did a good job with that. We had a plan that we thought would attack that, and it didn’t work well enough.
“… We had some good third-down conversions. They came out in the second half and adjusted pretty well and had some different stuff for us. We didn’t do a good enough job on our side of adjusting to those different things that they were doing.”
Minnesota’s defense has been key to keeping the team on a high note as it closes out the season. The unit aims to maintain that momentum in the final game of the 2025 NFL season against the Green Bay Packers, as the Vikings chase a fifth straight win to cap the campaign.
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