Advertisement
For the first time this season, Williams saw less than maximum protection from the opposing offense, and he feasted on the opportunity.
Williams had four of the team's six sacks in a dominating effort that picked up the slack once again for a sluggish offense in Minnesota's 12-10 victory.
``They just tried to block us one-on-one,'' Williams said. ``Usually they try to block us max protect. They try to double team our entire front four, but they didn't. They just dropped back and made mistakes and if we see them do that, we are going to make them pay.''
First-time starter Dan Orlovsky was under heavy pressure all afternoon. It also led to a safety at the end of the first quarter, when Jared Allen burst through the line and then forced Orlovsky to forget where he was on the field and step out of bounds in the end zone for a safety.
Most teams keep as many blockers as possible to try to neutralize Minnesota's big, fast front. They also prefer three-step drops by the quarterback to throw quick passes and limit the line's ability to get pressure.
The Lions employed neither strategy, and it cost them dearly. Williams called it the best game of his career. He led the team with eight tackles. Allen and defensive back Chuck Gordon also had sacks.
``As of right now, it's up there,'' Williams said when asked about the top performances in his six seasons.
Pat Williams and Ray Edwards also played well, but it was Kevin Williams who stole the show.
``Kevin is over there stealing sacks from me,'' Allen said. ``I'm beating this guy like it's going out of style, and he's just beating them faster than I am. I'm going to start weighing down his shoes so maybe I can get there before he does.''
Kevin Williams said it was almost the perfect game. Almost.
``It does rank up there,'' he said. ``But if I could have had a touchdown today it would have topped the cake.''
PETERSON'S FUMBLES: Running back Adrian Peterson had a productive day on the ground with 111 yards rushing, but it was tarnished by two fumbles that nearly cost the team the game.
One came on the Detroit 7-yard line just as he was getting going toward the end zone. Afterward, he slammed his towel down in disgust on the sidelines.
``It was just poor ball security,'' Peterson said. ``That's not my game. Putting the ball on the turf, we can't have that.''
He also had a fumble in a loss to Tennessee two weeks ago, and coach Brad Childress said ``you just don't want to make it a trend.''
``It eats at me,'' Peterson said. ``I'm sitting there saying, 'I can't do this.' Especially in this type of game.''
KLUWE'S PERFORMANCE: Punter Chris Kluwe took plenty of heat during the week for not being able to kick the ball away from Saints return man Reggie Bush, but he performed well against the Lions.
Kluwe averaged 41.1 yards on eight punts, getting plenty of hang time on them to give his punt cover unit a good chance to get down the field and prevent the big return.
Only four punts were returned, and the Lions averaged just 6.3 yards per return.
``We needed to improve as a unit,'' Kluwe said after Bush returned two punts for touchdowns. ``We had some breakdowns as a unit. We just want to try and get better and hopefully not have it happen again.''
Childress said after the Saints game that if Kluwe couldn't punt the ball out of bounds, he would find someone who could. The Vikings then hosted four punters after practice on Wednesday, leading to plenty of questions for Kluwe about his job security.
``It was kind of exciting. I felt like a quarterback for a second,'' he joked. ``But yeah, hopefully I can slip back into the shadows and just go out and do my job every week and go from there.''
His first punt on Sunday was a 55-yard beauty that was downed on the Detroit 3-yard line. As he came to the sidelines, Childress sought out his punter and shook his hand.
``Yeah, it felt pretty good,'' Kluwe said. ``Anytime you have one that goes over 50 yards and bounces inside the 5, that's tough not to feel good about it.''
ROSTER MOVES? The NFL trading deadline comes on Tuesday, and Childress was asked if there are any moves in the works to bolster the team for remainder of the season.
Childress said he spoke to vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman after the game about any areas of need.
``The deficiencies, you know some of them and you try and clear up the ones you can,'' Childress said. ``But realistically, you have to have somebody to do business with to trade. There are just not a lot of player-for-player trade stock. People want picks and that type of thing.''
Asked if the team would be willing to part with a pick, he said, ``It depends on the situation. I'm not sure we've got any (offers) that warrant that right this second.''
