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The Vikings earned a huge road win Monday and now return home to face a team they belted 42-10 last season in Minneapolis. Coming off the bye and following the departure of Matt Millen, the Lions continued their awful play this season on both sides of the ball in their loss to the Bears. Little has gone right for them this season, and there’s talk of major shake-ups, but it’s not clear if that means QB Jon Kitna — who was benched midgame last week with back spasms — will be on the bench or not.
Lions offense vs. Vikings defense: Kitna? Dan Orlovsky? Drew Stanton? All three? It’s not clear who might start, or finish, this week’s game. Kitna’s back spasms aren’t considered terribly serious, but his ineffective play might lead to a change. Orlovsky is the de facto backup, and he relieved Kitna on Sunday, but his second pass off the bench was picked and returned for a touchdown and he suffered knee and ankle injuries in the game, though he should be cleared to play. The natives are restless to see if Stanton has the goods, but so far no one knows. To be fair, Kitna is on pace to be sacked as often as he had been the past two seasons, and he’s getting killed by drops (WR Roy Williams had three on Sunday). Williams and Calvin Johnson are the two true difference makers on this offense, but the Vikings have a standout corner in Antoine Winfield, and their pass rush is due for a big game. With little hope of running against the Vikings, the Lions are likely to try to throw — no matter who is at quarterback.
Vikings offense vs. Lions defense: QB Gus Frerotte hasn’t put up flashy numbers, but he’s more steady than Tarvaris Jackson and has made smart plays — throwaways under pressure, smart check-downs, passes that earned pass-interference calls — that don’t show up in the box score. The Lions allowed Bears QB Kyle Orton to have a career day on Sunday, and their pass-defense statistics would be worse if they hadn’t been so bad defending the run. RB Adrian Peterson was shut down on Monday, but he enjoyed running against the Lions in Minnesota last season (15-116-2). The Lions are small up front and have allowed a couple of physical backs — Falcons RB Michael Turner and 49ers RB Frank Gore — to do some serious damage. They have to blitz to be even moderately effective, but the Lions will have to be careful when to attack now that WR Bernard Berrian is starting to make plays downfield.
Special teams: If the Lions have a strength, and it’s a mild one, it’s in the kicking game, where P Nick Harris and the coverage teams have fared well. They’ll need to back the Vikings up in the field-position battle and make them drive long fields to have a chance. The Vikings’ return teams have improved, but they have strong-legged weapons in PK Ryan Longwell (13-of-15 on FG attempts) and P Chris Kluwe (48.4-yard net). The Lions have no real threat who can exploit the Vikings’ awful punt-coverage unit (two TDs allowed to Reggie Bush on Monday).
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