Next two weeks will define the season

[IrishViking]

I dont expect it but a dismantling of the Lions on both sides of the ball would be awesome

30-6 or something lopsided.

[Nunin]

I dont expect it but a dismantling of the Lions on both sides of the ball would be awesome

30-6 or something lopsided.

i actually expect them to knock the snot out of the Lions.

[chicagopurple]

Really? D o you really think we are now infinitely better then the team that got their #### kcked by the Wretched Chicago Bears? The Lions are far better then Chicago.....dont go betting your savings on ANY Viking game this year, the Vikes are very iffy.

[Mothman]

i actually expect them to knock the snot out of the Lions.

I'll be very surprised if that happens.

Also very happy.

[Nunin]

Really? D o you really think we are now infinitely better then the team that got their #### kcked by the Wretched Chicago Bears? The Lions are far better then Chicago.....dont go betting your savings on ANY Viking game this year, the Vikes are very iffy.

i think it's the same team that clowned the giants and panthers as well as the team that lost to the bears and blew a last minute lead to the lions.

'infinitely' and 'far better' has little to do with 'any given sunday' IMO...and IMO they are going to handle the lions emphatically.

shall we make a wager?

[Alaskan]

i think it's the same team that clowned the giants and panthers as well as the team that lost to the bears and blew a last minute lead to the lions.

'infinitely' and 'far better' has little to do with 'any given sunday' IMO...and IMO they are going to handle the lions emphatically.

shall we make a wager?

I agree. This will be a far different outcome from the first matchup. I look for them to put it all together on Thanksgiving and blow out the Lions....Any given Sunday is a great way to put it for most of the matchups from week to week all around the league.

[chicagopurple]

I wold feel better if Sharif Floyd and some others were back and or not injured. I believe the Lions have had a few more injuries since we last faced them tho. I hope we kill em, but I dont have confidence in any of our wins being a blow out (we dont get to face the Browns this year...).

[IrishViking]

I wold feel better if Sharif Floyd and some others were back and or not injured. I believe the Lions have had a few more injuries since we last faced them tho. I hope we kill em, but I dont have confidence in any of our wins being a blow out (we dont get to face the Browns this year...).

I am with you there. honestly I feel like the Lions had a few lucky bounces last game where If they went our way we would have won.

I think if we play well and with a LITTLE luck this could be a comfortable win, say... 24-10 or so.

[Iron Lion]

I think I agree with the consensus in that the Vikings might win by blowout. The Lions can have dud games, we did so at Chicago. The last 3 years we are winning Thanksgiving games by an average of 26 points and that is due for a correction. Also we got whipped in the trenches on both sides of the ball by the Jaguars and had to use the TE jet sweep (that you guys used on us which should've sealed the win) to score the only offensive TD.

[Iron Lion]

I wold feel better if Sharif Floyd and some others were back and or not injured. I believe the Lions have had a few more injuries since we last faced them tho. I hope we kill em, but I dont have confidence in any of our wins being a blow out (we dont get to face the Browns this year...).

No, in fact we played you guys without Darius Slay, our top corner, who is back now. And we might have DeAndre Levy back (finally) and he is an all-pro linebacker. Also Ziggy Ansah's ankle is getting better every week. Those are our top 3 defensive players.

But I still think we piss down our leg in this game.

[IrishViking]

I think I agree with the consensus in that the Vikings might win by blowout. The Lions can have dud games, we did so at Chicago. The last 3 years we are winning Thanksgiving games by an average of 26 points and that is due for a correction. Also we got whipped in the trenches on both sides of the ball by the Jaguars and had to use the TE jet sweep (that you guys used on us which should've sealed the win) to score the only offensive TD.

Welcome back.

To be honest I could see either a Vikings blow out, A Detroit blow out, or a moderate Vikings win.

I think it really hinges on whether we can get any semblance of a passing rhythm going so we can put up some points.

