It’s that time of the week where we take some time and talk to this week’s opponent about what Minnesota Vikings fans can expect when their team takes the field this Sunday.
This week, it’s time for our
second NFC North divisional matchup of the year as the Vikings travel to Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions. That means talking with the folks from Pride of Detroit, SB Nation’s home for everything relating to Lions football. I exchanged questions this week with Ryan Mathews from PoD, and you can see my answers to his questions right here. Here are the questions I sent Ryan’s way, along with his answers.
1) The Lions’ season got off to a bit of a rough start with their loss in Week 1, but since then they appear to have righted the ship, winning five of their last six. Why did Detroit have such a clunker in that one and how did they get things turned around?
In that Week 1 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, miscommunication and missed assignments along the offensive line prevented Detroit from getting to their bread and butter: establishing the run game and working the middle of the field in the pass game–both hallmarks of Dan Campbell’s teams since arriving in Detroit. The Packers’ Cover 2 and Cover 3 Buzz looks gave the Lions fits and really muddied up the middle of the field, a place where Jared Goff and the offense routinely do their damage when things are going well for the offense.
Things got turned around through leadership, coaching, and accountability. Detroit’s young guards had two starts of NFL experience between Christian Mahogany and rookie Tate Ratledge as they entered Week 1, and that lack of experience showed. It wasn’t solely on those two players, even veteran Taylor Decker had some missed assignments due to calls at the line of scrimmage, so it was really a group effort from coaching to Goff to the offensive line having a tough day. After rushing for just 46 yards on 22 carries against the Packers, the Lions offensive line helped clear the way to piling up 177 rushing yards on 30 carries. Communication and execution did the trick, and since that Week 1 disasterclass versus Green Bay, things have been much better up front. It hasn’t been perfect, by any means, and there’s still plenty of room for the offensive line to improve as a unit on a down-to-down basis, but things haven’t looked anything like that rough outing nearly two months ago.
2) Detroit has, once again, dealt with a significant number of injuries this season, yet the roll continues. What is the biggest reason that the Lions can just keep on winning with a minimal number of hiccups?
The coaching staff in Detroit remains one of the best in the NFL, and their commitment to developing players is a big reason why Detroit can navigate these injuries so well. A great example of that playing out right in front of us was Week 7’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Detroit was without–no exaggeration–every single starting defender from their secondary, but through development and deployment, the Lions were able to put those players in the best positions to succeed.
Erick Hallett, who has been on and off the practice squad since last August, filled in all over the secondary against the Bucs, playing 64 snaps at safety, nickel, and outside corner. He finished as the team’s co-leader in tackles (8) and recorded a team-high four stops per NFL Pro. Nick Whiteside was here in August for training camp and the preseason, but despite him not making the 53-man roster or the practice squad after cuts were made, he re-joined the team in early October and broke up four passes in Week 7–three of them when in coverage against Emeka Egbuka–and a breakup on a two-point attempt that kept the game 14-9 in the third quarter.
But Rob Lohman, the Lions director of pro scouting since 2019, deserves some praise as well. Arthur Maulet, on his sixth NFL team in nine seasons, was signed by Detroit after Houston cut him after training camp this season–he came away with an incredible interception that flipped the field and momentum against the Bucs. Rock Ya-Sin, another veteran the Lions signed in the offseason to fill out the depth in Detroit’s secondary, was thrust into a starting role and had four tackles and two passes defended against Mike Evans.
The coaching staff preaches accountability on the field—doing your job so the guy next to you can do his, too—and that same spirit carries over to the front office, where both sides work in tandem to find players who fit the system, and the coaching staff gets them ready when opportunity calls.
3) Despite the Vikings’ defense having had success against much of the league over the past couple of seasons, the Lions have consistently had their number. Can you summarize how they’ve managed to do so?
Cards on the table, in my best estimation, it’s talent. The Lions have drafted and developed so well that the team wins games because they have the players to make the plays they need to win the game. The Vikings have been such a well-coached football team on both sides of the ball during the Kevin O’Connell era, but Minnesota’s defense is a prime example of the difference between them and Detroit. If the Vikings could just get the horses to match their opponent from a talent perspective, these matchups the past few years wouldn’t have been so lopsided.
This is the first year since 2021 that the offensive line hasn’t been a “sure thing” for Detroit, so there’s definitely a chance that Flores’ creativity in simulating pressure makes life hard difficult for Jared Goff and the Lions offense.
4) Give us one “under the radar” player for the Lions that you feel will play a crucial role in their success in this one.
Vikings fans may be vaguely familiar with edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad–he did record a sack in Week 18 last year–but he’s been essential to the pass rush for Detroit this season. Muhammad primarily lines up outside the tackle, but he’ll also set up as a 4, 4i, and sometimes as a 3-technique. He’s second on the team in pressures (27) and sacks (5.0) behind only Aidan Hutchinson, and he ranks 16th in pass-rush win rate (20.8%) among edge defenders with at least 75 pass-rushing snaps this season. He plays less on running downs–just 35 snaps in run defense–but as a pass rusher, he’s made a real difference for Detroit.
With the return of Alim McNeill in the middle of the Lions defense and all the attention Aidan Hutchinson gets on the opposite edge, Muhammad is going to get even more one-on-one opportunities.
5) The Lions come into this one as an 8.5-point favorite, which is the most a team has been favored by against the Vikings in the Kevin O’Connell era. Is there any reason to think that the Lions don’t cover that number by a significant amount?
At the end of the day, it’s a divisional matchup, and the Vikings have every reason to lay it on the line for their season’s sake in this one. It’s not a must-win game for Minnesota, but with their next four games against teams with playoff hopes, heading into that stretch 3-5 wouldn’t leave them a lot of room for error.
If Minnesota can discourage Detroit from running the football and get them into passing situations, this version of the Lions’ offensive line is not the group from year’s past. The emergence of Jalen Redmond could prove to be a lot to handle for the interior offensive linemen, and Brian Flores could put together a game plan that tests Goff and Detroit’s offensive front. There’s little film on J.J. McCarthy, and now that the Vikings are healthier at the skill positions, there’s a real possibility this could be a one-score game either way when the clock hits zeroes.
Thanks again to Ryan for taking the time to answer our questions for this week!
