The Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings tonight in an epic matchup at Ford Field between two 14-2 teams with the winner earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and winning the NFC North. The loser will fall to the No. 5 seed and begin the playoffs on the road. It's the first regular season game in league history to feature two teams with 28 combined wins.
Here are five things to watch out for tonight:
1. Will LB Alex Anzalone return?
Anzalone returned to the practice field for the first time this week since breaking his forearm in the win over Jacksonville Week 11. He was a full participant in practice Thursday and Friday and the Lions activated him from IR to the 53-man roster on Saturday, which is a good sign he'll suit up and play tonight.
Anzalone is a defensive captain and the heart and soul of the defense. If he plays tonight it will be with a protective sleeve over his arm which he had time to adjust to at practice this week. He's Detroit's best cover linebacker, which is significant given the Vikings' skill position weapons. San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy was 11-for-11 for 182 yards with a touchdown targeting Detroit's linebackers in coverage last week.
2. Containing Vikings' pass attack
The Lions are down their top cornerback in Carlton Davis III and they face a Minnesota offense that features a top five passing attack in the NFL with a plethora of weapons at receiver and tight end. Lions cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Amik Robertson will have their hands full with All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson (1,479 yards, 10 TD), but even if they do a good job limiting Jefferson, the Lions still have to worry about wide receivers Jordan Addison (875 yards, 9 TD) and Jalen Nailor (361 yards, 6 TD) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (446 yards), who didn't play in the first matchup Week 7 vs. the Vikings as he was rehabbing a torn ACL.
"Listen, we're going to do everything we can to stop him," Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said this week of slowing down Jefferson. "I thought the first game, we did a pretty good job of limiting what he can do. I know that he made the one play on Amik, and we're going to try to continue to do that.
"Great players are going to end up making plays at some point in the game, it's hard to hold those guys down, but we're going to do everything we can to do it. This is going to be a fun game, I'm just telling you that right now, and we are looking forward to it because there is no better way to end this season than playing against a team like that. So, it's going to be a fun one."
3. Protecting Jared Goff
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores loves to bring pressure as Minnesota leads the NFL in blitz percentage (38 percent). The Vikings are third in quarterback hurries (62) and third in sacks (47) on the year.
But blitz Jared Goff at your own risk. Goff has a 127.1 passer rating when blitzed this season with 15 touchdowns, two interceptions and eight sacks taken. Goff was 15-for-16 passing (93.8 percent) for 165 yards and a touchdown (sacked once) when he was blitzed in Detroit's 31-29 win over Minnesota earlier in the year.
4. Turnover battle
It's no coincidence the two 14-2 teams squaring off in the last game of the regular season with so much on the line are among the best in the NFL in turnover differential. Detroit is plus-11 and Minnesota plus-10.
Minnesota is really good at creating takeaways as they are tied with Buffalo and Pittsburgh for the league lead (31). The Lions had a late fumble that was returned for a touchdown that nearly cost them in the first game with the Vikings. Minnesota is 6-0 this season when creating at least two takeaways in a game.
Detroit's 13 giveaways this season are the fourth fewest in the NFL. Detroit's defense has 24 takeaways of their own with the safety duo of Kerby Joseph (9) and Brian Branch (4) accounting for 13 of those via interceptions. Whichever team creates extra possessions with takeaways has the upper hand in this one.
5. Can Gibbs keep it rolling?
In back-to-back weeks carrying a heavier load of the run game with David Montgomery (knee) sidelined, Pro Bowl running back Jahmyr Gibbs has totaled 226 rushing yards with 317 total scrimmage yards and two touchdowns on 50 total touches.
Gibbs has the third highest rushing average in the NFL (5.61) and 37 rushes of 10-plus yards on the year. He had 116 rushing yards on 15 carries (7.7 avg.) with two touchdowns and also chipped in four receptions for 44 yards in the first matchup against a Vikings' defense that enters tonight's game ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards allowed (88.1).
