Looking at a game where the Detroit Lions are hosting the Minnesota Vikings, I would expect that the Lions would easily win. The Vikings were 2-10 coming into this game. The Lions were 7-5, but without their powerhouse defense with Ndamukong Suh and with a recent history of shooting themselves in the foot with dumb penalties. A strong start to the game gave false hope of an easy win. And then in the second half, the Vikings made some serious adjustments. The Lions barely held on at the end of the game, literally winning in the last few seconds.

First Half

Alfonso Smith managed to intercept a throw in the first quarter, giving the Lions a needed charge. This interception led to the Lions’ second touchdown within just over five minutes in the game. On their very next drive, at 9:06 into the game, the Lions scored their third touchdown. Minnesota finally answered with a touchdown with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. Another interception by Smith gave the Lions their fourth touchdown of the game. They led at the half 28-7.

Second Half Turnaround

Christian Ponder again threw an interception early in the third quarter and was benched. Joe Webb took over quarterback duties for the Vikings and quickly changed the tone of the game. His best play was at the end of the third quarter, with a 65-yard carry into the end zone. The Detroit defense seemed nonexistent. A half quarter later, Webb led the Vikings to another touchdown, bringing the score to 34-28 in favor of Detroit.

The Lions couldn’t hold onto their drive and allowed the Vikings one last chance at winning the game. A wild finish to the game kept all of us on the edge of our seats. The Vikings drove down the field. At two yards away from the end zone the Lions jumped into the neutral zone, inching the Vikings even closer. In the subsequent play, DeAndre Levy forced a fumble. Webb briefly recovered the ball and then fumbled it again. Cliff Avril recovered it on the 50-yard line, clinching the Lions’ win.

Penalties

The Detroit Lions continued to get a bunch of penalties throughout the game, costing them probable points. Their wild behavior seemed to be more under control, although Levy apparently got away with a facemask in that final play of the game. Jim Schwartz laid down the law this week, implementing a zero-tolerance policy on post-whistle personal fouls, at least.

Their next game is at the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 4:05 p.m.

Andrea Coventry is an NFL fan who follows many teams. Her loyalties lie with her hometown teams of the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills.

More from this contributor:

Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears Rack up $62,500 in Fines: A Fan’s Commentary

What Needs to Happen to Ndamukong Suh?: A Fan’s Commentary

Ndamukong Suh’s Apology and Probable Suspension: A Fan’s Commentary

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Read More: Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, Dec 11, 2011 12:00 PM CST

The Minnesota Vikings are starting a rookie at quarterback in Christian Ponder. Sometimes, rookie quarterbacks make throws that they shouldn’t. That was clearly the case early in the second quarter at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions.

On a second down play, Ponder dropped back to pass and once again found a wide open Alphonso Smith. As we intimated earlier on this afternoon, Smith still plays for the Lions and not the Vikings, so that’s a bad thing. Smith went untouched into the end zone for a 30-yard return, and the Lions had pushed their lead back to three touchdowns at 28-7.

It has been a rough afternoon for all three phases of the Vikings’ team thus far. The sad part? We’re only two and a half minutes into the third quarter. A long afternoon has the potential to get even longer for fans of the purple and gold.

As it stands now, we have 12:33 left in the first half of play, and the Minnesota Vikings trail the Detroit Lions by a score of 28-7, with 21 of Detroit’s points coming directly off of Minnesota turnovers.

Read More: Stephen Tulloch (LB – DET), Cliff Avril (DE – DET), Phil Loadholt (OT – MIN), Toby Gerhart (RB – MIN), Christian Ponder (QB – MIN), Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions, Dec 11, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Once again, the Minnesota Vikings have given up an early touchdown when the defense was nowhere to be found.

After allowing one first down to the Lions on their first series, Minnesota forced a punt that was taken at the 9-yard line. On the Vikings’ first play from scrimmage, Christian Ponder faked a handoff to Toby Gerhart and dropped back to pass, and Lions’ defensive end Cliff Avril beat Phil Loadholt like a drum around the right edge. Avril got to Ponder and forced a fumble that wound up bouncing into the end zone. Stephen Tulloch jumped on the fumble in the end zone, and the Lions had an early touchdown.

