Week 7- Detroit Lions (4-1) @ Minnesota Vikings (5-0)

[Louis Friend]

With game basically deciding not only who is first in the North but first in the NFC, I thought we needed to put this thread up sooner than later. 
 

Obviously our first game without Hutch. We’ll get the first look at how the Lions are going to approach the pass rush. 
 

Vikings just signed Cam Akers (again), hoping for a different result than last time. 
 

Any predictions? 

Edited yesterday at 02:19 AM by Louis Friend

[Just Want A Title]

This is going to be an old-school NFC Norris Division slobber-knocker.  Minnesota has shown that they have a tough and unpredictable defense.  Their offense has been surprisingly effective.  Random thoughts:

- Given the so-so talent and all of the bad luck that has plagued the Vikings I don't see how Kevin O'Connell isn't discussed as one of the top coaches in the NFL.  

- They have to find a way to slow down Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones.  RZ defense will be crucial.  Unlike most years, the Lions have the starters and the depth to contain both of them.

- The Vikings have a lot of savvy veterans in their secondary.  Jared Goff will have to be pretty careful with his ball placement

- From my perspective, the key to success on offense are Sam La Porta and Jameson Williams.  Sending him into areas that will force the Vikings to hold someone to cover him could reduce the frequency of their blitzes.  Good luck with asking a safety to cover Jamo when the Vikings send a bunch of people on a blitz.  His intermediate routes should slow that down.  

- With Aidan Hutchinson out, the Lions are going to have to be creative to generate consistent pass-rush against a very solid Vikings O-Line

- What has helped Sam Darnold look like a Pro Bowl QB after struggling for his first four years in the NFL?

[General Tso]

Their defense is better, but we put up 30 points on them twice last year.

[Sllim Pickens]

31 minutes ago, Just Want A Title said:

This is going to be an old-school NFC Norris Division slobber-knocker.  Minnesota has shown that they have a tough and unpredictable defense.  Their offense has been surprisingly effective.  Random thoughts:

- Given the so-so talent and all of the bad luck that has plagued the Vikings I don't see how Kevin O'Connell isn't discussed as one of the top coaches in the NFL.  

- They have to find a way to slow down Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones.  RZ defense will be crucial.  Unlike most years, the Lions have the starters and the depth to contain both of them.

- The Vikings have a lot of savvy veterans in their secondary.  Jared Goff will have to be pretty careful with his ball placement

- From my perspective, the key to success on offense are Sam La Porta and Jameson Williams.  Sending him into areas that will force the Vikings to hold someone to cover him could reduce the frequency of their blitzes.  Good luck with asking a safety to cover Jamo when the Vikings send a bunch of people on a blitz.  His intermediate routes should slow that down.  

- With Aidan Hutchinson out, the Lions are going to have to be creative to generate consistent pass-rush against a very solid Vikings O-Line

- What has helped Sam Darnold look like a Pro Bowl QB after struggling for his first four years in the NFL?

Aaron Jones is likely out, hence why they traded for Akers back.  

Darnold didn't look like a pro bowl QB last week and was helped by two defensive TDs.  Will be important for the O to not allow that to happen and for Goff to take care of the ball.  I feel like Darnold's run was somewhat fluky but he is definitely playing better than expected.  The coaching and having Jetta and Addison surely helps him look better but I still think he is more the QB he has been for his career than the QB he was the first few weeks this year.  

[Sllim Pickens]

Fun fact, the NFC North is 1-4 in the NFL in scoring differential after 6 weeks with the Vikings at 1 and Lions at 2.  The division is super tough this year beyond expectations. I had this game as a W before the year but I wouldn't be at all shocked to lose this one given they are coming off a bye week and are much better than projected.  

I think we need to keep running the ball.  that has been the key the last couple of weeks with Goff being the only QB to have a perfect completion % and then also being the only QB other than Brees to have a perfect rating two games in a row.  A lot of that is helped by the run game being such a weapon and drawing so much attention.  Staying balanced is key and will also keep our D off the field more which I think is big now that Hutch is gone.  Monty has been a beast and Gibbs is a great COP guy so keep feeding them and keep Goff's attempts to around 20-25.  

[detfan782004]

Only solid prediction is Detroit will continue to be one of the worst penalized teams in league.

Second worst last three games averaging 9.7 and for the year tied for 4th worst at 7.8

 

Coaches dont seem to care about the penalties as they want aggressive play but at some point the difference in these games will be a costly penalty.  So ignoring them is not wise.

 

Arnold is the worst defender in terms of penalties with a league leading 8 for 118 yards. Davis has 5 for 47.  If I am the Vikings and Darnold and you need a first down I would just throw it Arnold's way and not even totally catchable and draw that flag.

 

In terms of the game Minny ranks 9th worst in terms of stats to TE so maybe LaPorta can get going more.  Vikings are 3rd worst in terms of stats to WR so the WR should be able to eat up some yards.

Kind of quietly Minny is second best in terms of stats for opposing RB so it will be interesting to see how the Detroit run game goes. 

 

When i am talking Def I am talking tds and yards combo.

