T.J. Hockenson Opens Up About Vikings' Performance Following Bears Defeat
The Minnesota Vikings came up short in a 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 11 at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 16, the latest in a stretch in which the offense has failed to reach 20 points in three of the past four games.
J.J. McCarthy had a rough afternoon, completing 16 of 32 passes for 150 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He did settle in late and connected with Jordan Addison for a go-ahead touchdown, but that push couldn’t offset the issues that had built up throughout the day.
After that touchdown, Chicago answered with a quick drive that set up the winning field goal. With the offense again unable to give enough support to the defense, tight end T.J. Hockenson gave an honest response regarding their struggles on that side of the football.
“I think you just go one play at a time,” Hockenson told reporters after the loss. “You can’t press because if you do in this league, that’s when bad things happen. That’s when you do things that our quarterback doesn’t know what you’re doing, and that’s when things become bad.
“I think we just have to take one play at a time, all 11 doing our jobs, and move forward from this. I mean, again, you lose the turnover at two to zero, it’s a tough game to win, and with a thin margin of error, that’s what it came down to, a thin margin of error.”
Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Looks to Step Up as a Leader
While Hockenson is preaching taking it one play at a time for the Vikings to snap out of their offensive funk, Justin Jefferson also stated that it’s on him to step up as a leader to help the group, especially McCarthy, in this time of adversity.
“Everybody feels like it’s difficult, it’s not something we’re keeping under the rug or anything,” Jefferson told reporters after the loss. “Yes, it’s difficult. But as a team, as a captain, as a leader of this team, I have to be the first one out there.
“I have to be the one leading us in the direction of winning and being where we need to be. So if that means taking J.J. out and getting more time with him and building that connection, then that’s what I have to do. I have to figure out what I need to do to get us over that hump.”
Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy Drawing Criticism
Much of the blame for the recent offensive issues is being directed at McCarthy following his past few performances. Former Seattle Seahawks standout Richard Sherman is the latest to weigh in on the Vikings quarterback.
“What would the Vikings offense look like if they decided to just keep Sam Darnold?” Sherman wrote during the Vikings-Bears game on X.
Moreover, Sherman followed up this take with ruthless post-game criticism of the Vikings’ starting quarterback,
“I’m old enough to remember the comments I got when I told folks I wasn’t sure if McCarthy was the answer and they let a good quarter fool them,”
Lions Get Bad News After Jared Goff’s Career Worst Game
The NFL is hitting two Minnesota Vikings players with punishments just hours before the team takes on the Detroit Lions.
The Detroit Lions have been a resilient team all season, but their latest loss may have sunk any hopes of repeating last season’s finish — and this time, a career-worst game from quarterback Jared Goff is to blame.
The Lions came into Sunday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a chance to climb into contention in the NFC North. But the offense struggled to get going in a 16-9 loss, one where Goff had the lowest completion percentage of his career and head coach Dan Campbell’s aggressive fourth-down calls blew up on the Lions.
The loss leaves the Lions in a big deficit in the NFC North and likely ended their hopes of repeating as the No. 1 overall seed in the conference.
Lions Must Regroup Once Again
The Lions did well to rebound from each of their first three losses this season, winning after each one and keeping alive their three-year streak of no back-to-back losses. But the loss to the Eagles on Sunday handed the Lions their fourth loss of the season and put them two games behind Philadelphia for the top spot in the conference.
The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy noted that Sunday’s loss will likely make it impossible for the Lions to finish atop the NFC like they did in 2024.
“The Lions are 6-4, third in the NFC North and on the outside looking in for the playoff race,” Pouncy wrote. “This is not where they were expected to be after 11 weeks. They just lost a measuring-stick game against a contender in their conference, and any lingering hope of securing a first-round bye is just about lost after this outing.”
Pouncy noted that the Lions still have time to get back in the hunt for the division crown, facing the hapless New York Giants next week followed by a rematch with the Green Bay Packers. But Pouncy suggested that the Lions look nothing like the dominant team that won the division in 2023 and 2024.
“You never quite know what to expect from this group on a week-to-week basis — something you haven’t been able to say about them since they turned the corner in 2023,” Pouncy wrote.
Jared Goff Looked Lost Against Eagles
Goff’s performance was one of the biggest factors in Sunday’s loss. The veteran quarterback struggled against the aggressive defense, completing a career-worst 37.8% of his passes, going 14-for-37.
Goff took two sacks and had several passes batted down, often leaving the Lions with long third downs. The Lions rarely converted from there, going 3-for-12 on third downs and 0-for-5 on fourth-down attempts.
The Lions suffered from some costly miscues outside of Goff’s poor performance. After wide receiver Jameson Williams caught a 40-yard touchdown tie the game at 6-all late in the first half, the receiver celebrated by jumping onto the goal post upright and drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Lions went on to miss the long extra point, losing out on a chance to take the lead.
Campbell also drew criticism for his repeated fourth-down calls, which were falling flat in the face of an aggressive Eagles defense.
