Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings: Complete Week 6 Preview for Minnesota
The 2014 NFL season is certainly shaping up to be a topsy-turvy affair.
"With the Cardinals and Bengals losing yesterday, for just the 3rd time in the modern era of the NFL, no team started the season 4-0.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 6, 2014"
At this point in the season you could probably pencil in the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos as playoff teams, (please note the use of "probably" and "pencil"), and put a black sharpie through the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders.
The fortunes of every other team in the league could go either way at this point. Through five weeks, 22 of the 32 teams in the NFL have won either two or three games.
It's reminiscent of the 2010 season (the last time no team made it to 4-0), when five teams finished 10-6. That year, two of the 10-6 teams (Tampa Bay and the New York Giants) missed the playoffs, while another (Green Bay) went on to win the Super Bowl.
The point of all of this is to say that the 2014 season, through five weeks, is completely up for grabs.
Anybody who is looking at teams in the beginning of October and thinking they're seeing finished products hasn't been watching the NFL for very long.
This all adds up to good news for Minnesota Vikings fans, who probably thought the sky was falling after last Thursday night's atrocious performance in a 42-10 thrashing at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.
The truth is that at 2-3, nothing is lost and a win at home against the Detroit Lions this week will go a long way toward hitting the mythical reset button on the 2014 season.
It's a button that the Vikings and their fans are probably tiring of.
They hit it to start the season, to begin the new head coach Mike Zimmer era. They hit it for Week 2 to begin life without star running back Adrian Peterson. They hit it for Week 4 to begin the Teddy Bridgewater era. They hit it over and over during Week 5 to get out their frustration of having to watch another game with Christian Ponder at quarterback.
They'll be happy to hit it one more time this week as Bridgewater will return to the helm to lead the Vikings against the Lions, who sit at 3-2, tied with the Packers atop the NFC North.
This week begins a stretch of four games that look very winnable for Minnesota. (Home against Detroit, at Buffalo and Tampa Bay before returning home against the Washington Redskins.) Any look at the Vikings 2014 schedule had games two through five being the toughest stretch of the year.
None of that will matter if the Vikings don't go out and win the games they're supposed to win.
The Lions are stinging after coming off of a hugely disappointing 17-14 home loss to the Buffalo Bills. It was a game the Lions led 14-0 before collapsing against a Kyle Orton-led team. The Lions might not have been as bad as the Vikings were in their loss to the Packers, but, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, they were close.
Like the Vikings, the injury bug has hit Detroit, with head coach Jim Caldwell saying Monday that he's strongly considering sitting star wide receiver Calvin Johnson against Minnesota to let his injured right ankle heal, according to Birkett.
For the Vikings, its best to just put the Packers debacle behind them and look forward to playing the Lions. It's time to hit that reset button once again and resume the Teddy Bridgewater era.
Vikings' Week 5 Recap
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It would be dumb to argue that football isn't a team game. Every player who steps on to the field has a job to do and if he fails, the success of all of his teammates could be affected.
Having said that, it would also be naive to think that generally speaking, quarterback isn't the position with the most impact on any given football game.
The Vikings 42-10 blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday night was a mismatch from the beginning.
Christian Ponder vs. Aaron Rodgers.
It would be absurd to say that Ponder is the sole reason Minnesota got killed. Nobody on the Vikings roster played a particularly good game. Having said that, nowhere was the difference between the two teams more obvious than at quarterback.
Where Rodgers was clinical, Ponder was clueless.
In its simplest terms, every time Rodgers dropped back to pass it looked like he knew exactly where everyone on both teams was going to be and when they were going to be there.
Conversely, when Ponder looked to throw, it was as if nobody had even called a play in the huddle. It looked asif the instructions had been "just try to get open," which led to Ponder frantically looking around to see if anyone had.
In the end, Rodgers' passing numbers were modest, just 156 yards. But he didn't need to do much after throwing for 112 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, staking the Packers to a 28-0 lead.
Most Vikings fans woke up Thursday morning thinking that rookie Teddy Bridgewater would play, after reports that his sprained ankle had heeled enough.
