A Successful Lion Hunt

Vikings 24
Lions 9

The Vikings finally reached their bye. After 9 weeks filled with crazy kicker drama, a meltdown by one of their stars, a slew of major injuries on both sides of the ball, and a lot of bad luck at times, the team sits at 5-3-1, and even now sit in one of the NFC's 6 playoff spots.

The last hurdle was their pesky nemesis the Lions. The Lions who have handed us some of our most crushing defeats in recent years. The Lions who came in 2-0 at the purple palace. Games against them are like pulling teeth.

But the dominant, dynamic Vikings defense showed up today with gusto. They turned a pretty solid QB in Matthew Stafford into a deer in headlights. They completely controlled this game. 10 sacks, something even the Purple People Eaters never did(although the NFL didn't officially track sacks for some of that era, so maybe they did).

Once again the Vikings offense came right out and scored, with a nice mix of run and pass, and a nice mix of targets(Chad Beebe was thrown right in). And once again they kind of stalled after that for a while. Adam Thielen had his 100 yard game streak end, but I'm almost glad, cause it seemed like they were trying to force the ball to him too much. 3 drives ended on bad balls forced into him, including that bad Cousins pick. There wasn't much else in the passing game. Quon had a couple nice grabs. Rudy had one big catch. But Robinson dropped what would have been a big one.

The Cousins pick led to a Lions FG and it was just 7-6 and it was looking like another torturous game against these guys. But then two big plays helped the Vikings get some needed breathing room. First, Dalvin Cook got loose for about 70 yards. That set up a slick TD to Thielen. Then after a quick Lions series that went nowhere, Sherels got loose for a nice 20 some yard punt return. That turned what might have been just a clock killing series like last week into a golden chance for another score. And while they didn't get the 7, they got the 3, and in just 3 minutes or so that 7-6 became 17-6 and the Lions were never a serious threat again.

Now, again, the Vikings offense failed in the 2nd half to stick the dagger in. I don't know why they struggle with this so much. The only drive the offense came close to scoring in the 2nd half ended with that fumbled pitch(STOP RUNNING PLAYS BEHIND THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE!!!). But at least they had a couple drives that ate clock.

This was a defensive show. The pass rush was incredible. And a couple of those sacks were coverage sacks. You can say, "oh it's just the Lions" but to take apart a good veteran QB like this when your own defense is banged up is pretty great. Stafford does not make that silly pitch that led to the Hunter TD if he isn't rattled. That was a defensive effort that would have fit right in last year.

The team overall is in good position to make a run. The bye comes at just about the best time possible. This team is banged up and really needs to get some guys rested. The 2 games out of the bye especially are massive.

I think a 4-3 record in last 7 games has to be the baseline. They get 4 more wins they should be in position to win the division, or be the 2nd wild card(Carolina would seem a lock for the top WC). 5-2 wins you the division,  I'm almost certain of that. Gotta beat Chicago at least once. Gotta beat the Packers cause otherwise that tiebreaker kills you.

This team has not shown the very best of itself yet. The defense has righted itself. The offense has shown flashes. But they haven't come together for that complete game yet. But it wasn't until after the bye last year that they really hit their stride. Repeat that and we win the division again.