Lions @ Vikings

[Bullazin]

And look how balanced Detroit is in that metric. They are probably the most talented team in the NFL.

We need to take this home match and show them we are crown contenders.

[StickierBuns]

And look how balanced Detroit is in that metric. They are probably the most talented team in the NFL.

We need to take this home match and show them we are crown contenders.

Yes sir. Time to punch someone in the mouth and take a punch to the mouth.

[JimmyinSD]

Yes sir. Time to punch someone in the mouth and take a punch to the mouth.

Tis better to give, than to receive.

[purplefaithful]

This Vikings defense the Lions and QB Jared Goff will face? ‘Night and day’ different.

Pressuring Lions quarterback Jared Goff, which the Vikings haven’t been able to do successfully in the past two years, will be a key to Sunday’s outcome against Detroit.


Pressuring Goff is key to throwing off a red-hot Lions offense, which just demolished Dallas and former Vikings coach/Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer 47-9 last week.

The Vikings have struggled with the Lions under O’Connell, going 1-3. Goff has been sacked only twice across those four games, which include two under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell and two at the end of last season, the first under coordinator Brian Flores.

“They got a really good line,” Flores said. “He gets the ball out quick. Receivers get open quickly. There’s obviously a rhythm and a timing that they’ve built over a period of time.”

The Lions have only one loss, which came against the Buccaneers in Week 2 when Goff threw two interceptions under pressure. But Detroit and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who was a head coaching candidate last offseason, have kept Goff largely clean.

“He’s got a great scheme, which allows him to play calm and confident,” Van Ginkel said. “He’s getting the ball out quicker. He’s diagnosing plays and schemes and able to get it to playmakers. He’s able to dink and dunk, get the ball out and let them have yards after catch.”

But this year’s Vikings defense, allowing only 15.2 points per game, could make things different.

“I think it’s night and day different [from last year],” edge rusher Patrick Jones II said..

Disruption has been the name of the game.

Only the New York Giants (4.3) are averaging more sacks per game than the Vikings (four) this season, led by Jones with five, Jonathan Greenard with four and Van Ginkel with three. And only one team, the Green Bay Packers, has forced more takeaways than the Vikings’ 13 through five games.

Quantity and quality of talent is one change.

But another has been how that depth, particularly the new talent at cornerback, has allowed coaches to expand the playbook, deploying a wider variety of coverages that have kept quarterbacks thinking an extra second or two before throwing.

“We’ve really talked about getting more into the body and playing more man [coverage],” cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. said. “I really like that. Because now you’re giving offenses troubles with different looks and disguises. With the looks we’re giving them, we can drop into something else, which some teams haven’t seen.”

The Vikings defense even fooled Rodgers, who threw right to Van Ginkel during a zone blitz that led to Van Ginkel’s 63-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Jets.

The Vikings’ deception happens all over the field. Murphy pointed to a play on which the defense fooled Rodgers into thinking it was a two-high safety alignment, when safety Harrison Smith was really dropping into the middle of the field to take away Rodgers’ early reads. The play led to a hit on Rodgers by Greenard.
More coverage options lead to more possibilities for disguises.

More disguises lead to confused quarterbacks.

“Is it [Cover] 2? Is it 3? Is it 4? Is it 1?” Flores said. “Which one is it? I think the idea is to try to make the quarterback and the receivers figure it out, and if they’re trying to decipher it for an extra half a click that might be the difference between making a play or not making a play.”


Source: Startribune

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Few (if any) clubs can field a full squad by mid-October...

I liked our chances, but being down TJH and (most likely) A. Jones takes a bunch of balance and firepower off the field.

Depth will be tested this week. These guys are a really good football team, probably best in NFC right now. I'll crown the Vikings with that interim label if they find a way to win Sunday.

[DeepFreeze05]

[purplefaithful]

Ive heard very little of the national sports media picking the Vikings on this one...

I know its only 1 game, but the Lions are arguably the best team in the NFC right now.

Beating them is big from a standings perspective as well as bragging rights.

[Kentis]

It’s time for the Vikes to really assert that home field advantage…!!! The fans could play a key roll in this one. 

[hogjowlsjohnny]

Detroit is a superbowl caliber team. Should have been there last year if the boneheaded head coach hadn't gambled it away for them.
Never the less, I wouldn't discount the Vikings. They also have some injuries. But injuries aside, they are a complete team with a potent offense and a stifling defense.

I understand why Vikings fans are guarded about the possibility of a win. But if you are ever going to move ahead and win a championship, this year is the most promising in a long time.

The Lions are one hell of a good team. I see the Vikings beating them by 2 touchdowns.

[MaroonBells]

Dallas Turner showing up at the office rocking the Randle...

[FLVike]

KOC and Sam Darnold had the game in their hands and couldn't get it done. A first down basically ends the game. The Lions know you are going to run the ball. First and second down you run the ball but this is where you should go play-action. Third down they are expecting pass and you pass.
Totally predictable play calling at the end.