Minnesota is the NFL’s last unbeaten team at 6-0. Detroit is 4-2 after Jake Bates beat Green Bay with a 22-yard field goal as time expired Sunday. We’re still taking the Lions to win the NFC North.
The case for Minnesota
It’s real. The Vikings are 6-0, 2-0 in the division, and have allowed 74 points in six games, the fewest in the league.
Sunday’s 16-10 win over Indianapolis was the whole formula. Kyler Murray hit T.J. Hockenson for a 5-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Will Reichard’s 52-yard field goal with 1:39 left put it away.
The case against
Minnesota has scored 125 points. Four of the six wins came by seven points or fewer: 9-3 at Chicago, 15-10 over Miami, 23-16 at Tampa Bay and 16-10 over the Colts. You can live on the edge like that for a while. Not for 17 weeks.
Why Detroit
- The Lions score 30.7 points a game, second in the NFL behind Buffalo.
- Against Green Bay, Jared Goff threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns to Jameson Williams. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 9 passes for 153 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs carried 29 times for 116.
- Both losses came on the road, at Buffalo and at Carolina. Detroit is 3-0 at home.
- The schedule: Minnesota comes to Detroit this Sunday, and the rematch is in Minnesota in Week 15.
Win Sunday and the Lions are one game back with the rematch still to come. Chicago (5-2) is lurking too, but the Bears are 0-2 in the division. Green Bay is 4-3.
Our answer: Detroit wins the NFC North. The team that scores 30 a week beats the team that wins by six every week. Minnesota fans, we’ll see you Sunday.
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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.
