Sunday night's game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings is uniquely huge. As a refresher, the winner gets the No. 1 seed in the playoffs while the loser drops to the No. 5 seed and will have to hit the road in the Wild Card Round. A 14-win Wild Card team isn't ideal, but it is what it is.
Which of those playoff seeds has the best chance to make the Super Bowl is obvious, but we have specific numbers to highlight the difference.
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Listing out the Lions players who must shine against the Vikings on Sunday night could be done as a ranking of everyone who'll be in uniform, down to No. 1.
So let's focus on the Lions players who must shine the brightest in order to beat the Vikings on Sunday night, and get all that comes with that.
6 Lions players who must shine brightest in Week 18 against the Vikings
6. QB Jared Goff
5. C Frank Ragnow
The Lions quarterback and center are a worthy pairing here. The Vikings have the highest blitz rate in the league (38.5 percent), as defensive coordinator Brian Flores challenges a quarterback and blocking schemes like few others do (who's blitzing? who's not? who's showing blitz but going to drop out into coverage?) with multiple players who fit his ideals for versatility.
The Lions have had the answers for Flores' Minnesota defense over three games against it so far, but Ragnow knows that good history is nothing to rest on.
"You have to be prepared for everything," Ragnow said, via Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket. "I think the biggest thing I try to do is simplify it as much as I can, compartmentalize everything to first- and second-down looks, third-down looks, these boxes, this box, this box, and try to make it as simple as possible -- which is harder to do than say."
Lions vs. Flores & Vikings: 30.3 PPG
β Will Burchfield (@burchie_kid) January 3, 2025
Everyone else vs. Vikings: 17.3 PPG
Goff vs. Flores & Vikings: 118.2 rating
Everyone else vs. Vikings: 83.2 rating
"We all try to understand that even though theyβre trying to make it look chaotic, we gotta stay calm and communicate." https://t.co/mf9kkce0mQ
Goff and Ragnow are rarely not on the same page when it comes to diagnosing opponents' blitz schemes. There's no reason to think they won't continue to be on-point Sunday night, but they'll need to be against a diverse and blitz-heavy Vikings' defense.