Coming off an exciting Week 5 Monday night road win against the New Orleans Saints and needing another win despite a short week of rest to climb to the .500 mark and keep pace in the NFC North, the Vikings have lucked out with their Week 6 opponent; the lowly Detroit Lions.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Vikings game plan should be giving the Lions a heavy dose of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a total nearing 35-40 carries between the two of them, and quite frankly AP and Chester are probably licking their chops at the thought of this week’s match-up. One only has to look back to Detroit’s Week 1 loss to Atlanta where Turner and Norwood scorched the Lions’ defence for over 300 yards on the ground with an average O-line. Minny has a much more dominant O-line than does Atlanta and they have more talented running backs. As for the passing game, Bernard Berrian is expected to play despite not practicing for much of the week, however Frerotte will be counted on to manage the game rather than win it. There’s no reason to have Berrian hurt himself further nor is there a reason for Gus to come out throwing when the Lions continue to show that they can’t tackle a ball carrier until the 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th hits on a given play. I’m looking for Frerotte’s biggest passing plays plays to come off of quick-hit play-action.

 

Minny’s defence must be thinking that Christmas has come early for them. Let’s start with the run defence: Without question the Vikings sport one the premiere D-lines in football with the Williams’ at the tackle spots and Jared Allen at end. Considering the fact that Detroit’s two running backs (Rudi Johnson and rookie Kevin Smith) both have a tendency to run between the tackles as they lack the speed to get around the corners, I think that Minny should be able to hold the Lions to under 80 yards rushing for the game as long as they don’t get too excited and maintain gap control. Add to that Chad Greenway’s tenacious run defence and the Vikes are looking golden. As for the pass defence, the key will be getting in the backfield as fast as possible and not biting on play-action passes. I expect to see Jared Allen lining up over rookie RT Gosder Cherilus and giving him fits every down. If Minny can play a successful bump-and-run defence on Detroit’s two Pro Bowl calibre wideouts and get good support from the safeties, then the D-line should have all the time in the world to be able to pile up a lot of sacks. Another stat working in the Vikes favour is that Detroit’s receivers have been dropping nearly everything this season; especially Roy Williams.

All in all, the Vikings just match up incredibly well against Detroit on both sides of the ball. As I had previously mentioned, a win against the Lions gets Minny back to .500 mark, allows them to keep pace if not gain ground in the NFC North, get a divisional win (which is always big) and they’re at home. Suffice to say that they should not be lacking motivation. I expect to see a very lopsided time of possesion stat at the end of the day and an equally lopsided final score. Minnesota beat Detroit  42-10 in Week 13 last season…look for a similar outcome this Sunday.

- Jesse Noonan

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