Week 12 Preview: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

The Minnesota Vikings have now snapped their four-game-losing-streak by defeating the Arizona Cardinals in a tough week 11 matchup that was close the entire way. Now, on a short week, they travel to Detroit to face a Lions’ team that is suddenly red hot and already one victory up in their season battle.

The Vikings will now face the Detroit Lions (6-4) on Thanksgiving Day at 11:30 am, Central Time. The rematch between divisional foes can be watched on CBS before any turkey-induced-tryptophan sinks in.

The Vikings and Lions have faced off three times on turkey day; a 2-1 record favors the Vikings. In fact, the Vikings have a 5-1 record on the fabulous football and food holiday; their only loss is a 1995 44-38 loss to the Lions.

The Lions, of course won the meeting in Minneapolis less than three weeks ago in overtime by a score of 22-16. The Vikings seemingly had that one in hand but uncharacteristically bad tackling and poor management by Mike Zimmer cost the purple the game. Not to mention, that game was the game in which Blair Walsh missed an extra point and had a field goal attempt blocked.

Many aspects turned up aces in order for that game to turn into a Lions’ win. Does that mean they are a crumby team and did not deserve the win? Absolutely not, the Lions are a pretty decent football team that has been trailing in every fourth quarter this season. Even in most of their defeats, the Lions had at least one possession in which they could have tied the game up or won it.

AROUND COVER32

Vikings Weekly: Week Nine Preview: Vikings vs Lions

Vikings Today: Know Your Enemy: Detroit Lions

Vike’s Bite: Week 11 Recap: Vikings at Lions

Purple Update: Norv Turner out; Pat Shurmur in

Vikings32 Exclusive: Week Eight Reaction: Vikings at Bears

What’s Trending: Five Questions Week Nine: Vikings vs Lions

Essentials to win the game

Even Brian Robison alluded to this in his locker room interview on Monday morning; tackling better is a must. Harrison Smith looked like a kicker trying to arm tackle a 250-pound beast when he “tried” to tackle Golden Tate on the final play of their previous meeting. To be fair to Smith, the tackle should have been made by Xavier Rhodes but Rhodes momentum from his poor angle took him completely out of play.

The Vikings only sacked Matthew Stafford once in the first meeting. Whether it was poor blitzing scheme or just poor execution, the youthful Lions’ offensive line held their ground against the alleged much better rushers of the Vikings. The most essential part of a Zimmer defense is getting to the quarterback; without it, the defense is mediocre, at best.

Possible downfalls to avoid

An obvious one here; the Vikings simply cannot rely on 14 points coming from somewhere other than their offense. Truth is the Vikings very well could have a record of 3-7 right now if the defense did not step up in big ways. The offense must remain up-tempo, looking to score touchdowns on every drive to win this one.

One of the biggest downfalls from their first loss to the Lions was their forgetting about the tight ends, on both teams. Eric Ebron had seven receptions for 92 yards; Kyle Rudolph had one catch for one yard. Rudolph’s catch was a touchdown and the other Vikings’ tight end, Rhett Ellison added a rushing score but they should have been utilized much more. The Lions are 31st in the league at defending the tight end position; the Vikings must get Rudolph involved early and often.

Player spotlight

As touched on above, the tight ends played a major role in the first meeting between these two NFC North foes. Between Ebron and Rudolph, whoever has the breakout game will see their team on top in the end.

Something has happened to Anthony Barr this season. Either he is playing in much more pain than we have heard about or teams are keeping him out of the stat sheet due to planning. Whichever is the case, Barr will need a bounce-back type of game, if he is healthy.

Theo Riddick and Dewayne Washington gave the Vikings fits in their first matchup and unless something changes with Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson’s run stopping, much of the same may happen. Johnson has been hampered by injuries as well, but the Vikings need him to return to his old self and quickly.

Game Projection

This one is a tough game to predict; both the Vikings and Lions have showed they can beat and be beaten by anyone. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes will win this game. Mistakes are not always interceptions and fumbles but could also be missed assignments and tackles.

In the first meeting, the Lions moved the ball just enough in the run game to keep it close in its entirety. Since the Vikings have been susceptible to draws and running back screens, the Lions start out with executing some screens to both the receivers and the backs. They will gain plenty of yardage but the Vikings secondary is a bit more intact this time so they settle for field goals.

As the Vikings saw the first time around, the Lions still have a passing attack that must be accounted for. If Zimmer cannot reach Stafford for at least two or more sacks, this game may not even be close.

When the Vikings have the ball, they need to utilize Rudolph as much as possible. If the Vikings can stay away from long yardage remaining on third down, they can avoid those awful seven-step-drops from Bradford that tend to result in fumbles or sacks or both. Just a joke here but what would happen if the Vikings just punted on third-and-long situations instead of suffering through another collapse from the offensive line?

In all seriousness though, the Vikings might want to consider a draw play or a quick screen on the dreaded third-and-long situations. If they can minimize Kerry Hyder’s effectiveness in this game, they may just pull out the turkey day miracle.

What tends to happen in rematches, the victor of the first meeting changes nothing due to whatever their plan was worked, so why change. That may just be the Lions undoing in this one as the Vikings get to change some things up and have figured out the short passing game just enough to be effective. The Vikings figure out just enough defensively to sack Stafford two or more times and pick him off once again.

The offense utilizes quick-step-drops for Bradford to get the ball to Stefon Diggs early and often. Cordarrelle Patterson finally breaks a long touchdown offensively off of a screen perfectly designed and executed. The Vikings pull off two wins in a row by the score of 17-13 in a game that will bring meaning back to the name of the “Black and Blue” division. Just a gut call here but Everson Griffen, Rudolph and Patterson get themselves some turkey legs at the end of the game.

— Justin Ekstrom can be followed on Twitter @thesportscrib21 and be sure to follow and comment about vikings32 on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Week 12 Preview: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions appeared first on Cover32.