Vikings Lions Spread

Written by Steve Janus

The Detroit Lions will look to snap out of their recent funk when they host the Minnesota Vikings in week 14 of NFL action. Detroit comes in off a 17-31 loss at New Orleans on Sunday Night Football. It was the Lions five loss in seven games, and are now just 7-5 after starting the season 5-0. The Vikings suffered yet another heartbreaking loss, as they fell 32-35 at home to the Broncos. It was Minnesota’s fourth straight loss and seventh this season by a touchdown or less. One of those close losses came against the Lions in week 3. Detroit rallied from a 0-20 halftime deficit to stun the Vikings 26-23 in overtime.

Taking a look at the week 14 NFL spreads, oddsmakers currently have the Lions favored by 7-points over the Vikings with the total set at 48 points.

Minnesota Vikings:

While the Vikings have just two wins on the year, they haven’t shown any signs of throwing in the towel. This team is better than their 2-10 record indicates, and you can bet they will be extremely motivated to get revenge against the Lions after what happened the first time these two teams played.

With Adrian Peterson forced to sit out another game, rookie quarterback Christian Ponder delivered one of his best performances of the season. Ponder went 29 of 47 for a career-high 381 yards with three touchdowns. However, the youngster made a crucial mistake late in the game, as he threw an interception with 1:33 left to play that allowed the Broncos to kick the game winning field goal.

It will be interesting to see if Ponder can build off that performance against the Lions. Donovan McNabb was the starter back in week 3, so this will be his first shot at beating Detroit. McNabb was 22 of 36 for 211 yards and a touchdown, but couldn’t keep the offense on the field in the second half.

Toby Gerhart was pretty productive against the Broncos, as he stepped in for Peterson and rushed for 91 yards on 21 attempts, while also catching eight passes for another 42 yards. Whether or not the Vikings will have Peterson against the Lions is still up in the air.

While the offense had one of their best games of the season, the defense didn’t struggled to contain Tim Tebow and the Broncos offense. The Vikings allowed Tebow to complete 10 of 15 attempts for 202 yards and two touchdowns, while giving up another 150 yards on the ground. It will be extremely hard for them to win on the road with a similar performance against the Lions.

Detroit Lions.

The Lions are in desperate need of a win after their loss to the Saints. While Detroit has been in a free fall since their 5-0 start, they still have a very realistic chance of making the playoffs thanks to Chicago and Atlanta both losing. Detroit has no chance of catching the Packers for the division title, but are tied with the Bears and Falcons for the final two Wild Card spots in the NFC.

In order for the Lions to make that push for a playoff spot, they have to start playing with more discipline. Detroit had 11 penalties for 107 yards, which is a big reason why they were able to manage just 17 points despite gaining 466 yards of total offense. Most of the offense came from Matthew Stafford and the passing game, as he completed 31 of 44 attempts for 408 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Stafford had a big game the last time he faced the Vikings, throwing for 378 yards and two scores. Both touchdown passes went to star wide out Calvin Johnson, who finished with seven catches for 108 yards. Minnesota also had a terrible time guarding tight end Brandon Pettigrew, as he hauled in 11 passes for 112 yards.

While the offense figures to have a great shot at putting up some big numbers, whether or not the defense will be able to keep Minnesota from scoring is the big concern coming into this game. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will not be in action, as he serves the final game of his suspension. The defense simply isn’t the same without him on the field, and they could be in big trouble if Peterson is able to make his return this week.

The Lions gave up 438 yards of total offense in their last game against the Saints. Drew Brees picked apart the Lions secondary for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Detroit was without starting safety Louis Delmas and corners Chris Houston and Brandon McDonald. All three are listed as questionable on the injury report.

Betting Trends:

Minnesota is 2-9 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.

Detroit is 1-9 ATS vs. awful passing defenses – allowing a comp. pct. of 64% or worse in the second half of the season since 1992.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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