"Rain here today, rain Thursday in Green Bay. If he plays as expected, #Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater and tender ankle will have sloppy track
— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) October 1, 2014"
However, news started trickling in on Thursday that Bridgewater wouldn't play. The "will he or won't he play" scenario surrounding Bridgewater turned out to be far more dramatic than the game itself, which was over for all intents and purposes when Ponder threw a pick-six halfway through the second quarter that gave the Packers a 21-0 lead.
In the end, Thursday's game served as a bad reminder to Vikings fans what the biggest discrepancy between the two teams has been over the last four seasons.
"Quite the rival: Aaron Rodgers’ 119.7 all-time QB rating against Vikings is highest ever by one player vs. one team (min 200 pass attempts).
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) October 6, 2014"
Which is a quite a contrast to the tweets going out on Ponder's play against Green Bay, summed up nicely by this one:
"Joe Webb's passer rating in that playoff game: 54.9. Christian Ponder's passer rating at halftime: 13.4.
— Mark Craig (@markcraignfl) October 3, 2014"
The loss moved Ponder's record as a starter to 14-21-1, but enough about that. It's best for Vikings fans to just put Thursday's game in the rearview mirror and move on.
News and Notes
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Four Ankles, One Football Game
The main storyline heading into the Lions vs. Vikings matchup in Week 6 is the health of the ankles of four of the most important players involved.
Success for NFL teams over the course of any given season comes down to attrition as much as anything else.
Five weeks into the 2014 season and a perusal of any team's injury report sees it swelling as the bigger, stronger, faster players of the current NFL continue to injure each other at an alarming rate.
The Vikings will be thrilled to get quarterback Teddy Bridgewater back, after he missed the Green Bay game with a sprained left ankle.
"Teddy Bridgewater was a full participant in today's practice, another strong indication that he is going to start Sunday. #Vikings
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 8, 2014"
The other ankle of concern for Minnesota is that of safety Harrison Smith, the Vikings best defensive player, who was in a walking boot until Monday after spraining his ankle against the Packers. Smith didn't practice on Tuesday or Wednesday, but is expected to be ready to face the Lions.
"Coach Zimmer expects both Harrison Smith and Teddy Bridgewater to play: http://t.co/yUznCtX5K6 pic.twitter.com/cyqvTsurAd
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 8, 2014"
Things might not be as positive for the Lions, who will probably be without star receiver Calvin Johnson on Sunday, as he tries to heal his high ankle sprain.
"Lions WR Calvin Johnson said today he needs rest for his high ankle sprain.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2014 "
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, Johnson did not sound like someone who was going to play this week when he spoke to the media on Wednesday.
"Like I say, every week, just working to get back from this thing in the training room, spending most of my time there during the day. So we're doing everything in our power to get back on the field.
Some of these things require some rest. You can't keep on pounding on it and expect it to get better.
"
Bush, the versatile running back who's torched the Vikings over the years with both the Saints and the Lions, is also nursing an ankle sprain, although Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports that Bush expects to play on Sunday.
Bush lit up Minnesota last year with 256 total yards and two touchdowns in their two games.
Even if all four players suit up (the guess is that Johnson will sit out and the other three will play), anxious eyes will be on them in hopes that they don't strain their already tender ankles.
Brian Robison Calls for a Gut Check
It's probably best for everyone involved with the Vikings to forget about the humiliating defeat to the Packers last week and simply look forward to the rest of the 2014 season.
At 2-3 they're still right in the thick of things in the NFC North, and the next four games are all certainly winnable, which would put Minnesota at 6-3 and in a great spot for the latter half of the season.
However, one remnant from the Green Bay game that simply can't happen again is players failing to put their best foot forward. Vikings defensive end Brian Robison called out the team and said that players had "checked out" of the game by halftime, as reported by John Shipley of the Pioneer Press.
"I just felt like at times last night that they had more of a will to win that game than we did, and that can never happen when you're playing in a game.
I did not like the mood of our locker room at halftime. The mood, was almost like some people had checked out, and you know what? I'm just going to be blunt and say it: It can never be that way. This is the team I've felt like, all along, has fought and scratched no matter what type of adversity we have faced, and I felt like we didn't have that last night.
"
One would figure that head coach Mike Zimmer had a lot to say to certain players this week when the Vikings watched film of the Packers game. Zimmer is a much more fire and brimstone type coach than his predecessor in Minnesota, Leslie Frazier.
