The Minnesota Vikings were approaching a relatively clean bill of health entering the postseason but have lost one of their biggest contributors ahead of a pivotal season finale against the Detroit Lions.
Following a 27-25 win over the Green Bay Packers on December 29, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that outside linebacker Pat Jones II would miss some time with a knee injury he sustained during the game. Jones, third on the team with 7.5 sacks this season, will be further evaluated on Monday.
“It’s a right knee injury,” O’Connell said. “Hopefully we avoided kind of a super long-term injury, but I won’t know much more than that until he gets fully evaluated. But expecting him probably to miss a little bit of time. Like I said, I don’t know what that looks like as of right now.”
O’Connell added that they held out Aaron Jones in the win over his former team after he sustained a quad contusion. He looked ready to reenter the game, wearing his helmet on the sidelines if needed in a game that Minnesota led by 17 points entering the final quarter.
Rookie Dallas Turner should see more involvement in Jones’ absence.
Vikings-Lions Season Finale Flexed to Sunday Night Football
Shortly after the Vikings’ win over the Packers, the NFL announced their matchup with the Lions game would be flexed to Sunday Night Football this week in a season finale that will determine the NFC North division title and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
Their first meeting came down to the wire with the Lions converting a field goal with 15 seconds remaining to secure a 31-29 victory in Week 7. This second matchup will look different as injuries have ravaged Detroit.
Although Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Aidan Hutchinson was already lost for the season, injuries have decimated the Lions late in the season. Detroit has 19 players on injured reserve while starting running back David Montgomery remains questionable to return at all this season.
The losses, largely on defense, were evident after Detroit gave up a 48-45 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 16. That loss has leveled the chase for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
With a win over the San Francisco 49ers (6-9) on Monday, the Lions (14-2) will enter the season finale with 14 wins alongside the Vikings (14-2).
Lions Early Favorites Over Vikings in Week 18
Entering Week 18, the Lions are 2.5-point favorites over the Vikings. Detroit has won four straight against Minnesota and has home-field advantage for the pivotal matchup.
However, the Vikings have won nine straight games entering the matchup as one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Led by Sam Darnold, Minnesota has scored the ninth most points in the league this season.
The rematch has the makings of another firefight, however, the Vikings defense could surprise.
Minnesota was without linebacker Blake Cashman (turf toe) in that Week 7 loss to the Lions. Cashman wears the green dot for the Vikings and his absence was evident. The Vikings seemed a step behind the Lions for much of the game and allowed several explosive plays due to defensive miscues.
It’d take a perfect game from the defense to shut down Detroit, but if Cashman and the defense can make the stops when they matter, the Vikings have the firepower to leave Detroit with the NFC North title and the top seed in the NFC in hand.
