10-19-2019, 01:21 AM
Quote: @MaroonBells said:I don't remember Rhodes getting beat by Alshon... the one deep sideline pass it was Trae Waynes. It was also Waynes that gave up the TD to Alshon.
As I mentioned in another thread, this game scares me. The Lions are a much better team than anyone thinks and they're playing at home. They're literally a bounce or two and a couple of bad calls from undefeated. And it's not like they've played a cake schedule like the Pats. I think this game will be tight and the winner will be the winner of the refs/mistakes/turnovers battle. And you can never predict that.
What I don't like:
• Darius Slay. He's likely going to shadow the Vikings #1 receiver. But who is that? Thielen or Diggs? It'll be interesting to find out because that receiver likely won't get much.
• Kenny Golladay. In the past, we could always count on Rhodes to shut down the big WR1. But he was beaten an alarming amount of times by Alshon Jeffery. Golladay is a younger, faster version of AJ. Is Rhodes a target now?
• Snacks v. Bradbury. Lions run defense hadn't been very good statistically, but I think the fact they played both Kyler Murray and Patrick Mahomes factors into that. Snacks is still one of the best run stoppers in the NFL.
What I like:
• Vikings are a better team than the Lions, who don't have any particular weapon that should scare anyone. Lions are middle of the road everywhere. Statistically, in terms of roster talent, pretty much everything. At the top of our game, there aren't many teams in the NFL who should beat us.
• Outside zone. Again, Snacks is a monster, so you have to run outside and get Snacks running sideways. But we do that very well. I expect a good game from both Cook and Mattison.
Read on Twitter some Viking fan bemoaning the loss of Mahomes, saying that the Chiefs would have been our "barometer game." No, THIS is our barometer game. I think we matchup well against the Chiefs. And we'll kill the Redskins in Mpls. So winning this game will be huge, especially if we do it in a convincing fashion. I'll just take the win.
Vikings 24
Lions 20
They got a couple WR screens to him when Rhodes was in coverage, but I don't remember any popping for long gains... and you can't really blame Rhodes for those. It wasn't a 1-1 situation.
I think you are right on most of your keys though... they need to get pressure on Stafford so he can't let deep passes rip to Golladay and Jones. On offense, you're exactly right... pound that outside zone to keep Snacks moving laterally.
Move Thielen and Diggs around to get them off Slay and attack the rest of the Lions secondary.
I think the Vikings win this one convincingly...
30-13.
