Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford completed eight straight passes to start Thursday’s game, then fell on hard times. Stafford finished just 23 of 40 for 232 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers, and seemed out of synch with his receivers on several throws. He did drive the Lions for a late field goal on a possession that started inside the 2-yard line, and he ran for 30 yards and converted two third-and-longs with his feet. Grade: C-plus

Running backs

The Lions didn’t run the ball enough – just 15 times on designed running plays – but once again their backs didn’t give them much reason to feature the ground game. Dwayne Washington had five carries for 19 yards and missed a blitz pickup on a fourth-quarter sack. Theo Riddick finished with nine carries for 45 yards, but wasn’t much of a factor in the pass game (five catches, 13 yards). Grade: C-minus

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Wide receivers/tight ends

Andre Roberts had a mental lapse when he pulled up on a catch late in the first half as if he was going to make a move upfield. When Xavier Rhodes pushed him out of bounds, officials kept the clock running, which helped keep the Lions from scoring on the drive. Roberts also turned the wrong way (or Stafford threw to his wrong shoulder) on a potential big-gainer in the second quarter. Golden Tate appeared to make a nice route adjustment to get to the sideline on his 41-yard catch that set up Matt Prater’s second-quarter field goal and Anquan Boldin had seven catches for 69 yards and made a nice block early to spring Riddick for a 12-yard run, but Eric Ebron did not catch a pass. Grade: C-minus

Offensive line

The Lions gave up eight quarterback hits and two sacks against one of the NFL’s best defenses. Larry Warford made a good block to spring Riddick for an early 12-yard gain, but he didn’t trade off his pass-rusher in time to pick up Anthony Barr on his third quarter sack. Sixth offensive lineman Corey Robinson missed a block when Zach Zenner was stopped on fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter. And while Taylor Decker played well at left tackle, Graham Glasgow was benched for a large chunk of the game in favor of Laken Tomlinson. Grade: C-minus

Defensive line

The Vikings did their best to get the ball out of Sam Bradford’s hands quickly, but it still was disappointing to see the Lions go sack-less for a second straight game. Ziggy Ansah nearly got his first of the year when he beat T.J. Clemmings, but Bradford’s fumble was ruled an incomplete pass on replay. Haloti Ngata (on a fourth-and-2 play) and A’Shawn Robinson had big tipped passes at the line of scrimmage. Stefan Charles got turned sideways on Matt Asiata’s 5-yard touchdown run, and the Vikings averaged 5.1 yards per carry for the game. Grade: B-plus

Linebackers

Tahir Whitehead and the rest of the Lions’ linebackers have taken a lot of heat for their play this year, but both he and Josh Bynes had nice games Thursday. Bynes timed a handoff perfectly to throw Jerick McKinnon for a 4-yard loss on Minnesota’s second offensive series, and Whitehead chased Matt Asiata down in the left flat short of the first-down marker to get off the field on the next play. Whitehead also made a good play to stop Cordarrelle Patterson for a 4-yard loss on a bubble screen, and Bynes had a key third-down stop in the fourth quarter. Grade: A-minus

Defensive backs

Darius Slay had the biggest play of the game Thursday when he jumped a Bradford pass intended for Adam Thielen for an interception. Slay was called for a questionable pass interference penalty early that negated a Minnesota turnover, and Nevin Lawson had a defensive holding penalty that gave the Vikings a first down. Tavon Wilson had an active first series with four tackles, but he got dragged the final few yards on Matt Asiata’s 5-yard touchdown run. And Miles Killebrew made big third-down stop on Asiata to hold Vikings to field goal. Bradford completed 31 of 37 passes, but much of that was a product of the quick passing game. Grade: A-minus

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Special teams

Matt Prater made his fourth game-winning field goal of the year, a 40-yarder as time expired. Prater made three kicks overall Thursday, while Sam Martin netted 42 yards per punt on not his best day kicking. The Lions lost the field position battle to the Vikings, but neither team got much out of its return units. Antwione Williams did have a holding penalty on a fourth-quarter punt. Grade: B-plus

Coaching

Jim Caldwell used his two challenges early in Thursday’s game. He was right to ask for a review on a second-quarter pass interference penalty on Tahir Whitehead, when A’Shawn Robinson tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. But Caldwell took an unnecessary risk when he challenged the spot on Zenner’s failed fourth-down run. It’s rare that spot challenges succeed. Jim Bob Cooter’s offense didn’t do much for the second straight week, though the Lions came out more ready to play than they did last week. The Vikings aren’t very good on offense, but Teryl Austin defense continues to make timely plays. Grade: B

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!