Getty Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford shake hands after Lions-Vikings in 2018.
The Detroit Lions will get back home to Ford Field after a tangle with the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, and their run through division games continues with a visit from the Minnesota Vikings.
Recently, an early look at the line was provided by Vegas Insider, and early on, things look pretty even for this game. The contest opened even as a pick ’em game, but has alternated between the Lions as one point favorites and the Vikings as one point favorites in recent days. Even now, folks are split on how big a favorite either team should be.
While the Lions may have swept the Packers last season, they were swept both games by the Vikings, and both games didn’t have the feel of being very competitive near the end, meaning the Lions have some significant measuring up to do in order to come out on top and feel good about their place in the division.
This season, the Vikings have been up and down, but are up lately after hammering the Philadelphia Eagles at home 38-20 in Week 6. Kirk Cousins found some consistency and the Vikings were runaway winners.
An Important Battle
Detroit has had some measure of success against the Vikings the last few seasons even if 2018 was a wash. Detroit was 1-1 against Minnesota in 2017, and swept the Vikings in 2016 in order to keep their NFC North division title dreams alive. While that didn’t pan out at the time, success against Minnesota has directly correlated with some of Detroit’s better seasons on the field lately.
The Lions and Vikings are similar teams. Both pride themselves on tough defense, and each has an offense that can be underrated in NFL circles. With Cousins throwing the ball, Stefon Diggs catching it and Dalvin Cook running the rock, there are enough pieces to make life tough on the opposition, no matter how the Vikings have looked at other times during the season.
Last year, the Lions were outscored 51-18 by the Vikings in two games, so they will want to make revenge a key centerpiece of the focus this week. That’s especially true given some early trash talk from Minnesota.
Jekyll and Hyde Team
There is good news for the Lions. The Vikings have been very different this season home and away, which is of particular interest in this game for the Lions as the home squad. While the Vikings are 4-2, they are only 1-2 on the road, having only beaten the hapless New York Giants away from home. Both of their NFC North contests on the road have been ugly losses to the Chicago Bears and Packers.
With this in mind, the focus for the Lions has to be on teeing off on Cousins defensively, forcing some mistakes and being able to execute just enough to get over the hump in terms of scoring. Do that, and Detroit might just be able to plant some seeds of doubt in the heads of the Vikings enough to win, given they can struggle away from home.
While the Vikings have found some confidence, the Lions are more than capable of rising up and taking it away. That’s part of the reason no team may rise to become a dramatic favorite this week.