Edited Wednesday at 03:54 PM by detfan782004

[Just Want A Title]

1 hour ago, Sllim Pickens said:

Aaron Jones is likely out, hence why they traded for Akers back.  

Darnold didn't look like a pro bowl QB last week and was helped by two defensive TDs.  Will be important for the O to not allow that to happen and for Goff to take care of the ball.  I feel like Darnold's run was somewhat fluky but he is definitely playing better than expected.  The coaching and having Jetta and Addison surely helps him look better but I still think he is more the QB he has been for his career than the QB he was the first few weeks this year.  

Jared Goff really needs to watch out for Andrew Van Ginkel.  He looks like Chad Greenway 2.0.  The loss of Aaron Jones would make the Vikings more one-dimensional but Cam Akers has some gas left in the tank.  The one player I won't miss is KJ Osborn.  He had an uncanny ability to have big games against the Lions.

Edited Wednesday at 05:20 PM by Just Want A Title

[Just Want A Title]

It looks like the Vikings will not have Blake Cashman in their lineup for the game against the Lions.  That should be good for the Lions.

[Superduperman]

Conventional wisdom would suggest this will be a shootout with the winner approaching 40 pts.

But I have a feeling it might be a surprisingly low scoring game with both teams attempting to run the ball and playing over their head on defense

[vike daddy]

O'Connell: "There'll be a ton of juice in the building, and we've got to have some good days of preparation coming off the bye. We had a good short day on Monday. We'll get back in the pads today and continue our prep throughout the week, but it's a very important week of preparation because we're playing one of the best teams in the National Football League."

"Really good team in all three phases. Dan is one of the best coaches in our league, and his team and his staff, everything that they've got going on is going to be a heck of a challenge. And really, with how well everybody's playing in our division, these division games are going to be really, really important."

vikings.com

Minnesota Nice.

[vike daddy]

9 hours ago, Just Want A Title said:

- Given the so-so talent and all of the bad luck that has plagued the Vikings I don't see how Kevin O'Connell isn't discussed as one of the top coaches in the NFL.  

[vike daddy]

8 hours ago, detfan782004 said:

Only solid prediction is Detroit will continue to be one of the worst penalized teams in league.

Coaches dont seem to care about the penalties as they want aggressive play but at some point the difference in these games will be a costly penalty.  So ignoring them is not wise.

Justin Jefferson, demanding so much close coverage and physical defense, draws a LOT of DPI's.

many of his moves are more like a guard beginning a drive for the basket, he obviously plays bball. so he's extra good at drawing fouls.

[vike daddy]

Brian Flores' Minnesota defense is tied for second in the NFL with 13 takeaways. The five other teams ranked in the top six have played a game more than the Vikings.

Flores' coverage unit leads the league with 11 interceptions and 41 passes defended. Its pass rush is tied for the third-most sacks with 20 – the 12 other teams ranked in the top 13 have played six games. FYI, Seattle's defense has 68 pressures, second most in the NFL; Minnesota has 84, or nearly 17 per outing!

The fire comes in the form of disguised pressures. Five, six, seven guys show blitz. Sometimes none, one or two players drop into coverage. The possibilities are limitless because of Flores' deep bag of calls and the Vikings personnel – a mix of young and veteran players that are similarly intelligent and aggressive.

Flores: "I think the idea is to try to make the quarterback and receivers figure it out. If they're trying to decipher it for an extra half a click, that might be the difference between making a play and not making a play. It's not just the various coverages. It's your techniques, your fundamentals, your communication, your film study, your ability to anticipate. We talk about all those things all the time."

vikings.com

[detfan782004]

26 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

Justin Jefferson, demanding so much close coverage and physical defense, draws a LOT of DPI's.

many of his moves are more like a guard beginning a drive for the basket, he obviously plays bball. so he's extra good at drawing fouls.

Yea im sure he will get a couple this week. If there was an over/under I would take the over on that 

[detfan782004]

13 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

Brian Flores' Minnesota defense is tied for second in the NFL with 13 takeaways. The five other teams ranked in the top six have played a game more than the Vikings.

Flores' coverage unit leads the league with 11 interceptions and 41 passes defended. Its pass rush is tied for the third-most sacks with 20 – the 12 other teams ranked in the top 13 have played six games. FYI, Seattle's defense has 68 pressures, second most in the NFL; Minnesota has 84, or nearly 17 per outing!

The fire comes in the form of disguised pressures. Five, six, seven guys show blitz. Sometimes none, one or two players drop into coverage. The possibilities are limitless because of Flores' deep bag of calls and the Vikings personnel – a mix of young and veteran players that are similarly intelligent and aggressive.

Flores: "I think the idea is to try to make the quarterback and receivers figure it out. If they're trying to decipher it for an extra half a click, that might be the difference between making a play and not making a play. It's not just the various coverages. It's your techniques, your fundamentals, your communication, your film study, your ability to anticipate. We talk about all those things all the time."

vikings.com

Yes that aggressiveness is why they are also one of worst in yardage given up to WR. So they live and die by it. Hopefully Detroit can take advantage of those yards and hit end zone