Much has changed since the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings met in Week 3. Since starting the season 1-6, the Lions have won four of their last five games, including a 40-14 blowout victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
It’s been a while since these teams played meaningful football in December, but the Vikings have the opportunity to clinch the NFC North with a win, and the Lions are fighting with all they have to sneak into the playoffs. Those stakes should heat up a rivalry that has been tepid at best over the past decade or more.
Fans have plenty to look forward to in what should be an exciting and emotional game. Here are three things that the Lions bring to the table.
Two-Headed Rushing Attack
The Lions have struggled to consistently produce on the ground since Barry Sanders retired in 1998, but they seem to have finally solved that problem. Detroit is one of the better rushing teams in the league, ranking 10th in yards with 127 per game.
The Lions split their carries between D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams. Despite being hampered by an ankle injury for much of the season, Swift is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. Williams leads all players in touchdowns with 14.
Williams is particularly effective inside the five-yard line; 11 of his scores come from that range. He is their gameplan when the Lions are in a goal-to-go situation, leading the league in red-zone carries with 43. On the other hand, Swift contributes more in the passing game, recording 235 yards in nine games played. Swift is a big-play threat anytime and is a great counterpart to Williams’ bruising style.
The Vikings have been decent against the run, and getting Dalvin Tomlinson back last week was huge. But despite Detroit’s sturdy running game, there might be an even bigger threat on the offense.
Jared Goff At Home
If you look at Goff’s season-long stats, he’s been fairly average. He’s thrown for 251.8 yards per game, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. However, if you look at Goff’s home-road splits, it becomes evident how much better he plays in Detroit. In seven home games, Goff has averaged 269.6 yards per game and has 17 touchdowns to only three interceptions. That’s a 17-game pace of 4,583 yards, 41 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
In other words, Goff plays like an MVP on Ford Field.
This presents a significant problem for the much-maligned Minnesota pass defense, which remained in last place in pass yardage allowed after giving up 369 yards to Mike White and the New York Jets. Camryn Dantzler was Minnesota’s Week 1 starter opposite Patrick Peterson and returned from IR this week. He’s expected to play on Sunday, which should relieve a struggling secondary. Still, one man cannot completely turn around a last-place unit. The way Goff has been playing, the Vikings will need to brace themselves for a lethal passing attack in Detroit.
Goff’s dominance has not necessarily resulted in wins for Detroit, though. The Lions are 3-4 at home, likely due to the other side of the ball.
Defensive Woes
The Lions are the only league team allowing more yards than Minnesota right now. Despite their yards allowed, the Vikings are relatively middle of the pack in points allowed, ranking 11th with 23.3 per game.
The same cannot be said about Detroit. The Lions pair their 32nd rank in yards allowed with their 32nd rank in points allowed, with 27 points ceded per contest. Detroit has been completely unable to stop their opponents inside the 20, giving up the second-most touchdowns in the red zone with 30, including 14 on the ground.
The Lions also give the Vikings a much-needed break from elite pass-rushing units. Detroit ranks 30th in sacks (30) and 29th in pressure rate (20.5). Given that they drafted Aidan Hutchinson with the second-overall pick in this year’s draft, the Lions hoped they had mitigated their pass-rush issues.
Hutchinson leads the Lions with six sacks, meaning that no one on Detroit’s defense is on pace for double-digit sacks. That should greatly help the Vikings, as Kirk Cousins will finally have time to sit back and pick apart the Lions’ secondary.
