NFL action on Thanksgiving as NFC North co-division leaders will square off at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan as the Minnesota Vikings battle it out for division supremacy. The Vikings enter this game off a hard-fought 30-24 win over Arizona at home, while the Lions come in off a 26-19 home win over Jacksonville This contest has a start time of 12:30 pm EST.
Vegas odds have the Lions listed as 2.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 43. This contest will be televised on CBS with a start time of 12:30 pm EST
Breaking Down The Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings finally got back in the win column with their 30-24 home win over Arizona. The Vikes started their year at 5-0 and they lost 4 in a row before last week’s win. They are now tied with the Lions atop the NFC North. The Vikings have had their issues this year on offense and even though they scored 30 points on Arizona, they did so on just 217 yards of offense. They did have a pick six and a kick return for a TD and if it weren’t for those two plays then they would not have won the game. Their defense has been the strong point of this team this year and they only allowed 290 yards to a good Arizona offense and will now look to do the same vs a below average Detroit offense. In the first meeting, the Lions won the game 22-16 in OT, but were good for just 311 yards in the game. This is a very solid defense and they have had to be as s been poor. The Vikings enter this game ranked 32nd in the league in total offense, 24th in passing 32nd in rushing and 22nd in scoring, putting up just 20.5 ppg so far. On defense they come in ranked 3rd in total yards allowed, 3rd vs the pass, 13th vs the run and 2nd in points allowed, giving up just 17.6 ppg so far.
Trends: The Vikings have gone 12-2 ATS in their last 14 games after accumulating less than 90 yards rushing in their previous game and 22-5 ATS in their last 27 games following an ATS win, but just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs. the NFC. The Under is 12-3-1 in their last 16 games after accumulating less than 150 yards passing in their previous game and 13-3 in their last 16 vs. a team with a winning record.
Breaking Down The Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have quietly had a solid year. They started out by going 1-3, but have gone 5-1 ever since and here they are in a game for sole possession of the top spot in the NFC North. The Lions have been a team that has been so close to breaking through the last couple of years as they have gone just 7-9 in each of those years and this may finally be their year to get back to the playoffs. They didn’t play great in the earlier meeting with the Vikes, but they did just enough to with the game. They have had to win some of their games ugly and this could very well be another of those games. Last week vs the Jags they did trail the game at one points 19-16 and had just 14 yards rushing in the game, but they rallied and found a way to win. Their defense played well in holding the Jags to just 285 yards of total offense and they will need that kind of defense in this one. Even Though they won the first meeting, they still allowed 337 yards of total offense, including 259 yards through the air.This defense has been slightly below average overall as they come in ranked 19th in total yards allowed, 17th vs the pass, 18th vs the run and 16th in points allowed, giving up 22.5 ppg. On offense they have not been great as they are 25th in total yards, 16th in passing 30th in rushing and 17th in scoring, putting up 23.1 ppg. That passing game is very average despite the fact that Matthew Stafford has a QBR of 101.2, which is 4th in the league.
Trends: The Lions have gone 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after accumulating less than 90 yards rushing in their previous game and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games following an ATS win, but just 3-9 ATS in their last 12 vs. the NFC North and 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games in Week 12. The Over is 5-0 in their last 5 Thursday games and 4-1 in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
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