Detroit Lions Mailbag: How do you beat the Vikings?
Welcome to Week 16 of the Detroit Lions mailbag. This is a big week. I actually think this is the biggest week in Lions history. There's so many implications to their game against the Vikings on Sunday. It's crazy. We've got some big questions to answer this week. Let's jump into it. I think he […]
Welcome to Week 16 of the Detroit Lions mailbag. This is a big week. I actually think this is the biggest week in Lions history. There's so many implications to their game against the Vikings on Sunday. It's crazy. We've got some big questions to answer this week. Let's jump into it.
I think he has a real chance to pull it off for multiple reasons. LaPorta goes off in national games when everyone can see it. Take a look at his combined stat line for all games played on national television:
33 receptions for 307 yards and five touchdowns. That's in six nationally televised games. That might not look like a lot, but for a tight end it is. For a rookie tight end it really is. That's essentially the normal full year stat line for a rookie tight tend.
The other thing is that C.J. Stroud has dealt with some injuries. That sort of takes him out of peoples minds a little bit. The giant obstacle to get over is that Stroud is a quarterback and this is a quarterback driven game. It's going to be hard for voters to not just do the easy thing and give it to a quarterback. Also a tight end has never won this award since they started giving it out in 1967.
That's an interesting one. Ifeatu Meifonwu has come on like gangbusters in the last few weeks. He took the starting role from Tracy Walker and then suddenly started putting up highlights. Very good from a guy that I wasn't sure was ever going to breakout. Now he looks like a big part of the Lions future. Joseph is having a sophomore slump, but he did have a pretty good game against the Broncos on Saturday.
I think at the end of the day it's all going to depend on how they bring Gardner-Johnson back. In the past the Lions have demonstrated that they like to bring guys along slowly and build their snap count up as the weeks go. They might not fully unleash Gardner-Johnson till the playoffs. In that case they'll just stick with Melifonwu and Jospeh.
If they throw caution to the wind considering how important the next few weeks are, I think you have to go with the hot hand and put Melifonwu in the spot opposite Gardner-Johnson.
There was still a little not so good play from the Lions defensive line. They were able to generate pressure with safety blitz's and things of that nature, but the center of the line is still a bit concerning.
It's real simple for the Lions on Sunday against the Vikings. Try really hard to take Justin Jefferson out of the game plan and block for Jared Goff. If they do both of those things and do them well, they can win this game.
These two questions go hand in hand. Justin Jefferson is hard to stop. Jordan Addison has showed that he can be hard to stop too. There's one way you can definitely do it though and that's get to Nick Mullens. Pressure him, hurry him, hit him, sack him. Take passing the ball completely off the board and force the Viking sot try to beat you on the ground.
Here's the thing. The Vikings have only allowed 35 sacks this year. Here's the other thing, 17 of those sacks have come in the last six games. The Lions need to add to that number.
Since I've talked a lot about getting to Nick Mullens, I'll just go defense here. The Vikings defense is a lot like the Lions in a few regards. The Vikings are better at getting to the quarterback. They sacked Jake Browning five times last week. They sacked Aidan O'Connell four times the week before.
But when you can pass on them, you can hurt them. The Lions have allowed the 15th most passing yards in the league this year. The Vikings have allowed the 16th. Just like the Lions, it's hard to run on them.
I do have questions about the competition that the Vikings have faced though. Here's the last seven quarterbacks they've faced.
- Jordan Love
- Taylor Heinicke
- Jameis Winston
- Russell Wilson
- Justin Fields
- Aidan O'Connell
- Jake Browning
In terms of rushing attacks they've faced, here's the ranking of each of the last seven opponents in terms of rushing yards they've put up this year.
- Packers: 21st
- Falcons: 9th
- Saints: 19th
- Broncos: 14th
- Bears: 5th
- Raiders: 32nd
- Bengals: 31st
The Lions are frankly the best team the Vikings have faced since October and it's by quite a bit. The Lions are second in rushing this year and fourth in passing. This is a very good team the Vikings are facing.
The Lions need to go out there and play their game. Bring that same level of blocking that they did against the Broncos, complete your passes and make the most of your rushing attempts. Do not look past this game.
Even though Hendon Hooker is being added to the Lions 53-man roster this week, I still think it's highly unlikely that you see him play for the Lions this year. If the Lions are in blowout territory you're likely to see Teddy Bridgewater get some of his final NFL snaps this year.
Sunday might be the most important day in Lions history so far
Here we are. Not long ago it looked like this is a place that we would never be in. Back in 2020 after Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped out half the Lions roster, most of the front office staff and all of the coaches, you wondered how long it might take to rebuild to […]
