+7
Despite playing without Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings made it close before falling to the Detroit Lions, 34-28.
The Minnesota Vikings benched rookie quarterback Christian Ponder in the third quarter of their game against the Detroit Lions. Backup quarterback Joe Webb replaced Ponder with eight minutes to go in the third quarter. Webb promptly made his presence felt. On third-and-10 at the Vikings’ 35-yard line, Webb scrambled around the right end and broke off a 65-yard touchdown run to cut the Lions’ lead down to 31-21.
Check out the video of Webb’s run and touchdown:
Ponder, a rookie, was having trouble with turnovers, despite his two touchdown passes. He threw three interceptions, including one that Alphonso Smith returned for a touchdown. Ponder also fumbled twice, one of which was converted into a Lions touchdown as well. His third interception is the one that got him benched for the day.
Prior to this game, Ponder had nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in seven games and six starts. The Vikings made Webb their primary backup after releasing Donovan McNabb.
Detroit Lions cornerback Alphonso Smith picked off Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. That gave Detroit a 28-7 over the two-win Vikings.
Check out the video of Smith’s pick six right here.
That was the first interception of the season for Smith, a third-year cornerback out of Wake Forest.
Smith’s touchdown was the score for Detroit’s defense, a unit that has made life miserable for Christian Ponder, the Vikings’ rookie quarterback. Stephen Tulloch scored a touchdown by recovering a forced fumble in the end zone early in the game.
The Detroit Lions offense was not content to let the defense do all of the scoring against the Minnesota Vikings today. A Stephen Tulloch fumbled recovery gave Detroit an early lead. Matt Stafford and Titus Young added another touchdown to the lopsided score.
Stafford hit the speedy Young on the deep left side of the field to give the Lions their second touchdown of the game.
Video of Young’s touchdown for your viewing pleasure.
That was Young’s third touchdown of the season, and his longest one to date. Young has emerged a complementary deep threat for the Lions offense. A Boise State product, Young was a second pick by the Lions in this year’s draft.
That was Stafford’s 28th touchdown pass of the season. He added number 29 later in the first quarter with a touchdown pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew.
A win today would keep the Lions in the Wild Card chase.
The Detroit Lions defense is playing a little shorthanded today, with Nick Fairley out and Ndamukong Suh serving his stomping suspension. Shorthanded or not they came up big early, putting Detroit on the board with a touchdown on a fumble recovered in the Vikings end zone.
Check out the video of Stephen Tulloch pouncing Cliff Avril’s forced fumble.
Rough start for Christian Ponder. The Vikings’ rookie quarterback lost that fumble on their first offensive play of the game. Lions defensive end Cliff Avril brought him down at the two-yard line, an eight-yard loss, and forced the fumble that his teammate recovered with some quick thinking.
The Vikings lost a late one to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos last week. They’re battling the Rams for the second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
The Lions have stumbled lately. They’re in a dog fight to make the playoffs after starting the season with an impressive winning streak.
The Detroit Lions have lost three of their last four games, putting the pressure on to keep themselves in the wild-card race. In the three losses, the Lions offense has been plagued with turnovers and failed to put points on the board, averaging just 15 points per game in the losses. The team will get a bit of a break on Sunday however, taking on the Minnesota Vikings defense that's given up at least 24 points in the last four weeks, all in losses. Quarterback Matt Stafford can rebound and put the Lions right back into the playoff race.
The Minnesota Vikings are out of the playoff picture, sitting at 2-10, but the team can build on the disappointing season for next year. Rookie quarterback Christian Ponder has played well enough to keep the Vikings in games, but the team just can't seem to close it out. The Vikings offense could get a big boost if running back Adrian Peterson is able to go, which will take some of the pressure off the rookie quarterback. They'll be facing a Lions team without Ndamukong Suh, who's still serving his two game suspension for a personal foul on Thanksgiving Day against the Green Bay Packers.
Game Date/Time: Sunday, December 11th, 1:00 pm ET
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
TV Schedule
Local: FOX
TV Distribution Map: The506.com
For more on the Vikings head over to The Daily Norseman. For more on the Lions, check out Pride Of Detroit. Follow the rest of week 14 at SB Nation NFL.
The Detroit Lions are still playing for a spot in the NFL playoffs while NFC North rivals Minnesota Vikings only have their pride left to play for after posting just two wins on the season thus far. Nevertheless, the two teams will meet this weekend at Ford Field in a game with potential playoff implications.
The Vikings could be without starting quarterback Christian Ponder and possibly running back Adrian Peterson, too, but Andrew Sharp's NFL picks and predictions for Week 14 instead focused on the Lions' missing piece.
Minnesota at Detroit (-12) ... Seriously: What the the hell is going on with Ndamukong Suh?
Suh has been involved an automobile accident - and possible cover-up -- while waiting out his two-game suspension for stomping on a Green Bay Packers player during the Thanksgiving game and, considering this game could get ugly, that might very well be a topic of discussion on Sunday.
As far as the other experts around the league are concerned, Sports Illustrated's Peter King has the Lions winning by a touchdown while all of the experts at ESPN, CBS Sports and and Yahoo! Sports have the team with more than two ins picking up another victory on Sunday afternoon.
For more on the Vikings, be sure to check the Daily Norseman. SB Nation's Lions community can be found at Pride of Detroit.
The 2-10 Minnesota Vikings, fresh off being Tebowed in Week 13, head to Detroit to face the reeling Detroit Lions, who are feeling the pain of losing DT Ndamukong Suh to suspension and their brutal late-season schedule. They've lost in back-to-back weeks to the two teams who look like the class of the NFC, the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints. Despite the losses, the Lions still are seven-point favorites against the Vikings.
As if this season weren't tough enough already, it appears as if the Vikings will again be without the services of their best player, RB Adrian Peterson, whose status is in doubt after missing the past two games with a high ankle sprain. Those never heal quickly, and, at 2-10, it would be reckless for Minnesota to rush him back when he's at anything less than 100 percent.
The Lions are rapidly developing the reputation of the dirtiest team in the league, but few can deny that they play hard every week. That's why a game like this makes it seem safe to bet on them to win, and seven points seems like a safe line to cover.
For more on these two teams, visit Pride of Detroit and Daily Norseman. Click here for all of Week 14's NFL odds.
NFL Scores Week 14, Vikings Vs. Lions: Detroit Gets Past Feisty Vikings, 34-28
The Minnesota Vikings found a spark with a third quarterback in 2011, but it wasn't quite enough to complete a comeback over the Detroit Lions.
The Lions raced out to 21-0 and 28-7 leads, but, behind Joe Webb, Minnesota closed to within a possession and fell, 34-28, only after Webb failed to lead a game-winning drive late.
Matthew Stafford threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, while the Lions' defense forced six turnovers and returned a Christian Ponder pass for a touchdown.
But Webb, inserted for an ineffective Ponder, threw for 84 yards and a touchdown and ran for 109 yards and another score. The Vikings have a surfeit of backup quarterbacks, it seems.
Detroit moved to 8-5 with the win, while Minnesota fell to 2-11 with the loss.
For more on the Lions, visit Pride of Detroit. For more on the Vikings, visit Daily Norseman. SB Nation has you covered for the rest of Week 14's NFL action, too: check out all the Week 14 NFL news and scores and Week 14 fantasy stats, and Week 14 NFL video highlights in our dedicated StoryStreams, and head to SB Nation's NFL hub any time for plenty more on the league.
Dec 11 5:45p by Andy Hutchins - 3 comments