Some were surprised that the Lions were 2.5-point favorites today against the Vikings. It turns out the point spread should have been higher.
The red-hot Lions beat the Vikings today, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back, winning 34-23.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was excellent, throwing touchdown passes to Jameson Williams, D.J. Chark and Josh Reynolds. Goff is playing the best football of his career right now.
The Vikings got a spectacular game from wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who had a career-high 223 receiving yards, but the running game was a major letdown for Minnesota. Dalvin Cook was bottled up all game and lost a key fumble late in the first half.
The Lions, who started the season 1-6, have now won five of their last six games and are still alive in the wild card race at 6-7. And they’re doing it with style, including a couple of spectacular plays that tricked the Vikings, one a long run on a fake punt and another a pass to offensive tackle Penei Sewell (who lined up as an eligible receiver in the backfield and went in motion) that picked up a crucial first down in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings fall to 10-3 on the season, and they missed a chance to clinch the NFC North. They’re almost certainly still going to win their division, but today’s performance raises questions about whether they’re really Super Bowl contenders. They sure didn’t look like it today in Detroit.
