Flashback Friday: Vikings beat Lions, sack Stafford 10 times in 2018
By Ali Siddiqui
Let’s take a look back at the meeting between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions in 2018 when the purple and gold sacked Matt Stafford 10 times.
The Minnesota Vikings (8-4) and Detroit Lions (3-8-1) are set to face off on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium for their second meeting of the season. The Vikings are coming off a tough loss Monday night to the Seattle Seahawks, while the Lions have lost their past five games and were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
The Vikings won 42-30 at Ford Field in Week 7 to improve to 5-2, earning their third consecutive victory.
The last time these two teams faced in Minneapolis, the Vikings not only won 24-9, but also sacked Matthew Stafford 10 times, which was a franchise record for most sacks in a game. Danielle Hunter recorded 3.5 of those sacks, Tom Johnson recorded 2.5 and Everson Griffen recorded 1.5.
"“We knew he liked to throw the ball down the field, so that’s something that really helped us a lot because he held on to the ball,” said Hunter via ESPN.com, who moved into the NFL lead with 11 1/2 sacks for the season. “So as long as we executed the rush plan, we knew we’d be able to get back there.”"
Hunter also recorded a game-high nine tackles and returned a fumble recovery 32 yards for a touchdown.
Kirk Cousins went 18/22 for 164 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. Dalvin Cook rushed for 89 yards on 10 carries. Adam Thielen recorded a touchdown reception. For the Lions, Stafford went 25/36 for 199 yards. Marvin Jones Jr. had six receptions for 66 yards. The Vikings improved to 5-3-1 with the win and finished the season 8-7-1.
Minnesota has won their past four meetings with the Lions and lead the all-time series 75-39-1.
Only four games remain in the regular season, three of them at home. The Vikings need to win all four to have a shot at the division. The first-place Green Bay Packers need to also lose two games for the Vikings to win the North.
They could still get a wild card spot at 11-5 and possibly 10-6, but 12-4 would guarantee them a berth and perhaps a division title. Once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen, but winning the division guarantees a home game in the first matchup.
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The Vikings could easily be 10-2 right now, but could also easily be 6-6 too. 8-4 is certainly not bad and playoff races are always exciting.
Prediction: Vikings win 34-17