Vikings’ 6-0 Start Faces Major Test Against Detroit Lions

The more I look at this Minnesota Vikings 6-0 start, the more I'm scratching my head as they get ready to head into Detroit and take on the Lions who are coming off a win against the Green Bay Packers at home. And now the 6-0 Vikings will come to town here. And I'm looking at these numbers here, Craig. I mean, four touchdowns on their last 42 possessions in the last four games, Minnesota. There is just, it feels like nothing is sustainable about anything that they're doing. Not to mention, the schedule has been very favorable. They had that ridiculous comeback win against Green Bay, who found every way to shoot themselves in the foot. You know, they needed a 68-yard, what, touchdown return, I think, in that one. They needed two turnovers in the final two minutes by Green Bay in order to be. There were so many things that just went their way. And, by the way, it wasn't Kyler Murray. It was Carson Wentz who won that game. Right. You just go down the list, and it's like, okay, then you played nobodies after. This is going to be... The first offense that they are going to face that is truly going to put them to the test here. Don't forget, the weather was trash when they played Chicago. It was awful. Like everything about that. Then Caleb Williams got hurt in that game. It just feels like this is setting up. If there's ever a time that you think maybe the regression starts, it feels like Detroit is the team that can do that. Yeah, look, I think Detroit is a good team, you know, Joe. I just think that their window is fast approaching the end as far as winning a Super Bowl. They've had this three or four years with this great offense and this great offensive mind and Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson leaves. It feels like they never fix the defense. They pick up. A very close, low-scoring win against Green Bay last week. And, you know, call me a little skeptical, but I sort of am still with Detroit. Like, I just don't think... That they took advantage of the opportunity that they had the last couple of years in order to get to or even win a Super Bowl. Now, you know, certainly Seattle give them credit for what they were able to accomplish to win and get to a Super Bowl. But Joe, why was that not Detroit? You know, like I feel like they had a good enough team to get it done. And now they're sort of losing out on their opportunity. And the other part of this is, is that I still just don't trust their defense. When it comes to a big game in a playoff spot, in all likelihood, they're probably going to have to go on the road if they do make the playoffs. So yeah, I think they're a good team. Potentially a playoff team, but I feel like if you, I haven't done this, I probably should have going into the show, Joe. I feel like if you look last year at this exact time, you're going to find the Lions with the same record. I think the Lions were right there last year, looking like a team that was going to, and then all of a sudden they lost like the last four out of five games, things fell apart. I kind of see the same thing happening this year, Joe. I just, I just, I'm a little sad. I thought with that great offense that they built and everything that they have and I'm on Ra and Gibbs. And at the time, they had Montgomery, too, running the ball. I was like, wow, this team is going to be great for years. I don't really know what happened, Joe. They really never took that step. They lost to Washington in the playoffs. And that was the best shot that they had to go to the Super Bowl. And I think the problem is this defense of Detroit has really skewed everything else that's going on. Uh, because the defense, especially in that secondary was just so bad. The first couple of games, they looked, it, it, it made you take away from the fact that right now, Jared Goff through week seven, right? As they add into week eight, he's got 14 touchdown passes, 1,788 yards and zero INTs with a 112.5 QBR for six games. Those are MVP numbers. I don't care who you put them up against, right? But nobody's talking about it. Why? Because the defense was terrible in the first couple of games. However, they got Branch back last week. They got Kirby Joseph back this week. So this is a team that I'm going to reserve judgment on afterwards because now let's see with the full complement on both sides of the ball what this team looks like. The bottom line for me is this is exactly the kind of team that is going to make life miserable for Minnesota. Why? Because what happens, Greg, when they go up two scores? And they will go up two scores at some point in this game. At home, they are not going to be able to shut down this offense to the point where it's going to be a 10-3 game. Not going to happen. How does Minnesota come back if they're down 10 points? No, they don't. But I don't know that I see it the same way. No, I really don't. I don't think Minnesota's very good, but I think Minnesota's defense is good enough to hang into the game. I don't see them being down big in this game.