The 7-5 Lions take to the field this afternoon and play a 2-10 Minnesota Vikings team in what has essentially become a must win game for Detroit if they plan on making the postseason this year.
Detroit is 1-3 since their bye week and are coming off an embarrassing national television loss to the New Orleans Saints where they continued to show they’re still a dirty, undisciplined team that ends up beating themselves more than anyone.
Minnesota has had a tough year in which they’ve seen their first round draft pick Christian Ponder jettison into the starting quarterback role after Donovan McNabb simply wasn’t productive enough. The Vikings are also coming off a heartbreaking 35-32 loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in which they lost in the final seconds of the game when Matt Prater was able to nail a 23 yard field goal. This field goal came as a result of an Andre Goodman interception of Christian Ponder within Minnesota Vikings territory.
The Vikings now look to play spoiler to a Lions team that is still very hopeful of making their first postseason appearance in over a decade.
Minnesota Vikings Player to Watch: Jared Allen, DE
Minnesota’s Jared Allen made some pretty disparaging comments about the city of Detroit this past week and I’m sure the Lions will like to make the colorful Vikings defensive end eat his own words.
The trouble however is Allen is very capable of backing up his words with his play on the field.
Allen has 14.5 sacks this season which includes two sacks and five tackles in week 3 when the Lions were able to edge out a 26-23 victory over the Vikings in OT.
Allen knows that if he can generate enough pressure on Matthew Stafford he can get him rattled. The offensive line is going to have their hands full today.
Detroit Lions Player to Watch: Calvin Johnson, WR
After starting out the season red-hot, Calvin Johnson has been relatively quiet recently.
However the Lions are facing a banged up Vikings secondary which could result in a big day for one of the leagues best wide-outs.
Minnesota’s secondary has allowed 252 yards this season which is tied for 26th in the league. Johnson on the other hand is still second in TDs (12) and tied for second in yards (1,092).
Avoid the costly penalties
Probably the two most frustrating things that have happened the past couple weeks is the Lions have taken themselves out of games by committing stupid and costly penalties at the most opportune times. Last weekend they also continued show that they are completely undisciplined which is even more frustrating given defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh’s two-game suspension by the league.
It really doesn’t matter how bad or how good the opposing teams are, if the Lions continue to take bone-headed penalties they will not win.
Pressure Christian Ponder
If he plays, Christian Ponder should be a very big target for the Lions’ pass rush. So far this season Ponder has nine touchdowns and eight interceptions including that costly won last weekend which diminished any hopes of the Vikings getting their third win of the season.
Even without Ndamukong Suh this weekend the Lions have enough depth to put plenty of pressure on the young quarterback who has also been sacked 21 times this year.
Every receiver must get involved
Remember when the Lions brought in Nate Burlesson and used high draft picks on Brandon Pettigrew and Titus Young to help take coverage off Calvin Johnson and provide Matthew Stafford with multiple targets in the pocket? Last weekend the New Orleans Saints’ so-so defense shut down Megatron with double coverage simply because the other Lions receivers weren’t nearly as effective as they could be.
This week that has got to change.
Injury Report
Detroit Lions
Out: Lawrence Jackson (thigh)
Doubtful: Louis Delmas (knee), Chris Houston (knee)
Questionable: Justin Durant (hamstring), Nick Fairley (foot), Kevin Smith (ankle)
Probable: Rob Sims (shoulder), Willie Young (ankle)
Suspended: Ndamukong Suh
Minnesota Vikings
Out: Chris Cook (non-injury related)
Doubtful: None
Questionable: Adrian Peterson (ankle), Christian Ponder (hip)
Probable: Steve Hutchinson (Illness), Brian Robison (concussion), Asher Allen (shoulder), Chad Greenway (elbow), Everson Griffen (quadricep), Visanthe Shiancoe (hand), E.J. Henderson (shoulder), Anthony Herrera (knee), Percy Harvin (finger)
Predictions
Any hopes the Lions have at making the postseason starts today. A win keeps those very real hopes alive while a loss will make for some very interesting sports talk radio in the Detroit area on Monday. Simply put the Lions have no real good excuses this week. Matthew Stafford is relatively healthy, his wide-outs are in tact, they’re playing at home and facing a Vikings team who is ranked almost dead last (31st) in scoring defense.
Lions win 27-17
Ref: Mlive.com, Detroit News, Getty (image)
