Free Week 12 NFL Picks – Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

Detroit now sits on top of the NFC North, holding the tiebreaker over the rival Minnesota Vikings (6-4), their Turkey Day opponents.

The Detroit Lions playing on Thanksgiving Day is a National Football League tradition dating back to 1934.

According to the oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Lions are a slight favorite at home in this game, as Detroit is getting odds of -2.5 points against the Vikings. The Vikings’ defense, which showed signs of revival against the Cardinals last week, knows it will have to play a full game and not let up late unless they want Stafford to add another comeback to his résumé. They still have three divisional games remaining, but considering their schedule and performance as of late, it’d be wrong to give the Packers much of a chance to win the division.

“We played them three weeks ago, but they’re fortunate in that they’ve had one game since they played us”, while the Vikings have played two, Zimmer said Tuesday as the Vikings tried to cram nearly an entire week of preparation and practice into one day of work before flying to Detroit for Thursday’s game at Ford Field.

“I think that’s where most teams are in this division right now”.

The sixth-year pro is ready to reassert himself as the one the NFL’s best tight ends this week, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the Minnesota Vikings.

Both are 6-4 and tied atop the NFC North.

A showdown for the top spot in the NFC North takes place Thursday, when the Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings in their traditional Thanksgiving Day contest. A mundane NFC North, with the fading Packers and the sinking Bears, certainly helped. The Vikings hadn’t done a great job rushing the passer until last Sunday, coverage from Xavier Rhodes and company must be on point for this defense to succeed on Thursday. The Vikings continued to win, at least until they didn’t. Slay missed the first Lions-Vikings game November 6 with a hamstring injury, and the Lions’ top cornerback looked rusty in his return last Sunday when he allowed a touchdown catch and got called for pass interference. He caught 13 passes for 80 yards against Detroit.

Of the 15 NFL Power Rankings we surveyed this week, the Lions ranked in the top 10 of all but two. They have to steal one. Sam Bradford finished with just 169 passing yards and committed his fifth turnover in as many games, while the ground game managed just 72 yards on 24 carries (3.0 ypc).

Not too long ago, the Lions were so bad that there was a thought that the National Football League might take away the annual Thanksgiving game.

Detroit is 6-4 ATS this season and 4-6 over/under just like Minnesota. They have a three-game winning streak on the holiday following a nine-game losing streak. Here are some ways that the Vikings can improve on offense and defense. He has since been released. For the Lions to win, quarterback Matthew Stafford will need to continue his excellent play and spread the football around to receivers like Golden Tate, Eric Ebron, Anquan Boldin, Marvin Jones, and Theo Riddick. Matthew Stafford is spreading the ball around, and more importantly, he’s protecting the ball. The Vikings have serious issues at the offensive tackle position and are without RB Adrian Peterson and QB Teddy Bridgewater. Bad loss for Minnesota. Forbath made his only field-goal attempt – a 27-yard chip shot – but had an extra-point attempt blocked. We joke about Detroit being unreliable, but this team has won five of six and its lone loss during that stretch came on the road.