Vikings At Detroit Today

With the win, he joins two other Lions coaches to win their first three Thanksgiving Day games in Detroit, including Buddy Parker (1951-55) and Bobby Ross (1997-99). Two plays later, Matt Prater booted a 40-yard field goal as the clock ran out. However, it was Detroit that had been in stronger form of late. At this point, this is Detroit’s identity. After that, the schedule gets easier, but neither they nor the Packers can look much past their next game.

The Detroit Lions took over sole position of first place yesterday as they beat the Vikings on a time expiring field goal by Matt Prater. It was their seventh loss in eight tries on Thanksgiving against Cowboys, who had never won more than eight straight in the regular season. In their first matchup, he found Andre Roberts for a completion to set up a game-tying field goal with time running out. That is undeniably key as the intensity increases and the games matter more later in the season.

Ziggy Ansah hit Sam Bradford from behind to force a fumble that Haloti Ngata recovered, but replay showed that Bradford’s arm was coming forward when the ball came loose. But with all of the circumstances being equal, I don’t think anybody can definitively declare that the Vikings would be in a different situation with Teddy at quarterback than they are with Sam Bradford. You know, no one played ideal and we’ve just got to stick together. They don’t get uptight, even at the end of ballgames. Still, for the most part, the Lions kept the offense in front of them and stopped them before the sticks.

“They’ve been in it”. They find a way.

Minnesota tied the game on a 30-yard Kai Forbath field goal in the third quarter, then followed it up with a 13-play, 76-yard drive and another field goal, this one from 28 yards out, to take a 13-10 lead early in the fourth.

The Lions, at 7-4, lead the Vikings, who dropped to 6-5, by a game.

So when the early games were close and competitive, fans gathered around the television.

Through it all, leave it to Boone to do what he could to cheer up the locker room and display optimism for the final five games. “A feeling you can’t describe unless you experience it”. Not because Jim Caldwell is a great coach.

The Vikings defense played good and bad, as well.

“Never in my life, man”.

“At some point we’ve got to catch a break”, tight end Kyle Rudolph said, adding: “You’re starting to get into a rhythm and another guy goes down”. “It’s impressive, man. It’s ridiculously impressive”. A lot of it was (Matthew Stafford) running.

The Lions were playing Cover-2, or Tampa-2. Granted, nobody’s confusing Stafford with Manning (though they were both No. 1 picks) or the ’09 Colts with the ’16 Lions, but they both have a contagious unflappability passed onto their teams. They’ve accepted that this is the way they are.

If you want proof, just go back and look at Norv Turner’s version of the Vikings offense.

“We weren’t good enough on third-down offense”, Zimmer said.

“It’s hard when you are only picking up five, six, seven at a time”.

“I don’t worry too much about it”, Quin said. That doesn’t matter, because this is the National Football League and you don’t get judged on style points, like in the NCAA.