Week 7 Key Match Ups: Minnesota Vikings

Detroit Lions tight end Eric Ebron (85) scores a touchdown on a pass against the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 26-16. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

This week, the Lions come into Sunday’s matchup with an actual victory! Leave your paper bags at home you awful Lions fans! Honestly, no one should ever enter Ford Field with a paper bag ever again. 0-16 will never happen again. Ever. I swear, sometimes I think Lions fans love living in misery. For the rest of us though, we’d like to take a look at how many games our Lions can actually win this year. Last week, the three match ups I mentioned all played pretty key factors in the Lions’ win.

The Bears’ interior offensive line and the Lions’ interior defensive line battled it out and the Lions actually won that matchup. Matt Forte finished the game with 24 carries for 69 yards. Nice.

The Bears’ pass rush was another key matchup last week and Pernell McPhee has been on a tear lately:

He finished last Sunday’s game with one sack, two QB hits, two TFLs and four tackles. He also had a costly roughing the passer penalty that set up the Lions’ go ahead score. Teammate Jarvis Jenkins also had a half sack and three QB hits.

The last match up I highlighted was Calvin Johnson vs. Kyle Fuller. We all know how that worked out. Johnson finished the game with six catches for 166 yards and a touchdown.

Let’s look at the matchups for this week’s game against the Vikings.