This is the second game in a row that the Vikings’ offense has surrendered a touchdown early, as last week the Denver Broncos got an interception for a score for their first score in Minneapolis.

We have 12:56 left in the first quarter, and the Detroit Lions have already staked themselves to a 7-0 lead.

The Minnesota Vikings visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon but they won’t have their full complement of offensive weapons to throw at the Lions.

As previously posted, Adrian Peterson is listed on the team’s official inactive list for the game, missing his third straight game with a high ankle sprain. Bruising running back Toby Gerhart will continue starting in place of Peterson in the Vikings backfield. Peterson is with the team in Detroit and hoped to wake up Sunday morning feeling good enough to go, but that wasn’t the case. 

Quarterback Christian Ponder will be active and ready to start after spending the week listed as questionable while tending to a hip injury.

Here is the full list of inactive players for the Vikings.

#Vikings Inactives vs. Lions – 28 RB Adrian Peterson, 31CB Chris Cook, 57 LB Xavier Adibi, 63 C Brandon Fusco, 75 OT DeMarcus Love, 89 TE Allen Reisner, 91 DE D’Aundre Reed.

Here are the things you need to know when the Detroit Lions plays against Minnesota at Ford Field on Sunday.

VIKINGS

Rookie QB Christian Ponder had a career-high 381 passing yards & three TDs last week. He’s aiming for third game in a row with a 90+ rating
RB Adrian Peterson has five 100-yard games in past eight against Detroit. Has also has eight rushing TDs in past eight meetings … Since entering the NFL in 2007, he leads all players with 6,654 rush yards & 63 rush TDs. Has nine TDs (eight rushing, one receiving) in his past six games and aims for seven in row with TD … Has 27 rushing TDs in past 25 games against division opponents.
WR-KR Percy Harvin aims for fourth game in a row with a TD. He has four receiving TDs in past three games and averages 41.3 yards per TD … In past three games, he has 22 catches for 324 yards (108 per game) and four TDs … Had a career-high 156 yards (eight catches) and two touchdowns last week. Is only player in NFL with rushing, receiving and a return TD in each of past 2 seasons
DE Jared Allen has 24.5 sacks in past 21 games, including 13 in past 10. Since entering NFL in 2004, he has an NFL-best 97.5 sacks … Had three sacks in previous meeting against Detroit.Has 9.5 sacks in eight career games against Detroit.
DE Brain Robinson had two sacks in previous game against Detroit.

LIONS

QB Matthew Stafford completed 32 of 46 (69.6 percent) for 378 yards with two TDs and no interceptions for a 108.8 rating in last meeting … Passed for 408 yards last week … Lions are 7-0 when he has 100+ rating.
WR Calvin Johnson leads NFC with 12 receiving TDS. Joins Hall of Famers Lance Alworth and Jerry Rice as only players 12-or-more receiving TDs three of their first five seasons … Since start of 2008, he has has 41 TD catches, most in NFL … Ties for NFC lead with 1,092 rec. yards and is first Lions WR 1,000-or-more receiving yards in three of first five seasons … Had seven catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns in last meeting.
TE Brandon Pettigrew had 11 catches for 112 yards in last meeting.
T Jeff Backus has started in 172 consecutive games, passing Hall of Famer Dick Le Beau (171) for longest streak in club history.
WR Nate Burleson arims for fifth game in a row with five-or-more receptions. He has 25 receptions in past four games.
DE Cliff Avril has five sacks and four forced fumbles this season.
DE Kyle Vanden Bosch had a sack in the previous meeting.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings are bracing for the possibility that they will be missing both quarterback Christian Ponder and running back Adrian Peterson against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Both are listed as questionable for the game, with Ponder bothered by a hip pointer and Peterson still recuperating from a high ankle sprain. Ponder missed the first two practices of the week before returning to work on Friday and Peterson practiced on a limited basis with that injured left ankle.

Coach Leslie Frazier said both would be evaluated on Saturday to see if they make improvement.

“I think I’ll be pushing for it no matter what,” Peterson said. “But I feel like coach Frazier has my best interests at hand, so we’ll see how things go. Hopefully I wake up feeling great and I’ll be able to kind of distinguish tomorrow when I run on it and things like that, see how I feel if I’ll be able to play.”

