Adrian Petersowned.


Detroit (6-5) at Minnesota (5-6)

Game Info: 1:00 pm EST Sun Dec 2, 2007
TV: FOX

By MATT BECKER, STATS Writer

A three-game losing streak has knocked the Detroit Lions back into a crowded NFC wild-card race.

The Minnesota Vikings are part of that cluster, and now they are about to get back the league's leading rusher after winning their last two games without him.

Though they did well against Adrian Peterson the first time they faced him, the Lions probably won't be happy to see the star rookie back on the field Sunday as they try to win in the Metrodome for the first time in a decade.

It appears Peterson will return after missing two games with a torn lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. Still leading the NFL with 1,081 yards rushing, Peterson will be playing his first game at the Metrodome since rushing for an NFL-record 296 yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 35-17 win over San Diego on Nov. 4.

"I would say we would ease him back in, yeah. You're not going to go back there and turn over the whole load to him," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "There are conditioning factors involved, there are fatiguing factors involved when you get involved in playing a 65 or 70-play game. We'll have a pulse on how he practices and who gets what."

Childress said Peterson would likely split carries with veteran Chester Taylor, whose solid production the last two weeks have helped Minnesota to wins over the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants. Taylor ran for 241 yards and four touchdowns in those games.

Detroit (6-5) did a good job spoiling Peterson's first NFL start on Sept. 16, holding him to 66 yards on 20 carries in a 20-17 overtime victory.

That win was part of a surprising 6-2 start for the Lions, seeking to end an eight-year playoff drought. They were one game behind Green Bay for the NFC North lead halfway through the season, but things have quickly unraveled.

Detroit dropped its third straight game with a 37-26 loss to the Packers on Thanksgiving, falling four games back of first-place Green Bay.

"We've hit three bumps in the road and after all the smoke cleared, we're still in the playoff race and in a good position," Detroit center Dominic Raiola said.

The Lions are in sole possession of the NFC's final wild-card spot, but six teams are one game back, and three of them - Washington, Philadelphia and Arizona - all own tiebreakers over Detroit.

To make matters worse for the Lions, their final five opponents are 35-20 - the toughest remaining schedule among the 12 NFC teams that are at least 5-6.

"There's no panic in my life," Detroit coach Rod Marinelli said. "This is a tough challenge, but I believe in these players."

The Lions have won just five of 21 games in December since 2002, and they open the calendar's final month in the Metrodome, where they have lost nine straight games since a 14-13 victory on Dec. 14, 1997.

That win was part of Detroit's last season sweep of the Vikings, who had won 10 consecutive games in this series before this year.

Minnesota is one of those teams that is a game back of Detroit, but will lose the tiebreaker with the Lions -- and devastate its playoff hopes -- if it can't win Sunday.

"We were a footnote at 4-6," Minnesota coach Brad Childress said after last Sunday's 41-17 victory over the Giants. "It's significant because now you have a chance to be in the mix."

Last Sunday, Minnesota intercepted New York's Eli Manning four times, and set a team single-game record by returning three of them for touchdowns. The Vikings had three interceptions in the loss to Detroit in September.

Lions quarterback Jon Kitna threw one of those interceptions, and when he left after being hit hard, backup J.T. O'Sullivan threw the other two. In three career games against the Vikings, Kitna has thrown three touchdowns to seven interceptions.

Kitna has thrown for 897 yards during the three-game skid, but has four TD passes compared to six interceptions and has been sacked 11 times.

Kevin Jones rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries last week after running for just 21 yards and a TD on 15 attempts in his previous two games combined. He did not play against the Vikings in Week 2 because of a foot injury, and was held to five yards on 19 carries in two games against them last season.

Minnesota leads the league in rushing defense (74.8 yards per game), and is allowing an average of 53.8 rushing yards in its last four games at the Metrodome.

We'll take it up the ol' poopshot.

Shit, I voted for a Lions win before I saw Peterson was back. With him back in the lineup I'm really not sure. It should be a close one.

The big question: Which Jon Kitna will show up on Sunday? The one that makes too many poor decisions and loses the game for us, or the one that limits those poor decisions just enough to give us a win?

dubya <---homer pick

Vikings by 17-21 points

I'll go 38-21

I think the Lions will end the losing streak.


Finally they play a quarterback who's below average...

AP romps for 2000 yards on 26 carries.

