The Minnesota Vikings improved to 6-4 on the year and 5-1 at Mall of America Field, to hold off NFC North rivals the Detroit Lions, securing a pivotal 34-24 divisional victory.

Adrian Peterson continues to carry the Vikings with his tough running each week. Peterson had 27 carries for 171 yards and one touchdown. Peterson’s touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 61-yard run as he burst through the Lions’ defense. This was Peterson’s fifth game rushing for over 100 yards and his fourth consecutive 120+ yard game on the ground.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder finally regained his touch behind center. The two-year player completed 24 of 32 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. His 75% completion percentage is a season best thus far. Ponder was able to execute and play mistake-free football without throwing an interception for the first time since week four against the Lions.

Ponder connected with rookie wideout Jarius Wright for the first score of the game. Wright caught three passes for 65 yards along with his first career touchdown catch. Ponder was able to get tight end Kyle Rudolph involved again after being nearly irrelevant for the last three weeks for the Vikings’ offense.

Rudolph caught a team-high seven passes for 64 yards, and a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to put the Vikings ahead 24-10.

The Vikings were without their main receiving threat Percy Harvin, who was ruled out because of an ankle injury.

The Lions’ Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson connection finally came together but it was not enough. Johnson caught 12 passes for 207 yards and late touchdown to pull within 10 points.

Johnson was questionable coming into this week’s game with a knee injury, but was able to explode for his first 200+ yard game of the season. Johnson finally secured his second touchdown score of the year after being shut down for the previous five weeks.

Stafford completed 28 of 42 passes for 329 yard three touchdowns and one interception. Stafford connected with wide receiver Titus Young in the fourth quarter. Young caught four passes for 35 yards along with his touchdown reception. Tight end Brandon Pettigrew caught three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter.

With the victory, the Vikings hold their ground in third place in the NFC North. As for the Lions, they dropped to 4-5 and are going to need to start winning to become competitive in the division. The Vikings will have their bye week next week. Detroit will face another tough divisional opponent at home, the Green Bay Packers.

Image Courtesy : Detroit Lions

The article Vikings Hold Off Late Lions Run appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Detroit Lions fell behind early at Ford Field, but were lead by quarterback Matthew Stafford in their 28-24 victory.

Stafford completed 34-of-49 passes for 352 yards, three touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and one interception. His 101.7 quarterback rating and three touchdown passes was a season high for the four year quarterback. Also his rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter was his third of the season, the most in his career thus far.

His first touchdown pass came in the 1st quarter on a six yard pass to Ryan Broyles. In the 2nd quarter, Stafford connected with Titus Young on a 46 yard bomb for his second touchdown pass. Stafford and Young connected again for the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left on the clock.

Young did an exceptionally well job catching nine passes for 100 yards along with his two touchdown catches. His role will continue to increase especially with the absence of Nate Burleson.

The Stafford and Calvin Johnson connection continues to be out of sync this season. Johnson was limited to three catches for 46 yards. Johnson only has one touchdown through seven games. Last season through seven games Johnson had 10 touchdowns.

As for the Lions run game, it continues to be extremely inconsistent. Mikel Leshoure carried the ball 10 times for 46 yards. Leshoure has not ran for 100 yards since week three against Tennessee where he earned his first start. Furthermore, his 100 yards rushing is a season best for all running backs in Detroit.

The Seahawks were led by rookie quarterback Russell Wilson who completed 25-of-35 passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Wilson connected with wideout Sidney Rice for nine yard touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter and with tight-end Zach Miller on a 16 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter.

Marshawn Lynch averaged 8.8 yards per carry on 12 carries for 105 yards and one touchdown. Lynch punched in his second touchdown of the season in the 2nd quarter on a 77 yard breakout run.

Seattle continues to struggle away from home now, falling to 1-4 on the road. The Seahawks will face the Minnesota Vikings next week at CenturyLink Field and look to continue their home dominance.

