After several years of Minnesota domination in the Vikings and Lions divisional rivalry that has spanned 57 seasons Mackensie Alexander Jersey , Detroit has started to claw back in recent years. The Lions have actually had a winning record in the rivalry over the past five years. They’re 5-3 against Mike Zimmer; they’re the only NFC North team that can boast a winning record over the Vikings Head Coach.Let’s take our weekly look at some of the history between the Vikings and their upcoming opponents. As always, all of the numbers used in this post come from the good folks at Pro Football Reference.Total regular season games between the Lions and the Vikings: 113All-time record: Vikings, 72-39-2Total Vikings points scored, head-to-head: 2432 (21.5 points/game)Total Lions points scored, head-to-head: 2099 (18.6 points/game)Longest Vikings winning streak vs Lions: 13 (6 October 1968 - 22 September 1974)Longest Lions winning streak vs Vikings: 5 (19 November 1961 - 27 October 1963, first five games between these two teams)Most recent Vikings home win in series: 20 September 2015 (final score 26-16)Most recent Lions road win in series: 1 October 2017 (final score 14-7)Biggest Vikings home win in series: 34 points, 9 November 1980 (final score 34-0)Biggest Lions road win in series: 27 points, 19 November 1961 (final score 37-10, first game between the two teams)Current streak: Vikings, 1 winThe Lions are actually undefeated at U.S. Bank Stadium, winning both of their games there so far. After winning in 2016 thanks to an overtime touchdown from the recently departed Golden Tate, they came back last year and won a 14-7 battle that seemingly put the Vikings’ season on the brink after just four games. Dalvin Cook tore his ACL in that game, the Vikings dropped to 2-2, and seemed to be going nowhere with Case Keenum at quarterback. Of course, the Vikings lost just one other time the rest of the regular season.Fortunately, the Vikings were able to exact revenge at Ford Field last Thanksgiving. They jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the second quarter and held on down the stretch to win by a score of 30-23. Keenum had 282 yards and three total touchdowns while Latavius Murray had 84 yards and a score on the ground. Danielle Hunter recovered a fumble and Xavier Rhodes had the game-clinching interception on fourth down late in the game.That’s a quick look back at the history between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. Hopefully the purple can get their first home win against the Lions in three seasons this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium. One of the constants for the Minnesota Vikings over the last several seasons is the inconsistency of the offensive line. This post isn’t being written to debate the achievements or the failings of GM Rick Spielman’s offensive line rebuild plans, because I’ve done enough of those in the past.And I’m going to need some off-season material to write about so we’re keeping that powder dry for now, haha. Overall Adam Thielen Color Rush Jersey , I think he’s had a couple of decent hits in free agency (For the most part Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers played well last year), he got one good year out of Matt Kalil before injuries took their toll (but overall not a good pick), and although Pat Elflein has had a subpar year as he is still coming back from two off-season surgeries, I think he will be a fixture on the line for a long time.And yeah, there have been misses. Lots of them, especially in the later rounds of the draft, and rebuild plans that blew up before past seasons even started. At the end of last year, the line still needed to be addressed at one or two positions, and most fans and experts felt the Vikings needed to take an offensive lineman early in last year’s draft. In the second round, the Vikings picked RT Brian O’Neill out of Pitt, and the near universal consensus was that he would need a year to get bulked up to be able to handle the competition at the NFL level, but long term was probably a good pick. But folks who wanted an offensive lineman selected weren’t happy with the pick, because it wasn’t O’Neill they wanted, or the position he plays.And in their defense, they had a point. The Vikings had two tackles coming back from last year in Reiff and Remmers...until they moved Remmers inside to guard, but whatever. Even then, the Vikings still planned on Rashod Hill starting at right tackle, as he got a lot of playing time late last year and in the playoffs https://www.minnesotavikingsshop.com/Mike-Remmers-Jersey , and did okay.Hill struggled with injuries and consistency early, and when O’Neill went in, he stood out. He saw significant playing time in the Vikings win at Philadelphia, then got the start in week six against Arizona, and has started every game since then.And he’s played pretty well. How well? I’m glad you asked. But sacks aren’t everything, we’re told. Pressure on the QB is almost as important. How well has he done there? According to PFF, he’s given up a total of 28 pressures on a total of 457 pass block plays, or a rate of six percent, with no sacks given up. Well, how good is he compared to other rookie linemen starting?Yes, yes, grain of salt and all that with PFF numbers, I get it, but the bottom line is that O’Neill is playing a lot better a lot earlier than most people expected, and although Minnesota will need to upgrade the interior of the offensive line, center and right tackle seem to be set for the near future.