The Green Bay game certainly snowballed on the Vikings, but it won't be a complete waste if they learn from it. As bad as Minnesota's offense was, the defense fared no better and both units have proven that they don't have much room for error for the Vikings to win football games.
With Bridgewater's return and the season still being so young, Minnesota has no reason to believe it can't turn things around and be in the hunt for the division title.
Peterson Gets a Tentative Trial Date
Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson, who remains on the exempt list, has a tentative trial date of December 1, for a felony child abuse charge, according to multiple news outlets, including CNN.com.
Peterson was in court Wednesday in Conroe, Texas, and late in the afternoon it appeared that the district attorney in the case would seek to have the judge recused.
"Here is Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon's allegations against Peterson Judge Kelly Case& motion to recuse: #Vikings http://t.co/blyRKUIhAa
— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) October 8, 2014"
If the judge is replaced, it could push any trial date back even further. Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, had asked for a speedy trial according to Jim Hammerand of Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
While it's presumptuous and probably silly to try to guess at how things will play out in court for Peterson, the tentative trial date doesn't bode well for Peterson returning to the field in 2014.
Things got even murkier for Peterson Thursday afternoon when this news broke:
"MORE: Adrian Peterson admitted to "smoking a little weed" before taking a drug test Wednesday. » http://t.co/tgKUkqbF08
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 9, 2014"
The Vikings best course of action as far as football goes is to move forward as if Peterson won't be with them this season. If he's granted a speedier trial and exonerated, then things might change, but it's too soon to speculate on those matters.
ESPN.com's Ben Goessling speculated late Thursday that Peterson's return to the team is now a pretty cloudy proposition.
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Harrison Smith | S | Probable |
| Chad Greenway | LB | Doubtful |
| Kyle Rudolph | TE | Out |
| Teddy Bridgewater | QB | Probable |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | WR | Probable |
| Sharrif Floyd | DT | Probable |
| Jerick McKinnon | RB | Probable |
| Matt Asiata | RB | Probable |
| Michael Mauti | LB | Probable |
All injury updates courtesy of Mike Wobscall at Vikings.com
The biggest news for the Vikings on the injury front is that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater seems fully healed from his sprained left ankle and will be on the field to face the Lions on Sunday afternoon.
Harrison Smith, who's been battling a sore ankle all week, was limited in practice on Thursday but is expected to be ready to go by game time.
"Outlook is looking better for Harrison Smith, who practiced today. Outlook for Chad Greenway seems less promising: http://t.co/1wzzNizAiU
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 9, 2014"
Unfortunately for the Vikings, it looks as if linebacker Chad Greenway will miss his third straight game as he heels his broken ribs.
Cordarrelle Patterson and Sharrif Floyd were both limited in practice on Thursday as well, but both are expected to play.
Patterson dinged his hip against the Packers and Floyd is nursing an injured elbow.
Running backs Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon are on the injury report, but were full participants in practice this week and will both play on Sunday. Asiata has a strained groin and McKinnon's ankle still isn't 100 percent.
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X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Harrison Smith vs. Golden Tate
The Vikings safety and the Lions wideout were teammates for three years at Notre Dame, both of them having star-studded careers while playing for the Irish.
After playing four years for the Seattle Seahawks, where his numbers got better each season, Tate signed a five-year, $31 million deal with the Lions in March.
The Lions signed Tate to complement superstar Calvin Johnson, but with Johnson battling a nagging ankle injury over the last few weeks, Tate has taken center stage for Detroit.
He leads the Lions with 31 catches for 451 yards and is coming off a monster game against the Bills last week, when he had seven catches for 134 yards and a touchdown.
Smith is fighting off a left ankle sprain that he suffered against the Packers. The third-year safety is having his best year as a pro, with three interceptions, six passes defensed, 27 tackles and a sack.
Those numbers have him on the Pro Football Focus All-Star Team for the first quarter of the season.
Smith, who was in a walking boot over the weekend, was limited in practice Wednesday, but, unless he has a setback, expects to play against the Lions, according to John Holler of VikingUpdate.com.