The Vikings’ leading rusher with 872 yards and 12 total touchdowns has missed two straight games.

Ponder suffered a hip pointer last weekend against Denver that noticeably limited his mobility in the game.

“It’s OK, definitely better,” Ponder said. “It was really sore on Monday and Tuesday. I felt like I was moving around not too badly out there today. It’s really gotten better the past 36 hours. So, we’ll see how it feels tomorrow and Sunday.”

Backup Joe Webb would start if Ponder isn’t ready.

Receiver Percy Harvin was limited again Friday after tearing a ligament in his finger during Wednesday’s practice. Harvin is probable for Sunday.

Peterson signed the richest contract for a running back in league history in the offseason, and at 2-10 the Vikings have little to play for. So it would make sense that the team would be extra cautious with their prized player, but Frazier said if Peterson is healthy enough to play, he’ll be in the lineup.

“He would have liked to have played the last two weeks if it were just purely his decision,” Frazier said. “But it would not have been a good thing to put him out there the last couple of weeks.”

The Vikings have more of an interest in getting Ponder back onto the field right away. The rookie, who took over the starting job in Week 7, needs all the seasoning and experience he can get to make him better prepared for next year.

“I’m confident that I’ll be able to go,” he said. “I think it’s a matter of my effectiveness. I don’t know how effective I’ll be. I would like to think that I’d be playing at 100 percent, but I don’t know if that’s 100 percent true. We’ll see.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By Christopher Gates

– Managing Editor

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Oct 11, 2011 – The Minnesota Vikings finally got their first win of the 2011 season on Sunday afternoon with their thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, that hasn’t done a whole heck of a lot to change their lot in the 2011 NFL Standings through the season’s first five weeks.

Yes, the only two undefeated teams remaining in the NFL still reside in the NFC North, as the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions both moved their records to 5-0 this week by beating the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears, respectively.

As it stands now, here is what the NFC North standings look like:

That’s not a misprint, folks. . .despite having a record of just 1-4 on the season, the Vikings have outscored their opponents overall, thanks to their 24-point victory on Sunday afternoon. All the more reason for Viking fans to be frustrated with their team’s lot this season.

This week, the Vikings will travel to Chicago to take on the Bears on Sunday Night Football, the Lions will host the San Francisco 49ers, and the Packers will host the St. Louis Rams.

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The 2011 NFL schedule rolled into Week 5, and for the Minnesota Vikings, the season was looking like a total wash already! Starting 0-4 is not the best way to begin a season, especially with the Detroit Lions starting 4-0 and holding a four game lead.

Today the Vikings had their coming out party as they smashed the Arizona Cardinals 34-10.

The first quarter alone was a Vikings fan’s dream come true, and a fantasy football fans also if you happen to have Adrian Peterson on your team. Peterson scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone as the Minnesota Vikings jumped out to a 28-0 lead.

Peterson finished the game with over 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Can a team dig out of a 0-4 start and still make the postseason? It will be tough for Minnesota to do so being in the same division as the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers, but hey, this is the NFL!

Anything can happen!

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Both the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings have some injury concerns going into this one, including a couple of big names.

We’ll start with the injury report for the visiting Arizona Cardinals.

Hamstrings are the name of the game for the Cardinals, as that’s the issue with tight end Todd Heap, running back Beanie Wells, and wide receiver Early Doucet, according to our friends at SB Nation Arizona. Heap is said to be a game-time decision, while it would be surprising if either Wells or Doucet are deactivated for this one. In the event that Zastudil can’t handle the punting duties, Arizona has former Cardinals’ punter Ben Graham on standby.

Now, on to the Vikings, who have some injury issues of their own.

Winfield’s injury is a neck injury that he suffered in the Kansas City game, and his absence could present some huge problems for the Vikings on defense. He’s technically a “game-time decision” as well, but it would be surprising to see him out there on Sunday, from all accounts. Kluwe is also battling an injury, and the Vikings have brought in former Detroit Lions’ punter Nick Harris in case he can’t go. Then again, Kluwe has played through a torn ACL in the past, so it would be a surprise if he wasn’t playing this Sunday.

