Lions sunk by terrible Hail Mary defense. Again.

DETROIT -- It’s difficult to imagine somebody trying to defend a Hail Mary any worse than the Lions did in a 2015 game against the Packers. But give them credit for trying.

Detroit had seven men in the end zone to defend Kirk Cousins' heave at the end of the first half Sunday against Minnesota. But none of them bothered to stand in front of tight end Kyle Rudolph, who caught the 44-bomb with astonishing ease. Suddenly, the Lions had gone from not allowing a first down until 4 minutes remained in the half, to trailing 14-9 heading into the locker room.

And they never recovered, as they allowed 27 unanswered points in a lousy 27-9 loss Sunday in their home finale.

“It sucked," cornerback Nevin Lawson said. "That’s a play we never want to give up, but kudos to them. They executed and we didn’t.”

You could say that again, although there wasn’t a soul in the Lions locker room who was willing to explain what exactly happened.

DeShawn Shead, who was boxed out by Rudolph on the play, left the locker room by the time it was opened to reporters. Glover Quin, who for some reason wasn’t even in the end zone when Rudolph caught the ball, had a staffer retrieve his clothes from his locker so he could reporters. Darius Slay, also positioned in front of the end zone, declined to offer any specifics about the play.

Safety Quandre Diggs declined to comment because he was on the other side of the field, but did say the play was inexcusable.

“Can never give up that play,” Diggs said. “I don’t care what the situation is, man, you can’t give a Hail Mary up. That just boosted their confidence. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do on that play.”

Coach Matt Patricia said the Lions lined up poorly, but declined to offer specifics.

“A couple things in there," Patricia said. "We just have to get a little bit better from an alignment standpoint, we have to get some of those guys in better position. Get the guy who caught the ball boxed out and get him out of there. So, a couple details there.”

Patricia chose to rush just three on the play, which gave Cousins time to let his receivers get downfield. He also had linebacker Jarrad Davis moving a spy in the middle of the field, which is a bit peculiar because there was nobody in that part of the field.

“They only rushed three and our offensive line did a nice job of holding on to those guys, and I moved around a little bit to kind of kill time,” Cousins said. "And then the other key for me is to make sure the ball lands in the end zone, and when you’re that far away, it’s hard to do. So I wanted it to land, you know, more than 2 yards in, and no more than about 8 yards in. So you got about a 6-yard window you want the ball to land. That was key for me. Put enough air on it so they can get underneath it, and then Kyle Rudolph showed why he’s an eighth-year NFL tight end who’s had a great career.

"Certainly was a big way to gain momentum going into the half after a slow start. And you know, they were calling it a Hail Rudy after it happened instead of a Hail Mary, so that was pretty good.”

The Vikings had great execution on the play, even though they rarely practice them and never actually throw the ball when they do.

“There are a lot of things that could happen (in practice),” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said. "I know one time, we had even a half-speed one, and one of our linebackers jumped up and sprained his knee. So, we don’t throw the ball. We just go through the mechanics, make sure you’re boxing out the right guy, make sure you have a guy over the top, make sure you have a guy behind, in front. Find the tippers and go through all that stuff.”

It sure seemed like the Vikings were ready for the play, while the Lions were not, even though they allowed a nearly identical play just three years ago. Aaron Rodgers lofted a Hail Mary to nearly the same spot on the field, and likewise found a tight end streaking for the end zone with nobody bothering to get in front of him.

That play ended the game with no time left, and mathematically eliminated the Lions from the playoff race. This one wasn’t nearly as dramatic, considering there was still a half to play and Detroit was bounced from the postseason hunt last week. Still, it stung for a club that was trying to go out on a high note at Ford Field, and instead was showered in boos as they allowed 27 unanswered points in yet another double-digit loss.

Lions players were reluctant to say the Hail Mary changed the game, but Cousins said it absolutely did.

“I think it had an impact in the sense that we started so slow," the former Michigan State quarterback said. “We’re going into the half down 9-7 if we don’t hit that, instead of 14-9, and we start with it in the second half. And that was impactful. And anytime you can get seven points, it has an impact on the game. So we felt like we stole one there.”