Thanksgiving takeaways: Vikings @ Lions
The state of Michigan will tonight be giving thanks to Darius Slay and Matt Prater, as the Detroit Lions yet again won in the fourth quarter, this time against the Minnesota Vikings.
A costly Sam Bradford pick in the final few minutes of the game saw Detroit have the ball deep into Vikings territory. This meant handing over to Matt Prater, who has been the Lions’ saviour in the fourth quarter this season. He kicked through the posts, to take the Lions to 7-4 and edge a one game lead in the NFC North.
The Vikings continue their dismal form, having now only won once in six games. They now fall to 6-5, and have it all to do if they want to win the division.
Here’s five takeaways from a tense thanksgiving game at Ford Field.
The Detroit Lions will win the NFC North
If you would’ve said this in August you would have been seen as possibly insane or just plain stupid. But folks, this is happening.
The Lions have now done the double over a Minnesota team who look hopeless. They have a big lead over the Green Bay Packers, and the Bears? Well, they’re the Bears. They don’t have a quarterback worth talking about.
The Lions are winning the NFC North. It’s been a weird season hasn’t it?
Sam Bradford is not a good quarterback
Yes, Sam Bradford had a good completion percentage. Woop. He also failed to score a single touchdown, threw most of his passes short, and handed Detroit the win with two minutes to go.
Surely someone will realise somewhere he’s not good. I mean the Vikings were forced into this move, but he’s gone next year isn’t he? Right?
Matt Stafford is good… but could still improve
It has to be said that Stafford has been exceptional this season. That being said, he could also improve his game massively in some areas. One particular area being his consistency. Yes it’s nice to come out the blocks fast, completing your first six passes, but then two have a dismal third quarter (yet again) needs fixing.
Detroit need a running game
It’s funny to think that the team who once had the greatest running back who ever lived in their side are currently 30th in rushing yards. Theo Riddick has certainly not done anything special, seeing as he is mainly good at receiving the ball. Abdullah has been a miss, but surely Detroit need to draft someone next year to fix this?
Struggling to sleep? Get a tape of the Vikings offence
The Vikings offence is honestly awful to watch. Do you like to watch about 40 short plays a game? Well, you’re in luck! It shows a lot that they failed to throw a single touchdown today, and instead relied on their running game to get them their single seven points. They’ll need to improve if they want to do anything this year.