NFL: Final in the North on Thanksgiving

The last weekend in November is approaching, which also means: Thanksgiving game in the NFL. Like every year, the Lions of Detroit host a Thursday game in the highest American football league. This time, however, the Minnesota Vikings are the hottest team in the league at the moment – with their actual backup quarterback. You can watch the game live on DAZN from 6:30 pm.

Lions are hot on Turkey Day. The team from Detroit scored five victories in a row on national holiday. However, some time ago this looked quite different. In the meantime, they lost nine games in a row on the last matchday in November.

The turnaround came in 2013 against the Green Bay Packers: The Lions served the NFC-North rival 40 loosely, since then the series in Detroit is no longer torn. That’s what they’re trying to do with this year’s anticipated final at NFC North.

The Vikings are currently two games ahead of the Lions, but with a win Matthew Stafford and Co. They would have won the head-to-head tiebreaker and would have an advantage at the end of the season if they had the same balance sheet.

Detroit gained this advantage with a strong away balance of 3-0 in the division. Lions have never been able to win all three matches on enemy ground within the division. Only in 1961 did they remain unbeaten, but once did not go beyond a draw.

After Sunday’s narrow victory in Chicago on Sunday, Stafford explained that victories in the distance bring with them a big bonus,”but in contrast, we didn’t exactly play great at home. But we have a big chance on Thursday against a division opponent at home, against a really good team, and we have to go out there and play well,”he emphasized.

If you take a look at your next opponent, you will soon realize that it is not an easy game for the Lions. The Vikings travel to Detroit with a winning streak of six straight games, their only defeats came from Minnesota in Pittsburgh and against the Lions. In the past few weeks, the Vikings excelled above all in their adaptability: they were able to hold one of the most explosive offenses at seven points in the game against the Rams – and running-back Todd Gurley at less than 40 yards. Against the Redskins, on the other hand, you scored 38 points yourself, so you can also play offense.

The most remarkable thing about the story is that starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is said to have been available for two games after his injury – but his opponent Case Keenum doesn’t give Bridgewater any reason to make room for Bridgewater at the moment.

“It would be hard to tear Keenum out of it now. He plays well. I still have high hopes for Teddy. You know that many things happen during the course of a season. So we’ll see how this develops,”said Head Coach Mike Zimmer on the current situation at the quarterback position.

And justifiably so. With a pass rate of well over 70 percent, Keenum provides good arguments for the starting position. Some of it is reminiscent of the performance of Sam Bradford from the previous season. Keenum even played spectacularly in some parts of the game if you consult with his colleague from ESPN Stats & Info, because they have calculated total QBRs of over 90 for him twice this year – against the Redskins in Week 10 even 98.9. At a possible top score of 100, not so bad.

The complexity makes the running play of the Viking partly remarkable. Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon have almost fraternally shared the snaps since Rookie Dalvin Cook’s retirement and most recently proved to be effective. On top of that, Keenum is also a good walker and, in case of need, is able to walk first downs himself.

However, the focus will still be on the passing game, where Detroit has to keep a close eye on Adam Thielen. After ten games, the Wide Receiver reaches 900 yards. Recently, a certain Randy Moss created such values for the Vikings in 2000 and 2003. And this despite the fact that Thielen was three times less than 60 receiving yards in the first five games of the season. In the last three games he scored his first three touchdowns in 2017 and is now also a scoring threat.

Opposite him will be Darius Slay on Thursday, who becomes one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Evidence? Since making his breakthrough as a starter four years ago, he’s had 38 pass breakups, the fourth most in the NFL. He leads all cornerbacks with four exceptions and even held Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones and Antonio Brown without a touchdown this season. This year alone, he has already achieved seven PBUs.

“I’m not gonna pick up pass breakups. I’m always after the pick. I’m just trying to be in the right position,”Slay explained his approach,”I use a good technique to position myself and deliver such placements. Actually, it is.”

On the other hand, the focus is once again on Stafford. He’s the man who can bring his team back even after a long time in arrears. Four times the Lions were down double-digit in the first quarter, but three times they still won.

And Thanksgiving plays a very special role for Stafford. As a child he sat in front of the TV on holiday at the traditional cowboy games in Aikman Jersey and cheered for his idol. Aikman was the man in Dallas when I grew up and I cheered him on,”Stafford remembers.

As luck would have it, FOX is commenting the game on Thursday with its A-Team around commentator Joe Buck and expert Troy Aikman. Stafford is allowed to prove his skills in front of the eyes of his childhood idol. But he does not want to hang it too high, the task ahead is simply too important. After all, maybe the whole division is at stake.

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