close
close

Guiltandivy

Source for News

    • The Lions-Vikings will play a crucial role in the race for the division title
    Update Information

    The Lions-Vikings will play a crucial role in the race for the division title

    Kathleen William Posted on

    play

    Allen Park – The first division game of the season for the Detroit Lions could end up being their most important.

    The undefeated Minnesota Vikings await at US Bank Stadium this Sunday, and with Minnesota holding a lead over Detroit (4-1) after their 5-0 start, there's a good chance we'll look back on this affair as a turning point in Week 7 the season for both teams, regardless of who emerges victorious.

    For the Vikings, coming off a bye week, it's a chance to prove their unexpected start is real. Sportsbooks expect Minnesota to total 6.5 wins this season, a number they are trending toward breaking before the end of the first half of the regular season.

    For Detroit, the reigning NFC North champions, it's a chance to show they're the frontrunners, even if they lost their best buddy, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.

    “It’s big,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “It’s a division game. They're playing well…they've already got a division win in Green Bay, so that's a big game, that's a really big game, and that's how you have to approach it.”

    Detroit secured its first league title in 30 years by defeating Minnesota at US Bank Stadium in Week 16 last season, then completed the sweep over its rival by handily winning a match at Ford Field in Week 18 .

    After Sunday, the Lions won't see the Vikings again until Week 18, when the two meet in the season finale at Ford Field. There's still a long way to go, but the result of Sunday's game could go a long way toward determining how much – if anything – the next meeting means.

    It's not just the Vikings who pose a threat within the division. The NFC North is the first league since 2000 in which all four teams have at least four wins in the first six weeks of the season. It seems possible that all four teams will have similar records at the end of the year, and the first tiebreaker for the division race will be the in-division record.

    “This is a very important week of preparation because we are playing one of the best teams in the National Football League,” said Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. “A really good team in all three phases, Dan (Campbell) is one of the best coaches in our league and his team and his staff, everything they have in front of them is going to be a huge challenge, and really, as everyone in our division play so well, these division games will be really important.

    More: “Fight fire with fire”: A chess game between top coordinators takes place at the Lions-Vikings

    More: 'No class': Former governor Chris Christie calls out Dan Campbell after Lions bury Cowboys

    The Chicago Bears are off to a 4-2 start under rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, and the Green Bay Packers are off to a 4-2 start despite missing quarterback Jordan Love for several games. The NFC North has an overall record of 16-4 in non-division games.

    “It's important because it's a division game and they're at the top of the division … but if we were playing Green Bay or Chicago, it would be just as important,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said.

    If you need any indication that this game means something more, it's the extremes Detroit has gone to to prepare for the street environment it will face. At practice this week, the team repeatedly sounded the opponent's first down sound – a Vikings horn – so that it could be heard from the parking lot outside the team's facility in Allen Park.

    “Isn’t it annoying?” Campbell asked a reporter, who noticed he was hearing it from the media room. “Because that’s the point of it, it’s supposed to be annoying. It’s supposed to annoy them.”

    In other words, it's designed to help Lions maintain composure in a hostile environment.

    One of the things that has helped the Vikings get off to such a great start to the season is their ability to get off to great starts in games. They have only made five offensive plays while trailing this season and are averaging nine points per game in the first quarter, nearly twice as many as they scored in the second and third quarters (4.8 points each).

    When the Vikings played in Green Bay in Week 4, they took a 28-0 lead in the first half. The Packers stormed back and made the game a game, but were unable to overcome the early deficit as Minnesota needed just a fourth quarter field goal to overtake Lambeau Field for a 31-29 win.

    “The common denominator across all five of these teams that they beat is: Man, they lose it and the communication isn't there and things start to go wrong and it snows and it gets worse and really nobody made her do it.” “Really the wire,” Campbell said. “We have to take this thing into the fourth quarter and make it a game because if you don’t do that, it’s going to be difficult; you will run uphill.”

    “So that’s really the focus here – keep your composure, communicate and you have to fight.”

    The respect is mutual, also because the two teams are not that different. Both play physical football and have earned a reputation for being difficult to play against.

    “It's really a talented team across the board,” Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said of Detroit. “They play physical. They don't really have many weaknesses High level. They do a really good job. It will be a big, big challenge for us.

    The Lions have had success in the division under Campbell, particularly in the last two seasons. Detroit was 4-2 in the NFC North last season and 5-1 the year before. Overall, Campbell's team continually reiterates the importance of winning these games: The Lions don't just want to make the playoffs; They want the playoffs to go their way, which means they take the division race seriously.

    “I mean, how do you make it to the playoffs? The first thing you have to do is win your division,” Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand said. “Right now they're 1-0 (in the division) and we haven't had a division game yet, so we've got to start putting our (best) foot forward this week against our next opponent, Minnesota.”

    Where the Lions secured their last division title, they are determined to get a leg up on their next title.

    [email protected]

    @nolanbianchi

    Tagged:

    LEAVE A RESPONSE

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Kathleen William
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like

    ads