Minnesota Vikings: Previewing Vikings-Lions with Detroit Jock City
The beautiful thing about working at Fansided is that I have a lot of colleagues that cover other cities and other teams like a glove. When you want great Detroit area sports coverage, you need to head on over to Detroit Jock City. It’s full of great Detroit content about Michigan football, Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers and so forth.
We teamed up with Detroit Jock City to do a little preview for the upcoming Vikings – Lions tilt on Sunday. I asked a few questions of Braden Shackelford and here are his responses. Braden will post a piece to DJC with my preview from the Vikings perspective soon and we’ll make sure it’s linked up here.
Where was Calvin Johnson last week? As a Johnson owner in fantasy, it looked like he had a very down game for his high standards.
"I also own Johnson and let me tell you–it wasn’t his fault. Reports all offseason were that he’s in the best shape he’s been in in three seasons. That’s because this is the first offseason in three seasons he hasn’t had to go under the knife. Johnson looks big fast and strong, the problem is offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi hasn’t figured out how to use him. Lombardi was a quarterback coach in New Orleans and his play book is very similar to theirs. Much like New Orleans, Lombardi is doing a good job getting the tight ends involved, but other than that, his play calling is bland.It’s hard for Johnson to be productive when he’s only targeted four times. He was bracketed in coverage all game against the Chargers, but unlike years past, Stafford has the options to look elsewhere. When the Lions start winning with other options is when Johnson will start to get double coverage or even single coverage at times, instead of triple coverage."
What is the local outlook on the Lions? As the Vikings were probably overhyped this offseason, it seems that the Lions were overlooked.
"Lions fans definitely feel their team is overlooked. This team is mega-talented and showed that last Sunday. Unfortunately the Lions were without a number of key players last Sunday against the Chargers (Larry Warford, L.A. Waddle, Caraun Reid, DeAndre Levy) and that made a big difference.More from Minnesota VikingsKyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offenseKirk Cousins: More wins with fewer turnoversMinnesota Vikings Kyle Rudolph ConundrumMinnesota Vikings: how the Vikings can upset the PatriotsMinnesota Vikings: Xavier Rhodes could be difference-maker versus LionsThe media also knocked the Lions too much for losing Suh. He’s a generational talent, but the Lions actually missed Levy more last week than Suh.I think the Lions could be a 9-7 team this year because of their tough schedule. I could also see them being a 12-4 team because of their talent. It’ll be interesting to see how this team shapes up. As good as Stafford looked last Sunday prior to his elbow injury, I’d lean closer to the 12-4.As for the Vikings, I think they were probably overhyped, but that’s not a shot at the Vikings. The WILL be a team that contends. I just don’t know that they that type of team yet. The pieces are there though."
How is the Detroit defense now with a certain someone bolting for Miami?
"The Lions won’t be a top two defense. They might not even be a top 10, but it’s hard to judge without the team without it’s best player on the field in Levy. I expect them to be a top 10-12 unit. I will admit that the run game against elite running backs like Peterson, Forte, and Lacy scares me because this unit is a bit unproven up front. In the secondary, Rashean Mathis looked awfully old against Keenan Allen who isn’t really known for his speed which is also concerning."
What’s the running back situation? Abdullah looked good in Week 1, but Joique Bell is still there.
"Abdullah is the most talented runner in the backfield. He’s leaps and bounds better than Bell and he has all the makings of a three down back. I get the sense that the coaching staff either wants to preserve him by limiting his touches, or that they really want to make him earn it. If the Lions want to have continued success on the ground, they will have no choice but to keep feeding Abdullah, because they were a different team on the ground when he was on the field."
Who wins Sunday and why?
"I like the Lions in this one. I know just about every editor we had on our preseason Q&A marked the Lions down as a win for their respective teams, but the Lions are much more talented than given credit for. The defense won’t be as good this year, but the offense should be much improved–especially as the season progresses.It’ll be a close one, Lions 27 Vikings 24"
Thanks again to Braden and Detroit Jock City for helping us preview the big game on Sunday!
Next: Six observations from the Vikings' Week 1 loss