By Ethan Rothstein

– Contributor

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Sep 30, 2011 – The Minnesota Vikings aren’t going to get a better chance for a win than this. Last week was something of a disaster, as they had a chance to give the Detroit Lions their first loss of the year, then the defense choked it away, allowing 20 unanswered points and a field goal by a kicker who’s so old, he was on the team the last time the Lions made the playoffs.

But Vikings fans can rejoice in one sole idea: at least they’re not the Chiefs. It’s not necessarily the Chiefs fault. Three of their most important players, Jamaal Charles, Tony Moeaki and Eric Berry all tore their ACLs, leaving them the wasteland of offensive destruction that has lost three games by a combined 82 points, only making it close against the Chargers, who might as well be a college team in September.

The Vikings’ offense hasn’t been as bad as advertised — how can you ever discount an Adrian Peterson team — but it’s their defense, which could be missing its leader in E.J. Henderson in Kansas City, has been its Achilles heel. Without Charles, the Chiefs’ offense has been punchless, but it looked a little stronger against the Chargers last week, scoring 17 points.

The guys at NFL Network were split — it’s hard sifting through the mediocrity — and the boys at CBSSports.com picked the Vikings 3-2, and I’d have to agree with the majority here. If I’m in a survivor pool, I’m circling whoever’s facing the Chiefs every week.

Read More: Jamaal Charles (RB – KAN), Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings

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MINNEAPOLIS (WWJ/AP) – The Detroit Lions stage a huge comeback and beat the Minnesota Vikings in overtime 26-23 on Sunday. The Lions started the game much the same way they had in previous years in Minnesota.

As heard on 97.1 The Ticket – Detroit’s sluggish start had them down by 20 points entering the second half.

Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes to rally the Lions from the 20-0 halftime deficit, and Jason Hanson kicked a 32-yard field goal in overtime that lifted Detroit to victory.

Calvin Johnson had seven catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions, who are 3-0 for the first time since 1980. They won in the Metrodome for the first time since 1997, snapping a 13-game skid.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings (0-3), who gave away a big halftime lead for the third week in a row. Peterson managed just 5 yards rushing in the second half.

Stafford finished with 378 yards passing, and his 40-yard completion to Johnson in overtime set up Hanson’s winning kick.

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin returned to practice on Friday and is listed as probable for the game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Harvin missed practice on Thursday because of an illness. But Harvin and the Vikings said it was not related to migraine headaches that have caused him to miss time in the past.

“Man, it was a stomach ache,” Harvin said after practice on Friday, quickly brushing aside any concerns about a migraine resurfacing. “I’m fine, fine, fine.”

Harvin has played in just over 50 per cent of the snaps through the first two weeks, and offensive co-ordinator Bill Musgrave said they’d like to get him more action against the Lions (2-0) on Sunday. Coach Leslie Frazier said Harvin looked ready in his return to practice on Friday and doesn’t expect there to be any limitations during the game.

“I thought he looked pretty good,” Frazier said. “He went through everything in practice, moved around pretty good and should be fine for Sunday.”

Cornerback Chris Cook is listed as questionable with a groin injury. He practised all week long and Frazier said they will need the six-foot-two Cook to play against Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.

“When we looked at our division, that was one of the things that we looked at, trying to match up at times,” Frazier said of drafting Cook in the second round last year. “Having two big corners with Cedric (Griffin) and Chris, we thought that would help us. This is one of those games where we want it to pay off.”

Linebacker E.J. Henderson (knee) was the only other player limited in practice on Friday, but Frazier expects him to be on the field against the Lions, who are favoured in a visit to Minnesota (0-2) for the first time since 1981.

The Vikings also are getting defensive tackle Kevin Williams back from a two-game suspension. Williams is also dealing with a painful case of plantar fasciitis in his left foot that he said he expects to be an issue all season long. But Frazier said Williams looked good in practice this week and the coach is more concerned with his conditioning than the pain in his foot.

“That’s something we’ll have to help him with from a rep standpoint and monitoring his reps,” Frazier said. “As far as moving around, he’s moving around pretty good. The conditioning will probably be a thing that we will have to look out for.”