Lions vs Vikings: Players to watch, fixtures and issues, predictions

Get in, Kenny Golladay. Tate's trade with the Lions was as much a conviction to their sophomore as to everything on the list. Golladay has certainly shown signs of very good performance, since he already has 477 yards and three touchdowns for the second year in a row, but he has calmed down in the last two weeks with only three catches in total. Detroit will target him well in this event, and he will have to use this 6-foot-4 frame and his high speed to win physical fights. Detroit is trading some of the constant games for more attempts against big ones, and it will take a splash or two game from Golladay to try to score many points on a defense with an elite talent at all three levels.

One of the few pluses of this 28-14 loss to the Seahawks last week was the debut of Damon's "Snacks" Harrison. The defense against the race was much better when he was in the match and improved from quarter to quarter as his playing time increased each quarter. That's what All-Pro's versatile defense equipment came to offer to Lions in the trade. The Detroit defense has struggled to fight the race and pass this season, and Harrison has some ability to influence both aspects of the game, although he obviously specializes against the race. Lions only seem to have a good chance in this match if they are able to play a short distance and get the answers from their defense as soon as possible. It comes down to a player like Harrison in the middle, who jokes what the Minnesota offensive likes to do.

The emergence of Kerryon Johnson and the game being exploited was one of the reasons why Lions left Golden Tate. For years, Tate's bubble screens and rubbing routes acted as a pseudo-executed game, as Detroit had none. But Johnson was a revelation against Lions standards this year, averaging 67 yards per game and a record average of 6.1 yards per run. Auburn's second-round rookie volume has fluctuated, but is expected to rise after Detroit has lost its receiver by 90 shots a year. It will be a tough first test, as the Vikings rank among the top five yards per game and allowed yards per run. Johnson was unable to break tack and miss linebackers in the hole last week, and Detroit dropped out of the race when she collapsed against Seattle. That can not happen on this road if Detroit wants to win a victory.

Everson Griffen was a sort of nemesis for Matthew Stafford in the Lions quarterback career, as was Mike Zimmer's defense as a whole. Two of Stafford's four lowest quarterback rankings last season were against Minnesota, and Griffen has more sacks against the Lions (11.5) than any other team in his career. The Pro Bowl's three-time defenseman has had a strange season so far. He missed weeks with a scary mental health episode, but he came back and performed a full workload last week against the Saints. He brings power to critical attackers and some inner moves to his game, which have sometimes been a problem for Taylor Decker. Decker has had some ups and downs in his first full season in good health since the beginning of the game. He will have to be standing up to give Stafford time to hit Golladay and Marvin Jones in the deeper passes that now have to become a basic element of Detroit in the absence of Tate.

The Lions have had leaky coverage against wide receivers lately, including last week against the indefeasible Seahawks. This week, the challenge is to hold a recipient who pursues records. Adam Thielen not only leads the league with 74 catches and 925 yards, but he continues Calvin Johnson's record in 2012 with nine consecutive games with 100 yards. This team provided Kirk Cousins ​​with the security blanket that will allow him to lead the league in completions in his first year in Minnesota. This is also a problem for a Lions side team that has been shunned by Darius Slay and has no other proven options for staff coverage. If Sliel is able to play, eliminate the players and he will have to be better than he has been in this situation so far this season. Thielen is the kind of clever road racer with body control who can pick up a match by placing semi-turns on in-line skates. It will be a long day of catch-up for Detroit if he is able to do it in this one.

Here are two questions Detroit must answer to win this game: