● What: Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings
● When: Nov. 2, 1 p.m.
● Where: Ford Field, Detroit
● How to watch: FOX (Burkhardt/Brady/Andrews/Rinaldi)
● How to listen: 97.1-FM The Ticket in Metro Detroit or any number of network affiliates around the state.
● Line: Lions -8.5
● Injury report: The Lions will be without All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph (knee) for a second consecutive game. The team also ruled out running back Craig Reynolds due to a hamstring strain.
Additionally, four Lions are questionable for the contest: Offensive tackle Taylor Decker, defensive back Avonte Maddox, safety Daniel Thomas and running back Sione Vaki.
● Officiating assignment: Clay Martin’s crew
● Last meeting: The Lions swept the season series last season, including an emphatic victory in a division-deciding finale, 31-9. The offense gained 179 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground in that win, while the defense held the Vikings to 3-for-16 on third and fourth down.
Three things worth watching
● While Joseph remains sidelined by a balky knee, and DJ Reed is at least another week away from coming off injured reserve, Detroit is getting some reinforcements in the secondary this week between safety Brian Branch and cornerback Terrion Arnold.
Arnold missed the past two games with a shoulder injury, but is off the injury report after fully practicing this week. It’s been an up-and-down start to the campaign for the second-year defensive back, and the Vikings present a stiff challenge for any cornerback.
How Detroit approaches covering Minnesota’s dynamic tandem of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison isn’t clear. They could always play sides, or Amik Robertson could be tasked with shadowing Jefferson, with some extra safety support behind the cornerback, of course.
But don’t sleep on the problems Addison presents. He’s been cooking since serving a three-game suspension to start the year, racking up 309 yards and two scores through four games. He remains a premier deep threat, already hauling in a trio of long balls for 43.6% of his season’s production.
The Lions didn’t hesitate to bracket the top two options against the Bengals a few weeks back and could look to deploy a similar strategy against the Vikings, forcing the team’s tertiary weapons to beat them.
As for Branch, he’s coming off a one-game suspension, which, combined with the bye, gave his injured ankle time to heal. We’ve been promised a more motivated player, one committed to caging his aggression between the whistles. That’s a scary thought for opponents.
Don’t be surprised to see Branch draw some man-to-man coverage assignments on former Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson, particularly on third down.
● This will be Detroit’s first look at quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the former Michigan standout who was selected by the Vikings with the No. 10 overall pick a year ago.
McCarthy missed the entirety of his rookie season with a knee injury, as well as five games this year with an ankle injury. In his two starts, he completed just 58.5% of his throws, with more interceptions (3) than touchdown tosses (2).
However, the Lions have praised the young quarterback’s poise, dating back to his championship success with the Wolverines, as well as leading a comeback win over the Chicago Bears in the season opener.
The quarterback’s mobility, as it is most weeks in the modern NFL, presents an added challenge. McCarthy has gained 50 yards with seven carries in those starts. Expect the Lions to continue to lean on the athleticism of their linebackers in some spy looks to help keep McCarthy hemmed into the pocket, while mixing in a variety of blitzes to test the inexperienced passer’s ability to handle pressure.
● Through seven games, there’s been minimal drop-off with Detroit’s offensive production under first-year coordinator John Morton. Still, there are two concerns coming out of the break.
First, the team is committed to improving on third down. The offense is converting on just 37.7% of those tries this year, a sharp decline from the 47.6% success rate a year ago. The numbers on short and intermediate chances are nearly the same, but when needing 10 or more yards, they’re 0-20. That has to change.
The other issue has been a lack of balanced production, particularly pertaining to wide receiver Jameson Williams and running back David Montgomery.
Morton came out this week and said he’s failed Williams, while simultaneously acknowledging that several of the plays the team has dialed up for the receiver have fallen apart for various reasons.
As for Montgomery, the team has struggled to maintain the rhythm of its shared backfield since elevating Jahmyr Gibbs into the starting role. We’ve seen better balance in the contests where Montgomery has seen the field before the third offensive series, but like Williams, the veteran back has been a victim of his play calls falling apart because of the failure of others to execute.
Detroit’s remade offensive line has largely exceeded expectations, but there’s plenty of room to improve when it comes to run blocking, which has impacted Montgomery more than Gibbs, likely due to the latter’s speed being an eraser.
The smallish DE/OLB has given Decker a lot of trouble