Wow, that's nearly 100 yards per carry.

Wow, that's nearly 100 yards per carry.

Yeah I had to adjust for the fact that the Vikes won't always start on their one yard line. Apparantly Detroit's special teams play will be awesome.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Jackson has a great game throwing the ball against these douches.

Who in our secondary is going to stop him? Just loft it up there, we rarely turn around to look for the ball.

Jackson will throw 3 picks and Peterson will fumble twice.
Enjoy a Lions win by double digits.

Bye.

Jackson will throw 3 picks and Peterson will fumble twice.
Enjoy a Lions win by double digits.

Bye.
Peterson will also score 7 td's and rush for 312 yards to offset those mistakes then hurt his groin in the post season celebration trying to hump 7 women at once.

The good game for Peterson prognosticators are on so far today.

I'm not sure what happened but the first couple of weeks we had huge YACs. It doesn't seem like we've had 10 yards since then. We're getting tackled immediately.

14-10 Queens

Nice....and by nice I mean fucked up.

104 yd kickoff return for a td by the queens

this has the potential to be a very special game, i believe.

fucking losers.

AP has Barry-like qualities

I don't usually agree with the...the Lions lost to the Giants and the Giants lost to the Vikes, so the Vikes should beat the Lions...mentality, but the way the Vikes whooped the Giants last week, it did concern me.

the way the lions have lost 3 in a row was what concerned me. how epic would an 8 game losing streak be to end the season. im officially feeling it.

if im calvin johnson im asking around for charles rogers' phone number.

holding them to 35 this half isnt too bad.

Our D gives up 35, but I'm still wanting to draft O-line.

yea, you got to address needs. we would help our D a TON if we improved our own line. improve the line, you improve the running game. you improve your running game, you stretch out drives, let the defense stay off the field and rest more. this team was such a house of cards that this collapse was inevitable.

the fox guys all just said theyll never pick the lions again. lol, sounds about right.

I missed most of that drive but it looked like our D is just going through the motions.

they threw it within 10 yards of CJ. hurrah!

42-10...LMFAO

This reminds me of the '04 season where the NFC was so bad and the Lions were still in the Wild Card hunt late until they botched the hold on a game tying FG....vs. Minnesota.

This reminds me of the '04 season where the NFC was so bad and the Lions were still in the Wild Card hunt late until they botched the hold on a game tying FG....vs. Minnesota.
wasnt that an extra point? If we are talking about the same game. I remember because it was immediately compared to the new orleans botched extra point.

Jackson will throw 3 picks and Peterson will fumble twice.
Enjoy a Lions win by double digits.

Bye.

Might have been closer if you had gone with 105-87.

wasnt that an extra point? If we are talking about the same game. I remember because it was immediately compared to the new orleans botched extra point.

Yes, it was an XP. Dan Muelbach (sp?) botched the snap.

The Lions keep getting Washington, Philly and everyone else to lose but they suck too bad to take advantage of it.

Marinelli: Defense had many 'loafs'

by Tom Kowalski Monday December 03, 2007, 10:28 PM


Here are some excerpts from Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli's weekly press conference.
On how many "loafs" there were from his defensive team in Detroit's 42-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings:
"It is way up there. Off the top of my head it is probably as high as we've had this year, and a loaf is well defined. It is on our board, so they know exactly what a loaf is."

What is a "loaf"?
"A loaf is any change of speed, not getting off the ground, not finishing aggressively to the pile. If a ball is thrown, not turning and moving toward the ball. Any chance of speed at all, we call that a loaf."
On if the lack of effort is the most disappointing thing to see in a playoff run:
"No question and that's why I brought it up last night. That was a reason I brought it up because I don't think you can win without it. I know, for me, who I am, you can't win without (effort). If it's not getting done, then I've got to find a way to get it done. The staff has got to get it done, and the players are now held accountable as they are sitting there watching the tape."
On the poor play of the defensive line:
"I believe that's where it all starts, and for me, that's where it does. That's how I wanted to try to build this thing -- from the front. That has to be or it puts everybody else in a bad position, because (the defensive line) has to disrupt. If we start going lateral, the whole defense doesn't work."
On whether DT Shaun Rogers is running out of gas:
"He's not playing as well. He's got to play better."

If you try to run more than 6 times vs. the Vikings, AD will think you're trying to one up him, then he gets angry and goes for 300.