No Kitna, still O'Sullivan - Detroit Lions 3rd quarter thoughts

Lions with the ball to start the 2nd half. O'Sullivan gets off to an inauspicious start, by hitting a Viking linebacker right in the hands with his 1st pass. Good thing it was a linebacker, as he dropped a sure pick.

On 3rd and long, O'Sullivan throws a home run ball deep down the middle for Calvin Johnson, and it's picked by Sharper! O'Sullivan is no Kitna, to say the very least. Well, it worked like a decent punt...

And Jackson gives it right back, a floater down the middle of the field is picked by the rookie defensive back, Gerald Alexander! He takes it into Vikings territory! Credit that pick to Dewayne White, thanks to HEAVY pressure he put on Jackson.

But after a run for no gain, and a sack, it's 3rd and long for the Lions... O'Sullivan throws it deep downfield! To no one... Shit! Whoa.. Not so fast! Roughing the passer on the Vikings, the Lions get ANOTHER break!

Now the Lions have another 3rd and long. Bell breaks an ankle tackle on a swing pass, and converts a 1st down! Nice play by Bell...

Red zone time, can O'Sullivan convert? It's Megatron Johnson on the fade, he pushes off, jump ball...Touchdown Lions! It's like watching Herman Moore all over again, Johnson is going to be money on the fade pattern... After the kick, it's 17-7 Leos.

It's Allison with the 60 yard kickoff return, and the Vikings are back in Detroit territory, just like that. Kickoff coverage has been sorely lacking by the Lions up to this point.

The Lions D stiffens, and it's 3rd and long from the Lions 40 for the bad guys. Bah! 1st down on a 11 yard pass.

And here come the stupid penalties, Boss Bailey with a 15 yard face mask. Christ, Vikes are on the 15! OOOOH, Sims blows up Peterson on 1st down! Then they sniff out the Vikings end around, and stuff it for a big loss. Another 3rd and long coming up...

A dump off pass is well short of the 1st down marker, so the Vikings settle for a chip shot field goal. It's now 17-10, Lions, just under 6 minutes left in the 3rd.

Ugh, lousy return from Calhoun, Lions start at their own 11. I have a bad feeling about this...

And my feeling was right on the money. The Vikings blow through the line, hit O'Sullivan before he can hand off, a fumble ensues, and the Vikings' Ray Edwards walks the ball in for an easy TD. O'Sullivan didn't have a chance, but it would have been nice if he could hold on to the fucking ball! What is it with Lions' QB's, and putting the ball on the turf?

Tie game, folks... Has the Lions implosion begun?

Amazingly, O'Sullivan has driven the Lions to midfield, much in thanks to a couple of Bell runs. Vikings are having success rattling O'Sullivan with blitzes... But it's Roy Williams to the recuse, catching a short hook, breaking a D-back's ankles with a juke, and taking it to the 30!

ARRGH! O'Sullivan has little pocket presence. Rather than roll out, he steps up in the pocket, and right into a sack! The next play is for Williams deep down the sideline, the safety suckers him in, and makes the pick while going out of bounds at the Vikes 3!

And we have another Marinelli challenge, did Smith get a body part down before rolling out of bounds? I can tell you right now, Marinelli is going to lose the challenge, as it's too close to call. Too close to change the call on the field, to be sure.

Here's the ref, and Marinelli loses the challenge, and is now out of them. Why do I have a feeling this is going to haunt the Lions later on?

The 3rd quarter ends with the Vikings facing a 3rd and short deep in their own territory.

For what it's worth, Detroit still has a massive pass/run yardage differential, 271 to 20. I expect more of the same in the 4th...