VIKES @ LIONS

It's the Minnesota defense against the Detroit offense. The Vikings defense is allowing just over 12 points per game and the Lions offense is averaging over 30 points per game.

Jared Goff has thrown 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is in the early MVP conversations. While Kyler Murray has thrown for only 3 touchdowns, but he is not turning the ball over.

Both teams are on the positive for turnover differential with Minnesota at +7 and Detroit at +3.

Brian Flores has the Vikings blitzing 70% of the time. Goff has been good against the blitz this season, but in his two matchups with the Vikings last year he threw two interceptions. 

Minnesota is on an 11 game winning streak dating back to last year and is the NFL's last unbeaten team.

This matchup is important in a very competitive NFC North where all four teams have more wins than losses. Imagine if the Vikings, Lions, Bears, or Packers were in the NFC South or NFC East. The NFC North has a real shot at getting all four teams into the postseason. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BENGALS

The Bengals offense was not the problem. They can score. They have to figure out if they want to give Tee Higgins (WR) a multi-year contract, tag him again, or let him walk. If they let Higgins walk then they can sign Chris Godwin (TB). Ja'Marr Chase had a huge year catching 127 balls, gaining 1,708 yards, and 17 touchdowns. Now he is looking for an extension that will pay roughly $40 million per year. Mike Gesicki (TE) is a free agent. If they don't resign him Cincinnati could sign Zach Ertz (Wash). The Bengals have Trent Brown (RT) set to hit free agency. They should try to resign him. They also can upgrade the guard position by signing Zach Martin (Dal), Brandon Scherff (Jax), Will Fries (Ind), or Kevin Zietler (Det).  On the defensive side of the ball, Cincinnati needs to be aggressive and sign a good cornerback. They can sign Charvarius Ward (SF) or Byron Murphy (Min). Linebacker Josh Sweat (Phi) would be a great asset as well. He had 8 sacks with the Eagles last year and ...
Read more

VIKINGS

The Minnesota Vikings haven't listed JJ McCarthy as the starting quarterback yet, but it is unlikely the Sam Howell (aquired via trade last month) is going to beat him out for the starting job. Howell does have starter experience, but I would be surprised if somehow he beat out McCarthy this training camp/preseason. The Vikings also have Brett Rypien who they are high on. Undrafted rookie, Max Brosmer's best chance is the practice squad.  Competition brings out the best in athletes, but it looks like this is McCarthy's team even if the Vikings don't officially say it. Quarterback is the one question mark for a team that is stacked on both sides of the ball heading into the 2025 season. Let's see if McCarthy can take Minnesota further than Sam Darnold did.
Read more

PACKERS

Talk about how quickly things can change. With about 12 minutes left of the third quarter Green Bay was beating Denver 23-14 and they had the ball. In that situation, if the Packers don't have two key playmakers get hurt, they probably win that game. But injuries are part of sports. Jordan Love then throws an interception and wide out Christian Watson gets hurt. Shortly after that Micah Parsons tears his ACL and is out the rest of the season. The Packers go on to lose the game against the Broncos and fall all the way down to the 7th seed in the NFC. Now they still can win the NFC North and possibly get the number 1 seed, but they lost Parsons who led the league in quarterback pressures before getting hurt.  Jeff Hafley will need to get creative without Parsons the rest of the year. It may be that the Packers may need to do what they did most of the time when Rodgers was their quarterback, put up points and outscore their opponents in a shoot out. The NFC playoff race is getting ver...
Read more