Y'all feeling bullish about Detroit?

If we let Stafford and Golladay have a big day, it could be a tough game.  I respect Kerryon, but I can't imagine our run D will let him be a major factor.  If we can handle the Eagles, we should handle the Lions.

I think it will be a typical, low scoring vikes/lions game. I believe we will pull it out in the end 17-13

@"Ralphie" said:  If we can handle the Eagles, we should handle the Lions.

If only the NFL was that logical...

I'm starting to get more bullish on the team as they may be finding some identity on offense. But the Eagles were a home game too. 

3 of the next 4 on the road...

if nothing else, recent history should show us not to overlook the lions.    I always pencil in a W when playing the lions,  I say pencil because I sure as hell wouldnt use ink until the clock is on 0:00 after the final snap of the game... even then I am not sure,  this team has been like kryptonite.

After the hose job the refs gave the Lions, I'm anticipating they will get every call the following week....Just so happens..WE...are the following week.

you do realize if the Refs hose us they will look even worse.  If the mighty Green Bay Packers can have egg on their face for Home Cooking the lowly Detroit Lions can not offset any bad PR the league might get if they home cooked for them.

My heart says "We're going to kick the crap out of those DeToilet Lions", but my head says "Not so fast there".  Sure we've won two nice ones in a row, but I'm still not trusting this team.  Man, do I want to though.
I think the Lions are going to be at their best after getting "Lambeau-ed" on Monday.  I don't feel the Vikes are for real yet.  Winning in Detroit on Sunday might push my chips "all in" though.

@"mjollnir_k" said: you do realize if the Refs hose us they will look even worse.  If the mighty Green Bay Packers can have egg on their face for Home Cooking the lowly Detroit Lions can not offset any bad PR the league might get if they home cooked for them.

They don't care how they look. They are going to continue to look the other way. Notice how many talking heads blamed Detroit for not capitalizing on opportunities. No accountability whatsoever.

@"Vanguard83" said: After the hose job the refs gave the Lions, I'm anticipating they will get every call the following week....Just so happens..WE...are the following week.

This is how I feel.  I think we'll have to play an exceptional game to win as the refs will be trying to make amends.

They handled them pretty easily both times last year, but one never knows.  Remember the last game in December was the only monster 100 yard game Rudolph has had in about four years.  I wouldn't expect that again from him...  The Lions often play pretty decent early in the season like they have been so always hard to judge.

It seems like most of the time when they do lose to Detroit it's due to unusual plays, an overabundance of terrible plays or pure bad luck at some point in the game: 
2017 (7-14) - three lost fumbles and a missed fg
2016 (16-22 OT) - blocked fg in regulation
2016 (13-16) - interception with just over a minute left led to Lions game winning fg
2014 (3-17) - three interceptions and eight sacks allowed
2014 (14-16) - two interceptions and three missed fgs
etc.

Even in games the Vikings played well enough and won there's often some goofy stuff.  Remember, Thanksgiving two years ago the Lions blocked one fg and then at the end of the game they blocked another and ran it for what looked like a game winning td.  Luckily they were offsides... but it was almost disastrous.

They need to just play mistake-free football and hope those uncommon incidents don't happen like return tds and blocked kicks.  That AND the refs don't try to make up for the Lions "loss" on Monday. ;) I'm expecting a pretty close game. 

 

I was looking at what they did against GB.  Couldn't really run the ball, and their run defense with the exception of Harrison in the middle is rather suspect.  So I think we can control this game, take some shots and with a lead, put pressure on Stafford.

Interestingly, after this game we will have finished all the road games against our division. Better come out 1-2 for these games after Sunday. If we do, i like our chances of taking the next three division games AT HOME!! Just get this done Sunday, and Ill feel good about a 4-2 division record to finish our division series for 2019. 

@"Vanguard83" said: After the hose job the refs gave the Lions, I'm anticipating they will get every call the following week....Just so happens..WE...are the following week.

That way the NFL can help Green Bay out, yet again!  I wish I was only joking... but I'm starting to believe some of the conspiracy stuff.  Maybe I missed it while I was attending my tin-foil hat convention... but has the NFL in New York EVER stepped in- in any other NFL game this year- to throw a flag, when there was none thrown on the field... and no one asked them to?  That little doozy- basically- cost the Vikings the game vs. Green Bay.  With a TD instead of a FG, Cousins probably doesn't make his idiotic INT... and we're able to run the clock down and kick the game-winning FG (just like GB did on Monday night).  Instead, down by 4, we're forced to go for the TD... and we all know what happened after that.

I'm feeling confident heading into Detroit.  I think the Vikings can win this game and Dalvin will be a big part of it.  We just need to get pressure on Stafford and not let him take shots downfield to Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay.

This game has me really nervous.  I know, on paper the Vikes are the better team but does that really matter when it comes to the Vikings?  How times have we all seen them start to build momentum just to fall flat on their purple faces.  I do think the Vikes can win this but not that confident.

@"purplefaithful" said: I think this is going to be a difficult game, in spite of The Lions ranking vs the run.

Kitties are a paltry +1.5 in Vegas right now. 

Patriots? -10 against the lowly Jets 

I'm going to be in Vegas from Saturday until Tuesday, baby!! Laying some NFL parlays on Sunday morning!

I have a really hard time believing that we could fall to 0-3 in the division...

Jones has given Rhodes some problems. Golladay is the kind of guy that can get behind Waynes a time or two. And damned if Stafford doesn't seem to scramble out of the pocket for crucial 1st Downs when the D-Line gets out of their lanes.

I sincerely hope Zimmer has a plan coming into the game like he did vs. the Eagles and makes the Lions adjust. They've been able to do the things I mentioned pretty consistently against his Defenses.

OR the Offense comes out blazing again and forces the Lions to abandon the run to play catch up. I'd like to believe it.

My guess is Mike comes out vanilla and the Offense still needs more time to incubate before they can really click in the road against a decent team. Should be a close one.

I don't trust the Vikings coaching staff to have a competent game plan for 2 consecutive weeks, especially when the second week is on the road.
What bugs me the most about this team is that I can't place any confidence in the staff

@"JimmyinSD" said:   I say pencil because I sure as hell wouldnt use ink until the clock is on 0:00 after the final snap of the game... 

If you remember the 2016 home game vs. Detroit... I was there as the Vikings shot their feet toeless for 59 minutes, then finally went up 16-13 with 23 seconds left.  I turned to a friend and said "They still have 23 seconds to f%&# this up." With no timeouts, Detroit gets from their 25 to the Viking 40, hits a 58-yard FG to tie, gets the ball to start OT, and goes right down the field for a TD to win it. 

The only sure thing in a Vikings/Lions game is that stuff is going to get weird.