Fresh off the bye week, the Lions enter a crucial stretch of the season, starting with the division-rival Vikings on Sunday at Ford Field.
The Lions (5-2) hold second place in the NFC North behind the Packers (5-1-1) and ahead of the Bears (4-3) and Minnesota ((3-4). The Vikings have lost two straight and three of the last four with Carson Wentz at quarterback.
Coach Dan Campbell talked to the team this week about where everything is stacking up in the NFC.
“It’s very competitive, especially at this point in the season for one conference. But all I stated was, ‘Hey, this is where we’re at, this is where these teams are at, and this thing’s about to shake out within the month of November.’ … You’re going to start seeing some risers and fallers, and a lot of these teams are playing each other,’’ Campbell said. .”We’re one of them. So, it really is just handle your business, man. And the bottom line is, find a way to win your division. And we’ve got Minnesota coming in here, that’s No. 1. And then you worry about the next one after that.”
Campbell said external expectations are what they are.
“It’s not about expectations, it’s about our standards,’’ the coach said. “The standards are the standards, and it’s about us playing to those standards, and that’s the most important thing.”
Five things to watch:
ONE: J.J. McCarthy is expected to start for the Vikings on Sunday. The second-year quarterback has just two games of NFL experience but Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said regardless of time on task he’s a threat. Sheppard referred to the Vikings’ Week 1 27-24 win over the Bears when McCarthy threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran 14 yards for a score all in the fourth quarter for the comeback win. “Ultra competitor, a player like that doesn’t get drafted where he was drafted without a reason and I see the reason,’’ Sheppard said. “You turn on the Week 1 game and they were getting stymied in the first half, they came out in the second half and in a way he put that team on his back, he put that offense on his back and you saw how the guys galvanized around him. So that told me something about him.’’
TWO: While the secondary backups – the Legion of Whom – excelled in the win over the Bucs before the bye week, the secondary will look more familiar on Sunday with Brian Branch and possibly Terrion Arnold, Avonte Maddox and Daniel Thomas returning. Still Sheppard loved what he saw from the others. “I mean the names go on and on of the guys that went out and not only just played, not only held the line, but they’ve put some pressure on some of our starters now,’’ Sheppard said. “Like these guys came in and we probably played the best defensive game that we’ve played this year with a bunch of you call it ‘no name,’ whatever. I know these guys’ names, and I know who they are as people and I’m just glad that everybody else does now.”
THREE: During the bye week, the coaches looked at third-down percentage and how to improve it. The Lions rank 22nd in the NFL converting 37.7 percent of third downs. It’s not just third-and-long that is the issue. “I feel like there’s a lot of things we’ve actually missed on third-and-manageable. The mid-range third downs. So we’re where we want to be to have a shot at converting, it’s just we’ve got to get it done,’’ Campbell said. “And that really is collective, it’s all of us. There’s things that we can do to really help our guys and then it falls on them too. So, it’s collective, it’s the whole unit. And I know we talked about that and so look, we’re just going to keep tweaking it, we’re going to keep working on it and hopefully we get better this week.’’
FOUR: Defensively, the red zone play has been ranked in the bottom third of the league. “Statistically I kind of looked at some areas that I believe we should be better and will be better starting with the red zone. When you allow teams down there it’s huge that you limit points in those situations – the 4-point plays,’’ Sheppard said. “As far as when teams are in 7-point striking distance and you only give up a FG. We’ve definitely got to tick up there. Also third-and-11 plus we’re in the bottom 5 of the league.’’
FIVE: Jared Goff has faced Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores enough to know him but that doesn’t make it easier on the quarterback who said he sees some changes from last year.
“Well coached, fast, fly around, good hard-nosed players who play hard for him. It’s a good group,’’ Goff said. “… They want to penetrate, they want to get in the backfield, they want to get typically five or six guys rushing, one-on-ones on everybody. In that case, they run some pick games, they run some stunts, they do a little bit of everything. And they want to disrupt your timing and get in the backfield and it’s up to us up front and me to get the ball out and do everything right.”
LIONS INJURIES: Out — CB Kerby Joseph, RB Craig Reynolds, LB Malcolm Rodriguez; Questionable — LT Taylor Decker, CB Avonte Maddox, RB Sione Vaki and S Daniel Thomas.
VIKINGS INJURIES: Out — FB C.J. Hand, TE Josh Oliver, CB Jeff Okuday; Questionable _ LT Christian Darrisaw, RT Brian O’Neill, EDGE Andrew van Ginkel and DB Josh Metellus.
PREDICTION: Lions 35, Vikings 21
UP NEXT: Lions at Washington Commanders, 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16.
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