Smith talked about how frustrating it is to battle injuries:
"It drives you a little bit nuts when you’re sidelined. I love football and absolutely hate missing time. You only get so many games that you can play in your lifetime and missing a chunk of them due to injury are games that you won’t get back. That’s one of the reasons I’m trying to do everything I can to be out there Sunday and helping us beat the Lions.
"
While the Vikings secondary will catch a huge break if Calvin Johnson sits out the game, Tate is a still a threat that Smith and the other defensive backs will have to deal with. Smith's three picks are tied for the league lead, but he was beaten on a deep route against Green Bay by Jordy Nelson.
Whether the coverage breakdown was on Smith or somebody else, the Vikings can't afford to give up huge plays and Tate is a guy who can stretch defenses deep.
In his third season in the league, Smith has become the Vikings best defensive player and the steadying force of the secondary.
Linval Joseph vs. Rob Sims
It's been a pretty strange season for the Vikings defense so far.
While the group is clearly improved over last year's disastrous unit, Mike Zimmer's unit is having a boom-or-bust season. And Zimmer can't be happy with the inconsistency.
Minnesota just completed a four-game stretch during which they faced Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers and they gave up an average of only 224 yards passing per game—a number they would have jumped at before the season.
The Vikings front four has to generate more sacks though. The team has 10 through five games, a number that is skewed, since they had five of those against the St. Louis Rams.
"#Vikings had 5 sacks in Week 1, have had 5 total since. Lions OL isn't as bad at 17 sacks allowed stat indicates. Important matchup Sunday.
— Mike Wobschall (@wobby) October 9, 2014"
Minnesota had been pretty effective against the run until the Packers Eddie Lacy ran through them like they were pee wees. As Ben Goessling writes on ESPN.com, Joseph owned up to having a poor game against the Packers.
Joseph and the rest of the Vikings front should be able to pin their ears backs against the Lions, who gave up six sacks to the Bills last Sunday and have given up 17 on the season, the second highest in the league.
Joseph will be primarily matched up against Lions right guard Rob Sims, who, according to Pro Football Focus, has given up an abysmal 16 quarterback disruptions on the season.
The 6'4", 323 pound Joseph has been a great addition to the middle of the Vikings' defensive line, plugging up the middle of the line (other than the Packers game) and recording 18 tackles and a sack.
It's certainly a good week for the Vikings defense to get back on track, as the Lions come into the game limping. Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush are both questionable with ankle injuries and Joique Bell is returning from a concussion.
The Vikings should be able to set the tone with their interior defense and Joseph against Sims is a matchup they should take advantage of.
Matt Kalil vs. Ezekiel Ansah
The Detroit Lions have three first-round draft picks starting on their defensive front four, and although tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley might have been bigger names coming out of college, it's right defensive end Ziggy Ansah who might have the most high-end potential of the three.
Ansah, who shot up draft boards in 2013 after showing off incredible athleticism at the combine, was still a bit of a surprise when the Lions took him with the fifth overall pick.
The 6'5", 270 pound Ansah didn't disappoint as a rookie, collecting eight sacks, two forced fumbles and 32 tackles as a rookie.
Ansah has long arms and a combination of speed and power that seems ideal for an NFL defensive end. While many in Detroit had been hoping for a monster breakout year from Ansah in 2014, as detailed by Josh Katzenstein of The Detroit News, he's battled a balky knee for much of the season and has just one sack and 16 tackles on the year.
The Vikings will counter Ansah with a high draft pick of their own, left tackle Matt Kalil, who was the fourth-overall choice in the 2012 draft. Kalil's play has been a bit rocky in 2014, with Pro Football Focus ranking him as the worst starting tackle in the league through the season's first three weeks, according to A.J. Mansour of KFAN.com.
Kalil has played better the last two weeks and he told Andrew Krammer of 1500espn.com that his pass protection is coming around. After a horrendous performance against the Patriots, where Kalil gave up two sacks and a blocked field goal to Chandler Jones, he got a call of encouragement from his brother, Ryan, who starts at center for the Carolina Panthers.
"He knows how I am, I'm my toughest critic. After a game like that, I'm not going to be pleased in my play. But just some brotherly advice, get my confidence back up. That helped a little bit.
It's good to have a role model like that. [He said] 'Listen, you're going to get beat, you're going to get down, but you have to move on to the next play.' Especially at left tackle, if you get beat and you get down on yourself, those guys can smell that blood.
