Football 301 Playbook: A look at what will define Vikings-Lions clash and my prediction for this huge game

It’s a battle for the No. 1 seed in the NFC! While the rest of the Week 18 NFL schedule leaves much to be desired, Vikings-Lions is as juicy as they come.

Two Coach of the Year candidates. Two dangerous offenses with supreme play-callers. Two aggressive defenses that have battled injuries of varying degrees lately. Stars, reclamation projects and hipster role players are on every side. The Lions even feature one of the best special teams in the NFL.

For Week 18’s playbook, I am going to look at when both the Vikings and Lions have the ball and what will be the key components to each matchup.

It’s a Black and Blue division brouhaha. Let’s get into it.

When the Vikings have the ball

Both units have new faces sprinkled throughout compared to their first go-around this season. For the Vikings, it’s been a mix of positive additions (T.J. Hockenson returning from injury, Dalton Risner replacing the woeful Ed Ingram at right guard) and subtractions to mitigate, like losing Christian Darrisaw at left tackle to season-ending injury and replacing him with Cam Robinson who was acquired before the trade deadline. On Detroit’s side, the Lions’ defense seems like it has mostly ended up on the athletic trainer’s table. Injuries have hit every position room for this group, but a recent return has shifted the Lions’ structure and another potential return could help steady a different patched-together portion of this unit.

Detroit’s defense had a quirk this season: the Lions would trot out their “base” personnel (four linemen, three linebackers, four defensive backs) at a higher rate than any other team this season. In a league that has been getting smaller on the defensive side, the Lions went big and stayed big whenever they could. Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez was injured in Week 10 and went to IR soon afterward. Alex Anzalone was also on injured reserve, but has been designated to return and practiced Thursday. The loss of those two has been felt for the Lions (the…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-03 04:16:00

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