The other MAJOR issue is the defense. Detroit won on the 3 massively long and time consuming drives the Vikings let them have. Your team (and others) have done their best when starting inside the 10, regularly marching the length of the field for an 8 minute drive and a TD. Our defense has better luck when the opponent starts at the 50 its seems. We rectified that against the Cards some, If the Defense continues its return to early season form I like our chances.

[Nunin]

hey Iron,

i think the big difference in this game will be the teeth of the vikings D. They got totally humiliated by the final two drives at the end of regulation and in OT.

whether or not they can shut down down the Lions remains to be seen. They do have a history of getting to Stafford though. I don't see the Vikes offense suddenly scoring tons tomorrow either. If the Vikes D plays up to it's potential, I see the vikes taking it by 10. Otherwise it's going to be a nail biter.

happy thanksgiving!

[Iron Lion]

Also a couple things that are interesting:

Lions and Vikings have been trading season sweeps since 2011. A Vikings win ends that.

Edit - false, my mistake. But there has been lots of sweeping.

The Vikings have beaten Arizona and Carolina. The Lions have beaten LA but probably won't win in New Orleans. Why does this matter? If we tie on head-to-head and division records, the next tiebreaker for division champion is common games, not conference record. If you guys beat us tomorrow, beat Chicago and lose at Green Bay while we beat Chicago and Green Bay (both in Detroit) then the North belongs to us if our records are even... and let's face it, we're both 8-8 teams.

When it's all said and done, last place in the East has more wins than first place in the North. Division winner should just be first tiebreaker among bottom-tier playoff teams. So a 9-7 division winner seeds higher than a 9-7 wildcard no matter what, but 10-6 wildcard seeds higher than 9-7 division winner.

Playoff format needs changing.

[IrishViking]

Also a couple things that are interesting:

Lions and Vikings have been trading season sweeps since 2011. A Vikings win ends that.

Edit - false, my mistake. But there has been lots of sweeping.

The Vikings have beaten Arizona and Carolina. The Lions have beaten LA but probably won't win in New Orleans. Why does this matter? If we tie on head-to-head and division records, the next tiebreaker for division champion is common games, not conference record. If you guys beat us tomorrow, beat Chicago and lose at Green Bay while we beat Chicago and Green Bay (both in Detroit) then the North belongs to us if our records are even... and let's face it, we're both 8-8 teams.

When it's all said and done, last place in the East has more wins than first place in the North. Division winner should just be first tiebreaker among bottom-tier playoff teams. So a 9-7 division winner seeds higher than a 9-7 wildcard no matter what, but 10-6 wildcard seeds higher than 9-7 division winner.

Playoff format needs changing.

I get what you mean, the problem I see there though is that a division like the AFCN where 3 of the teams would then start with essentially a 2 game lead over the rest of their Conference (by virtue of two games against the, lets face it, FOREVER hapless Browns) for the playoffs. Remember the NFCW a few years ago where 7-9 teams were making the playoffs because of the weakness of the schedule? You would essentially be rewarding division for having 50% of their teams suck.

So if say, the browns an Bengals started sucking hard just terrible, they go say, 1-15 and 2-14 thus "spotting" the Ravens and Steelers 4 games each and they end up 12-4 and 11-5. Then say the AFCS is hyper competitive and everyone splits with everyone. so you have say. Colts in second with 9-7 and the Texans in 1st with 10-6 The Texans would potentially lose out on playoff "perks" due to the second place Steeler's who more than likely made it in due to the crappy play of the Browns and Bengals.


as unlikely as the situation is its the weird rare occurrence that make the rules super important. Superbowl's can be once-in-a-lifetime events. It would suck to miss a shot because some teams gave their division a boost.

[PacificNorseWest]

I feel the Vikings suffocate Stafford and the Lions O tomorrow and the offense finally has a game that doesn't need to rely on the defense or special teams to help offer up some points. Just a hunch. We'll see...