Instead of just passing time while the turkey and stuffing are cooking, there will be an interesting early game on Thanksgiving Day to watch with plenty at stake when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Detroit Lions in Week 12. The teams are tied for the top spot in the NFC North and the surprising Lions could take control with their second win of the season over the visitors. Detroit has staged a fourth quarter comeback in each of its six wins and at some point we expect the magic to run out.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 12 game is set for Thursday, November 24, 2016, at 12:30 p.m. ET at Ford Field.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Minnesota Vikings +3
Detroit Lions -3
Over/Under 42
Odds Analysis
Detroit pulled out the straight up victory as a 4.5-point dog when the teams met just three weeks ago. With the Lions winning five of their past six and the Vikings suffering through a four-game losing streak before Sunday’s win, the odds have been adjusted. Detroit gets the standard field goal as the home team and is 4-0 both SU and ATS in its past four games at Ford Field. Both teams are opportunistic on defense and special teams and a few points in those areas will get the over on the total.
Injury Report
Jake Long – Take your pick on what is the most significant injury, but the Vikings are down three offensive tackles with Long, Andre Smith and Matt Kalil on injured reserve. The result was another lackluster offensive performance with Sam Bradford passing for only 169 yards and the ground game producing just 72. Bradford was sacked twice and hurried countless other times.
Don Carey – One of the Lions’ top special teams players left last game with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. Carey is also a backup in the secondary, but his importance is in the team’s kickoff and punt coverage. After Minnesota’s Cordarrelle Patterson went 104 yards with a kickoff against the Cards, Carey’s absence could be felt.
Matchup to Watch
Winning games in the NFL isn’t easy and the Lions have made things particularly difficult on themselves. And that’s what makes Detroit’s situation that much more compelling. The Lions have trailed at some point in the fourth quarter of every game this season, yet they’ve won six times and are still tied for the top spot in the NFC North while holding the tie breaker over the Vikings heading into their Thanksgiving Day showdown.
It would be easy to write Detroit off as a playoff contender given that stat, but on the other hand, maybe they should be considered one of the more dangerous teams in the conference with their penchant for dramatic comebacks. Detroit did it again Sunday, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 3-point deficit and knock off the Jaguars. What makes the Lions so interesting is that on a day when the offense wasn’t clicking, the other areas were able to pick up the slack. The defense choked off the Jags, creating three turnovers, one of which resulted in a touchdown, and holding them to 283 total yards. And the special teams were just that. An Andre Robert’s punt return for a score got the Lions on the board in the first quarter.
Free ATS Pick
The Vikings are ecstatic about ending their slide that brought them back to the pack in the NFC North. Now they must get some payback against a team that delivered one of those four losses during the losing streak. Despite the win over Arizona that ended a four-game losing streak, the Vikings still have plenty of holes that need to be plugged. The offense is struggling behind a patched up offensive line and the running game is non-existent.
But the Vikings got back to doing what they had been known for when they started the year with five straight wins. The defense was strong, especially in the second half, and the help of a defensive and special teams touchdown masked the inefficiency of the offense. Don’t expect the Vikings to get that kind of help for an offense that continues to struggle moving the football and scoring points. When it comes down to it, the Lions have the magical powers and getting a big home win to distance themselves from the rest of the division is an opportunity the Lions won’t pass on.
NFL Odds: Lions 22, Vikings 17
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