The undefeated Minnesota Vikings travel to Ford Field on Sunday to face the Detroit Lions in a key divisional matchup, carrying a 6-0 record into the Motor City while navigating mounting concerns over their short-yardage offense and quarterback accuracy.
Minnesota Brings an Undefeated Record and a Scary Pass Defense to Ford Field
The Minnesota Vikings head into Sunday’s divisional game at Detroit looking to protect their unblemished 6-0 record as the National Football League’s lone remaining undefeated team, according to reporting from Team Headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota. Sunday’s contest kicks off at noon at Ford Field.
Minnesota arrives following a narrow 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Minnesota has allowed just a 14.3% conversion rate on third-and-7+, converting just seven times out of 49 attempts for the second-best mark in the league. Now, it’s worth pointing out that the Colts have one of the best rushing attacks in football, and they still produced only an above-average day against the Vikings.
Offensive Struggles and Short-Yardage Woes for Minnesota
Despite enjoying superior starting field position—averaging the league’s third-best 33.9-yard line—the Vikings’ offense averages just 20.8 points per game, ranking 23rd overall, and they average just 4.7 yards per play, ranking 27th. But observers were surprised to see how much of it appears to be Murray’s fault, as he really struggled with accuracy against the Colts. They rank 21st in yards per carry at 4.0, but 27th in rush EPA and 27th in rushing success rate. With Aaron Jones’ health status unclear this week and Jordan Mason back in the lineup, it’s hard to know what to expect on the ground for Minnesota.
Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell will have his team back on the practice field today at team headquarters in Eagan. He says the offense “is close” to a breakout game, and he says the film backs that up. O’Connell says quarterback Kyler Murray has been mostly accurate in the passing game, and the difference-maker could be how they use his running skills.
The offense “is close” to a breakout game.
Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings head coach
Detroit Prepares Its Blitz Counters for a Massive NFC North Showdown
The 4-2 Detroit Lions enter this weekend’s clash after outlasting the Green Bay Packers 20-17. The Vikes beat Indianapolis 16-10 last Sunday, while the 4-2 Lions outlasted the Green Bay Packers 20-17. NFL analyst Bucky Brooks previews the Week 8 matchup of the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings, noting that the Lions are one of the best teams against the blitz this year. When facing a blitz, the Lions rank eighth in lowest sack percentage at 5.4%, fifth in lowest pressure rate allowed at 35.1%, seventh in yards per attempt at 7.2, and first in EPA per pass at +0.25. But this is an entirely different beast in Minnesota, and we’ll see if Jared Goff, Drew Petzing, and the Lions offensive line have answers for Brian Flores.
They’re nasty on special teams. It actually wasn’t their best game on special teams against Indianapolis, featuring a blocked kick and a kick return allowed. But the rest of their special teams units were great: their punter, Brett Thorson, dropped both of his kicks inside the 20-yard line, and Myles Price had a 46-yard kick return of his own. Will Reichard has made every single kick this year outside of that one blocked. For the year, the Vikings rank first in punt return average at 19.2, first in kick return average at 30.7, eighth in punt coverage average at 8.7, and 14th in kick coverage average at 25.2, placing them first in special teams DVOA this year. But the Lions have been pretty dang good, too.
The Vikings play in Detroit on Sunday.
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