"
Kalil has picked up his game the last two weeks and Minnesota needs him to stay on the uptick this Sunday.
The Vikings need Kalil to continue to improve, as he was drafted to be a cornerstone of the offensive line for years to come. In Ansah, he'll be facing a combination of size and speed that's rare, although the Lions end is only in his fifth year of football.
Kalil vs. Ansah is a matchup that the Vikings and Lions could be seeing for years. For the Vikings to get back on the winning track, they are going to need Kalil to become a steady force on the left side of their offensive line.
Vikings X-Factor of the Week: Teddy Bridgewater
Well, this one's as easy as it gets. Especially for anyone who watched the Vikings offense try to move the ball against the Packers (whose defense still only ranks 25th in the league.)
"Mike Zimmer to Lions beat writers on having Teddy Bridgewater back: "Anything would be a lift after the way we performed last week."
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 8, 2014"
The return of Bridgewater to the lineup feels like another new beginning for the Vikings. The rookie first-round draft pick was brilliant in his starting debut against the Atlanta Falcons, throwing for 317 yards in a 41-28 victory.
Bridgewater sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter of that game though and missed last Thursday night's game against Green Bay.
Without him the Vikings offense was pretty inept.
"Mike Zimmer tells Detroit reporters on a conference call that he expects Teddy Bridgewater to play Sunday, so there's that. #Vikings
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 8, 2014"
Bridgewater's return comes against a Lions defense that's playing very well though, ranking first in the NFL in giving up just 282.4 yards per game.
The quarterback's return should give the entire Vikings offense a boost though. In the win against the Falcons, it wasn't that he put up staggering numbers, but he aced the eyeball test.
He was poised and athletic in the pocket and used his legs to by himself and his receivers an extra few seconds to make plays. Bridgewater throws accurately and has zip on the ball. He showed the body language of a 10-year veteran and doesn't seem to let any situation rattle him.
Bridgewater was asked about his durability during a media session on Wednesday afternoon and, as detailed by Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, he said he wants to be in the position he's in for 10-plus years.
The Vikings love what they've seen from Bridgewater so far and would like nothing more than to not worry about who's playing quarterback for the next decade.
Prediction
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In all honesty, not much was learned about the Minnesota Vikings in their 42-10 shellacking by the Green Bay Packers last week that we didn't already know.
They were playing with Christian Ponder, their third-string quarterback, who's proven in his NFL career that he's not up to the task of leading a winning football team.
Whatever lessons are to be gleaned from that game won't be apparent until the Vikings take the field again this Sunday, at home against the Lions. It's then that we'll get some insight as to how Mike Zimmer coaches his team following a disastrous defeat.
Will the Vikings players bounce back after taking a knockout punch from the Packers?
The most important thing the Vikings will learn this week is how much of an impact rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater can have on a team that seems to be walking a fine line between being pretty good or having a long way to go before it can be a legitimate contender.
There's no doubt the Vikings are getting the Lions at the right time, with Calvin Johnson probably out, Reggie Bush on a balky ankle and the team reeling from blowing a two-touchdown lead in a 17-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills at home.
It won't be easy, though, and the Vikings will need solid performances on both sides of the ball to get a victory.
The offensive line will have to play extremely well against the Lions' stellar, physical front four, and Minnesota's receivers and running backs will have to play much better than they did against the Packers.
The Lions boast the top-ranked defense in the league, giving up only 282.4 yards and 15.8 points per game. The Vikings will have to establish at least a little bit of a running game so that the Lions front four can't simply pin its ears back and go after Bridgewater.
Memo to Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner: Cordarrelle Patterson scored two touchdowns the last time these two teams played, one on a 50-yard run and one on an eight-yard reception.
On defense the Vikings will have to get pressure on Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford to have success. Minnesota's secondary is much improved over last year, but the DBs will need a good pass rush up front if they are to make plays against Stafford and his rifle arm.
The Vikings are 15-1 against the Lions in Minneapolis since 1998. Sure, all of those games were inside the dome, but look for the winning ways to continue at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday.
Bridgewater will have another big day passing, and Patterson will break out of his four-game slump.
Vikings 26 Lions 20
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