Tag: Detroit Lions
Vikings, Lions to settle No. 1 seed in ‘fairytale’ showdown
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell brings intensity to every game.
As for Sunday night’s matchup between the Lions and Minnesota Vikings, which will determine the No. 1 seed in the NFC, Campbell knows his adrenaline will be pumping.
“You couldn’t write a better scenario,” Campbell said. “This is fairytale stuff.”
The stakes are clear for the latest game in a longtime rivalry between NFC North foes Detroit (14-2) and visiting Minnesota (14-2).
The winning team will seize the top seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The losing team will earn a wild-card berth and begin the postseason on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons.
The Lions and Vikings took much different paths to the regular-season finale.
Detroit reached the NFC championship game last season and led by 17 points at halftime against the San Francisco 49ers on the road. But the Lions faltered in the second half and lost 34-31 to the 49ers to miss out on a chance to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
This year, Detroit surged to a 12-1 record to start the season and has been one of the top teams in the NFL for months. Both Lions’ losses — a 20-16 setback against Tampa Bay and a 48-42 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills — came by single digits.
Campbell knows that a No. 1 playoff seed could help to prevent a repeat from last season’s heartbreaking road loss in the conference title game. The Lions also have been hit by recent injuries, and a bye could provide an important extra week for players to rest and heal.
“You come out of that game and feel like, what gives you the best odds to where the ultimate (goal) is, which is as we all know what the prize is, and that’s the Super Bowl,” Campbell said, reflecting on last year’s playoff loss at San Francisco. “You try to set yourself up the best you can, and that’s why you put those goals out there.
“So, yeah, it’s been there for a while. Certainly, this is something we want to do and we’ve had in our minds — division and one seed and all that, and it’s right there in our hands.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota entered the season as a longshot to win the division, let alone make a deep run in the playoffs. The Vikings went 7-10 a year ago and parted ways with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed as a free agent with Atlanta.
In Cousins’ place, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a one-year contract as a possible reclamation project. They also drafted JJ McCarthy out of Michigan in the first round.
McCarthy sustained a season-ending knee injury in the preseason. Darnold took full control of the offense and never looked back.
In 16 starts, Darnold has passed for 4,153 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Darnold deserves praise for his excellence this season.
“You can tell a guy what it’s going to be like and you can tell a guy a lot of things,” O’Connell said. “But only the player is responsible for getting himself to where Sam has gotten himself to.”
Darnold said he was excited to take the field with his teammates on Sunday night. The Vikings are riding a nine-game winning streak and have not lost since Oct. 24 against the Rams.
“I will say this: It’s fun,” Darnold said. “That’s really all it is. Just having a ton of fun playing football right now. Whatever happened last week and the week before that, it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is this game and this opportunity, and that’s all I’m thinking about.”
Justin Jefferson is Darnold’s top target with 100 catches for 1,479 yards and 10 touchdowns. Aaron Jones leads the ground attack with 1,093 rushing yards and five scores.
For Detroit, Jared Goff has also shined at quarterback with 4,398 yards, 36 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Amon-Ra St. Brown has 109 catches for 1,186 yards and 12 touchdowns, and Jahmyr Gibbs has rushed for 1,273 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The showdown also features an intriguing head-to-head challenge between two of the more respected assistants in the NFL — Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
The teams last met in Week 7, when the Lions held on for a 31-29 win in Minneapolis. Goff threw for two touchdowns and Gibbs rushed for two more.
–Field Level Media
Lions 49ers Pick, Chalk and OVER MNF
Report: QB Teddy Bridgewater to unretire, rejoin Lions
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Detroit Lions, NFL Network reported Thursday.
Bridgewater, 32, appeared in one game (three snaps) for the Lions last season. He announced his retirement in February and spent the 2024 season coaching his alma mater Miami Northwestern High School to a Class 3A Florida state championship.
A first-round pick by Minnesota in 2014 and a Pro Bowl selection with the Vikings in 2015, Bridgewater also played for the New Orleans Saints (2018-19), Carolina Panthers (2020), Denver Broncos (2021) and Miami Dolphins (2022) before joining the Lions in 2023.
Bridgewater owns a 33-32 record as a starting quarterback, completing 66.4 percent of his passes for 15,120 yards with 75 touchdowns and 47 interceptions in 79 games. He has also rushed for 844 yards and 11 scores.
He would provide experience and depth behind starter Jared Goff as the Lions (13-2) chase the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs. Hendon Hooker, a third-round pick in 2023, is Goff’s current backup.
Detroit visits San Francisco (6-9) on Monday night before ending the regular season with an NFC North showdown against the Minnesota Vikings (13-2) in Week 18.
–Field Level Media
Green Bay Detroit Pick, TNF Week 14 Betting
Lions LB Malcolm Rodriguez out for season with torn ACL
Detroit Lions linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in Thursday’s 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears.
The Lions have been devastated by injuries on defense. Rodriguez will be the fourth linebacker to hit injured reserve with a major injury in 2024 and Detroit is also without star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Derrick Barnes injured a knee in Week 3, when Rodriguez became a key part of the LB corps, and Alex Anzalone suffered a broken forearm in Week 11, pushing Rodriguez into a featured role in Detroit’s defense. Jalen Reeves-Maybin (neck) is also on IR.
