The Detroit Lions (3-4) are on the road this week to face the Minnesota Vikings (2-5), hoping to get their record back to .500 and avoid falling into the division cellar.
The Vikings are on a quest this week to extend their five-game winning steak against the Lions dating back to 2017. The Vikings have outscored the Lions 143-78 during that timeframe.
The Lions fell victim to their own blunders last week, losing to the Colts with untimely turnovers and penalties. Meanwhile, the Vikings are on Cloud 9 after clinching a 28-22 victory against the Green Bay Packers riding Dalvin Cook’s four-touchdown performance.
So far this season, experts have tended to veer the opposite way of the Lions in their matchups, and this week isn’t any different. According to NFL Pickwatch, 82-percent of experts are favoring the Vikings in this division battle, at the time of this writing.
The Vikings have been hit hard this season with the injury bug and this week isn’t any different. The latest is at their cornerback group with three already out for the game, with another considered questionable. Luckily for the Vikings, their offense, led by Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, and Adam Theilen, has been able to keep them competitive.
The Lions will also be without a few key players this week including starters Kenny Golladay, Trey Flowers, and Tracy Walker. While Matthew Stafford has been activated from the Reserve/COVID list, which bodes well for the Lions’ chances this week. The defense will have their hands full this week with Cook, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can continue their run defensive improvements or regress back.
The X-factor has to be Everson Griffen’s return to Minnesota. During his first interview as a Lion, he felt disrespected by Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer by just calling him a “good” player. With Flowers out, the Lions need Griffen to step up and after seeing the energy and passion I feel sorry for whoever gets in his way. (Sorry Riley Rieff).
Division games are always hard to predict because the players always come out with a little more fire. As long as the Lions have learned from their mistakes, play clean football, and here to the key concepts in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they should have a good shot to pull off the upset against their division foe.