8 Reasons the Detroit Lions Will Beat the Minnesota Vikings

I predicted the Detroit Lions to go 9-7 this year and miss the playoffs. For that prediction to hold true, I'm eventually going to have to project that the Lions lose a football game.

Based on a recent article of mine, you might think I'd be predicting a fall from grace for the upstart Lions.

That might happen eventually, but it won't be this week. The Lions are on a roll after a hard-fought road victory and a dominant one at home. The offense is clicking, particularly the passing game, and the defense is good and getting better.

The Vikings on the other hand, are coming off a devastating home loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs, who they led 17-0 at halftime and 17-10 in the fourth quarter. And they're about two games from the apex of a major quarterback controversy.

Besides, what I was advocating earlier this week was not to expect the Lions to start losing football games, but just to take it a game at a time and stop talking about expectations. If you look at it one game at a time, there is reason to believe the Lions can win every single football game on the schedule. So let's focus on that, and stop talking about playoffs for now.

For starters, this is the week the Metrodome finally falls to the Detroit Lions, and here are eight good reasons to put your money on it.

Matthew Stafford Is Ridiculous

To date, Matthew Stafford has posted the eighth-most passing yards in the NFL through two games, and has the fourth-best passer rating.

The Minnesota Vikings are 24th in the NFL in passing yards allowed and 13th in passer rating against.

Not bad, considering one of the Vikings' games was against the San Diego Chargers. But still, not good overall. The Vikings lack an elite corner (though they have some pretty good ones, Chris Cook looks alright,) but the Lions have an elite wide receiver.

There once was a time opponents could shut down the Lions' passing game just by putting two or three bodies on Calvin Johnson at all times.

Today, they can put two bodies on Johnson, but Nate Burleson, Titus Young and the Trio of Terror at tight end will make the remaining cover guys pay. And Johnson will still catch two touchdowns.

And worst of all, the Lions have a quarterback in place who will find an open man immediately, and zip the ball to him even faster. We're not talking about Shaun Hill or Drew Stanton, who can manage a game. We're talking about Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick who could kill a fly with a 30-yard pass.

The Vikings plain and simply can't match up with all that. I'm not sure anyone can.

Donovan McNabb Is Not Ridiculous

I feel for Donovan McNabb. You won't find a classier guy in the NFL. He handled himself with grace in some decidedly ungraceful situations in Philadelphia and Washington.

If he wasn't playing for the Vikings, I'd be rooting for him.

Sadly, he is with a divisional opponent, and it's plain as day that he's just not good anymore. It probably hurts that he has no weapons other than Percy Harvin, but whatever the reason, he's averaging 133.5 yards a game right now.

Matthew Stafford is averaging more than that in a half. 

The Lions are going to bring the pass rush, the Lions' secondary is much better than anyone expected, and McNabb is going to have to find a way through it.

Could the Lions get McNabb pulled for the second straight season?

Adrian Peterson Can't Do Everything

Adrian Peterson is a man among boys.

He is still the best running back in football, and he has, two weeks in a row, put the Minnesota Vikings on his back and tried to win them a football game.

And two weeks in a row, he has failed.

That's not really fair to say, though. It's more appropriate to say the Vikings have failed him.

Peterson has posted a couple of fantastic games thus far, even though both of his opponents eventually figured out that Peterson was the only weapon worth fearing.

But the defense isn't holding, the passing game isn't producing, and Peterson can't run the ball 45 times a game.

Peterson will probably have success in this game. Kansas City gashed the Lions' run defense early until the score forced them to abandon the ground game (this could also happen). The Lions will make adjustments, but Minnesota could see similar success.

But Minnesota isn't going to win this game by being one-dimensional on the ground, and right now, it looks like they won't be able to any other way.

Logical Progression

The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota.

Therefore, the Detroit Lions will beat the Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota.

That argument has a million holes in it from a football standpoint, since these things are decided by matchups and execution, not a complicated hierarchy of who-beat-who.

But it follows perfectly from a logical standpoint, so just go with it.

The Metrodome Must Fall

No, no, not like that.

I'm talking about the Lions' 13-game losing streak at the Metrodome. The Lions have not left that building victorious since 1997, and there has never been a better time to do it.

These Lions are trying to turn the corner, and part of that is eliminating their long-standing losing streaks. Last year they took care of divisional and road losing streaks.

This year, they can knock down their long losing streaks at the homes of their divisional opponents.

Lambeau Field will be tough, but the Metrodome is ripe for the taking this year. In the 13 games the Lions have failed to conquer Minnesota at home, not once has Detroit been this good and Minnesota this bad.

Matchups and momentum are in the Lions' favor, and with this losing streak on the line, there should be no shortage of motivation.

The Vikings Can't Close

It's funny, just last week, I was asking whether the Lions would learn how to close up a ball game.

Then Sunday happened, and the Lions beat down the Chiefs 48-3 while Minnesota was busy giving away a 17-point lead at home.

The week before that, the Vikings had the Chargers by double-digits before losing.

I don't see how the Vikings go up two scores on the Lions this week, but even if they do, there is no reason to believe they'll hold onto it.

The Defense Hasn't Peaked

By all accounts, the Detroit Lions' defense has been absurdly good, and the strength of the unit has been, of course, the...secondary?

Wait, what?

The Detroit Lions' secondary has been top notch so far, and the front four has been mostly neutralized. Who saw that coming?

Now, the back seven looks to be playing better each week, and the front four won't be held down forever, especially once Nick Fairley joins the lineup.

So it would certainly appear that the Lions have a ways to go in terms of the defense coming together—which is scary when you consider that the Lions are currently seventh in yards allowed and second in scoring defense.

Brett Favre Torpedoed the Vikings

When Brett Favre had his year with the Jets, then retired, then started considering unretirement again, I was thrilled.

I knew then that the Vikings were in trouble. Maybe not that year, maybe not the year after, but eventually. Because the Vikings' fascination with bringing in a 40-year-old quarterback meant that they had no interest in addressing the quarterback issue in the long term.

This would be the move that ultimately tanked the team.

Don't believe me? This exact scenario, the one about to take place this weekend, was laid out in detail by yours truly over two years ago.

Seriously, read it. I'll keep linking to it until you do.

I could restate the whole thing here, but just read the prediction from two years ago. It says everything I would say here, only without the benefit of hindsight.