Detroit Lions: 5 Things They Can Do to Beat the Vikings Sunday

The Detroit Lions began the season 5-0 and went into their bye week at 6-2. Sounds great, right?

In the past few weeks, however, it's been going from bad to worse for a team that had so much promise and the potential to make the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

When the Lions went 5-0, Matt Stafford was clicking on all cylinders. Calvin Johnson was leading the NFC in receptions, yards and touchdowns. The team orchestrated two incredible second-half comebacks, and won a Monday Night Football game against their closest competition in their own division.

Now, things are different. The Lions are teetering on the edge of disaster.

Certainly, they can still make the playoffs. They are at 7-5 with four games to go in the season. Their next four opponents consist of an awful team, an up-and-down team, a team that can't make up its mind and a team that will likely be a dynasty. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The Lions go into Sunday's game against division rival Minnesota among the NFC's leaders in penalties, especially in personal fouls. Star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is out for his second straight game with a suspension. Adrian Peterson will likely be coming back. The Lions must be careful or things could spiral horrendously out of control.

If the Lions want to win Sunday, here are the five things they must do:

5. Establish Some Semblance of Special Teams

Most people tend to overlook the importance of special teams in an NFL season. With the new kickoff rule in place, Lions kickoff/punt returner Stefan Logan has had a difficult time getting any leverage on returns, and only occasionally has put the Lions in great field position.

Logan is still a decent returner. He's nowhere near what he once was, but again I wonder how much of a role the new kickoff rule plays in his lack of success so far this season.

Is Jason Hanson injured? That seems to be a question among the Honolulu blue faithful, as he missed yet another field goal Sunday night in New Orleans. Granted, he's had two field goals blocked—again attributed to special teams—and he missed a 55-yard field goal. However, he has missed a couple this season from closer in, which is not his nature.

As for Ben Graham, so far he's been the silver lining on the Lions' special teams unit with the placement of rookie Ryan Donahue on IR. He will have to face the daunting task of not allowing Vikings return specialist Percy Harvin to get a decent return. If they can do that, the Lions will have a good chance to win this game.

4. Take Advantage of Christian Ponder's Weaknesses

Let's be frank, folks. Christian Ponder is no Brett Favre. He's no Donovan McNabb this season, either. He's somewhere in between.

Ponder does show some signs of good things. He has a lot of poise and he can bomb it. He is an accurate passer, which can't be taught in the NFL. He's a smart kid, too, which is always a good thing.

Ponder does have some glaring weaknesses, though. For example, when the pocket collapses around him, Ponder is awful. His touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio favors touchdowns only by the slimmest of margins, with nine touchdowns to eight picks.

Since Ponder took over in Week 5, he has amassed 1,522 yards, but his completion percentage (56 percent), touchdowns (nine), interceptions (eight), and rating (76.6 percent) rank among the middle to the bottom of the pack in the NFC. Granted, it would help if Ponder had some weapons around him, but even still, the Vikings were very high on Ponder.

The Lions can take advantage of Ponder's weaknesses. If Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril on the edges and Corey Williams and Nick Fairley in the middle can get to him and disrupt his timing and rhythm, Ponder will not stand much of a chance.

Also, a guy like Ponder is good for defensive backs like Chris Houston, Alphonso Smith and Eric Wright, who are ball hawks. If the Lions can get to Ponder, they will have a good chance of winning the defensive battle, and we all know defense wins games.

3. Lions Must Establish Some Form of Running Game

Let's see how much longer the Kevin Smith Revival Tour will last.

Smith played in the Sunday night game after coming off an ankle injury Thanksgiving Day. During that game, he injured his ankle again, though he was effective on the two or three plays he did run on the hurt ankle. The backs behind him, however, have done next to nothing since Jahvid Best went down.

Maurice Morris is nowhere near the back he was last season. He's dropped a lot of passes at key times, and he has yet to break off a big gain in back-to-back weeks. Keiland Williams is currently undergoing a sophomore slump, and Aaron Brown has yet to see the field. If Smith goes down, someone must step up if the Lions want to establish some kind of running game.

In the first half of the season, the Lions were able to win without a strong running game. However, some of the teams they played in the first half of the season had poor pass defenses, so the Lions were able to take advantage. The Lions also had the benefit of Jahvid Best, though he really only did just enough before he went down.

Unfortunately, that can only work so much, as we've seen in the past few games.

2. Keep Jared Allen at Bay

There's an old saying that "games are won and lost in the trenches." Sound familiar?

The last time the Lions played the Vikings in Minnesota, Jared Allen nearly took out Matt Stafford again, and tackle Jeff Backus along with him. There is no questioning that Allen is clearly one of the best down linemen in the league. But like all players, even the best sometimes can be blocked.

If the Lions' offensive line wants to establish any sort of reputation and cohesiveness, they must keep Allen at bay. If they don't, it could be another nightmarish game for Stafford.

One thing is certain, though—the Jared Allen-Jeff Backus rivalry sure is fun to watch, huh?

1. Eliminate Useless Penalties

As if this wasn't obvious.

The No. 1 thing the Lions need to do to beat the Vikings on Sunday is not beat themselves. The Vikings are a bad team. Period. You have no more excuses now that you are in the thick of a playoff chase.

Coach Jim Schwartz said in his press conference after the game, and reiterated on Detroit's "Karsch and Anderson" on 97.1 The Ticket, that "useless", "selfish" penalties will not be tolerated anymore.

It all started Thanksgiving—well, you know what happened there. There's no need to re-hash it, so I won't. Sunday night's game was just a downright disgrace by some players. Say what you will, but no matter whether you are being provoked, prodded, taunted, whatever, you are taught not to retaliate.

Brandon Pettigrew, Nate Burleson, Titus Young and Eric Wright were the victims that game.

Now don't misunderstand what I am trying to say here—penalties will occur every game. That's just part of the nature of the game. But three offensive pass interference penalties? Three?

Titus Young I could maybe give a free pass to because he's a rookie. Team captain Dominic Raiola couldn't give him one, however. Raiola let Young know what's up, as he should.

One thing is certain. In the past two games, the Lions have suffered a severe lack of discipline. If the Lions want to lose the reputation of being a "dirty" team, they must put an end to the silly pre- and post-whistle fouls.

Penalties will kill you. Period. As a team in the playoff chase, now is not the time to be spiraling out of control. It's time for Jim Schwartz, the coaching staff and the team captains to do whatever it takes to make sure this does not happen again.