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Head Coach Jim Schwartz wasn’t interested in moral victories after Detroit’s 27-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field.

The Lions had built up a 10-0 lead to begin the game before surrendering a late first-half touchdown to Brett Favre and the Vikings’ offense. Still, Detroit held a slim 10-7 lead and was set to get the ball back to begin the second half.

“We had battled pretty good and were in good position to come out in the second half,” said Schwartz.

In the first half, the Lions put together 150 yards of total offense – 94 rushing and 56 receiving – and had gotten to Favre twice for 10 lost yards. The offense had been efficient, averaging almost 4.0 yards per carry, and the defense was solid.

The tides turned at the outset of the second half, though.

“(We) started off with a poor kickoff return, three plays and out, losing yardage on offense, defense goes out and allows a score and then offense comes back, fumbles and we give up another score and it’s a 10-point turnaround right at the beginning of the second half,” said Schwartz.

The rest of the game played out from there.

The Vikings’ defense adjusted to Detroit’s deficit and the offense began to struggle.

“I think they had some confidence,” said quarterback Matthew Stafford after the game. “That first drive when they got us to go three-and-out, I don’t think we had gone three-and-out the whole game. We were moving the ball well in the first half and putting points on the board and they did a good job playing defense.”

Once a good team like the Vikings gets momentum, it’s hard to take back control.

The Lions fought to get back in the game, but turnovers were costly. Running back Kevin Smith’s fumble near the beginning of the first quarter led to an Adrian Peterson touchdown and an interception midway through the fourth quarter sealed the victory for the Vikings, putting them up by three scores.

“Everybody went out there to win,” said Smith. “We have warriors on this team, but I can’t fumble the ball. We have to stick with what we were doing in the first half, you know, stopping the run and running the ball effectively. We went out there and gave a good effort. It’s not good enough.

“We lost the game but we’re going to come back Monday and work hard. We want to win. We are not going out there and lay down and saying the Vikings are going to win. They were better than us today and that’s how I see it.”

DEVELOPING A WINNING MENTALITY
Schwartz has been around winning football teams in his coaching tenure.

When asked following Sunday’s loss if the Lions held a different mentality with a 10-0 lead than other teams he has been around in the past, he said, “I think winning becomes a habit.

“There’s been plenty of situations that good teams have been in the past (where) they drop down 10-0, they come over the sideline and they said, ‘Hey, settle down, we’re going to be okay.’ There’s a confidence that winning breeds and we need to get to that point.”

Particularly after the tough season Detroit had last year, developing that winning confidence may unfortunately take time.

“We’re coming from the bottom,” said kicker Jason Hanson. “So, while I wasn’t expecting to lose both these games, that happens when you make mistakes against these teams that are pretty good. It’s disheartening to keep losing, but at the same time we are doing some things better.

“It’s a different attitude and everything, but we’ve got to fight right now before this starts to snowball. Media and fans, rightfully, are going to be like ‘oh here we go…’ We’ve got to cut that right now and do whatever it takes to win.”