Ezekiel Turner and Ben Niemann are options to join Jack Campbell in the starting lineup.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said the Lions have a room full of linebackers who deserve a shot on game day. That opportunity is now for what Glenn labeled his “next guy” when the Lions (11-1) host the Green Bay Packers (9-3) in a critical NFC North game next Thursday.
“All those guys have played, all those guys deserve to play, and each week we try to put them in packages so they can play,” Glenn said.
Defensive ends Marcus Davenport and John Cominsky are also on IR.
Anzalone could return for the playoffs or late in the regular season.
Rodriguez, 25, was a sixth-round pick in 2022. He had 27 tackles and two sacks in 10 games (six starts) this season.
–Field Level Media
Lions win 10th straight game as Bears mismanage clock
Jared Goff connected with Sam LaPorta for two touchdowns and the Detroit Lions extended their winning streak to 10 games by holding off the visiting Chicago Bears, 23-20 on Thursday.
The streak matches the franchise record established during their first season in Detroit in 1934. The Lions snapped a seven-game losing streak in their annual Thanksgiving Day game.
Goff passed for 221 yards, while David Montgomery had 124 scrimmage yards. Jahmyr Gibbs added a combined 104 yards for Detroit (11-1), which owns the best record in the NFC.
Caleb Williams threw for 256 yards and three second-half touchdowns for the Bears (4-8), who have lost six straight. DJ Moore caught eight passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Chicago’s poor clock management on its last possession allowed Detroit to hold on.
The Lions outgained the Bears 279-53 in the first half and grabbed a 16-0 lead.
Detroit controlled the ball for nearly eight minutes after the opening kickoff but settled for a 30-yard Jake Bates field goal. The Bears went three-and-out on their first possession.
The Lions then methodically moved 90 yards down the field in 10 plays and scored on the first play of the second quarter, a 3-yard pass from Goff to LaPorta.
The Lions added 36 and 48 yard field goals by Bates.
The Bears got on the scoreboard on the opening possession of the second half. Williams finished off the 74-yard drive with a 31-pass to Keenan Allen.
The Lions answered with a touchdown. That drive was completed by Goff’s 1-yard toss to LaPorta to make it 23-7.
Chicago cut the deficit to 23-13 on Williams’ 9-yard scoring pass to Allen with 13:40 remaining. Williams threw an incompletion on the 2-point try.
Bates missed a 45-yard field goal try with 8:42 left. The Bears then made it a three-point game with 5:36 remaining on Williams’ 31-yard scoring pass to Moore.
The Lions were forced to punt on their next possession but it was downed on the Bears 1-yard line. A pass interference penalty against Detroit on fourth-and-14 allowed Chicago’s drive to continue in the final minute.
After a sack left the ball on the Chicago 41-yard line with 32 seconds left, the Bears failed to call a timeout on third down and the clock ran out on a Williams incompletion.
–Field Level Media
Report: Lions WR Kalif Raymond (foot) heading to IR
Detroit Lions receiver and return specialist Kalif Raymond is headed to injured reserve with a foot injury, NFL Network reported Wednesday.
Raymond, 30, was carted off the field after returning a punt in the third quarter of Sunday’s 24-6 victory over the Colts in Indianapolis.
Raymond will miss the Thanksgiving game against the visiting Chicago Bears and at least three more games if he lands on IR, making him eligible to return in Week 17 at San Francisco.
Through 11 games (two starts) this season, Raymond has 16 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the NFL in punt returns (27) and yards (390), including a 90-yard touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in Week 8.
Undrafted out of Holy Cross in 2016, Raymond has played in 96 career games with the Denver Broncos (2016), New York Jets (2017), New York Giants (2017), Titans (2019-20) and Lions. He has 5,245 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns.
The only other player who has returned any punts this season for Detroit is star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown with two for 15 yards.
–Field Level Media
Lions TE Sam LaPorta (shoulder) could miss Week 11
Detroit Lions second-year tight end Sam LaPorta sustained an AC joint sprain in Sunday night’s come-from-behind victory at Houston and could miss their Week 11 game.
He sustained the shoulder injury after hauling in a 37-yard pass from Jared Goff in the third quarter of the 26-23 win over the Texans. LaPorta left the game and did not return.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said the team will take it “day-to-day” with their starting tight end.
“I don’t know how significant it will be. It’s not something like — this is not, ‘He’s going to be out four weeks,’” Campbell told reporters postgame. “Maybe, he might miss this week. We’ll see. He’s got a little sprain in here, kinda the AC joint. He tried to go back in and it wasn’t quite right. It didn’t quite feel right. So we’ll get it checked tomorrow, we’ll see where it’s at, see how significant it is.”
LaPorta said the injury was “nothing major” after undergoing an X-ray after the game.
LaPorta, 23, finished with three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown against the Texans. He has 25 catches for 366 yards and three TDs on the season.
The Lions (8-1) host the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-8) on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