Lions will be on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars next week as they continue to hang strong at the bottom of the NFC North division.

Image Courtesy of  Seattle Seahawks

The article Lions Roar Back appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Detroit Lions were able to pull off a come-from-behind win as they beat the Carolina Panthers 49-35. This game was a tale of two halves as the Lions struggled early in the first quarter, turning the ball over on their first three possessions of the game. Matthew Stafford accounted for two of those turnovers as he threw two interceptions, and left fans wondering if his injured throwing hand was going to be a problem.

The other turnover was committed by running back Keiland Williams, which eventually led to a Cam Newton touchdown pass to Steve Smith. On Lions turnovers the Panthers were able to jump out to a 10-0 lead after the 1^st quarter. In the 2^nd quarter, Stafford settled down, found his offensive groove and managed to score 14 points off two touchdown throws to recently reacquired Kevin Smith and wide out Titus Young.

The only problem was that Newton had the Panthers offense moving up and down the field just as effectively and extending the Panther lead to 13 going into halftime. That would be the last time the Panthers would have the lead as Stafford and the Lions put on a clinic and owned the second half. In the 3^rd quarter the Lions defense didn’t allow the Panthers to cross their own 40 yard line and when they did, linebacker DeAndre Levy came up with an interception that brought a productive Panthers drive to a screeching halt.

With the defense becoming stingy and providing favorable starting position for the offense, Stafford tacked on two more touchdowns to give the Lions their first lead of the game. Early in the fourth quarter the Lions extended their lead off a Smith rushing touchdown. Smith provided unexpected positive production; he was picked up by the Lions to fill the void left by Jahvid Best who has missed three games with lingering concussion symptoms.

Down eight points, Newton had no expectations of letting this game slip through his hands; he composed an 80 yard drive culminating in a touchdown and a two point conversion to Smith to tie the game at 35. However, the combination of Stafford and Smith proved to be too much as they both scored touchdowns on the next two Lion possessions.

Stafford ended the day with five touchdowns and hopefully laying to rest that his injured hand will affect his play. The Lion faithful can only hope that this is true with the undefeated Packers coming to town next week.

Image Courtesy of  https://www.facebook.com/DetroitLions

The article Detroit Lions Win With 2nd Half Surge appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Detroit Lions stopped their two game skid, as they trampled the Denver Broncos on Sunday to get the 45-10 victory. The game was Denver Broncos newly starting quarterback Tim Tebow’s first home game of the season, and was supposed to be his coronation party. The Lions defense had other plans as they turned it into the hazing of Tebow.

Lions defenders managed to sack Tebow seven times, turning Tebow’s jersey into a grass stain and dirt collage. With a barrage of Lions defenders in Tebow’s face at all times, his completion percentage suffered mightily, hitting under 50 percent of his targets.

The Lions defenders also shut down operations for the Broncos run game, aside from a 34-yard run early in the first quarter; it was a tough day on the ground for Broncos running backs Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball. Each running back racked up over 60 yards, but the Lions made them hard-won yards, with little hope of a breaking free for a big gain.

Things on the other side of the ball weren’t as difficult as quarterback Matt Stafford showed little to no signs that his Week 7 injuries were going to be long term problems. Stafford lit up the Broncos secondary throwing for over 250 yards and three touchdowns and stayed interception free.

Behind Stafford’s strong play, the Lions offense looked like the team from earlier in the season. The usual culprits, Calvin Johnson and Titus Young, had major games, each pulling in a touchdown reception. Johnson’s 56-yard touchdown reception made him only the second receiver since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to have 11 touchdowns in the first eight games of a season.

Stafford played so well and with a Tebow comeback out of the picture, Stafford was benched in the 4th quarter, and replaced by back up Shaun Hill. Stafford’s early exit was also prevented him from further injuring his already tweaked knee and ankle, as well as his throwing hand, which seemed to be bothering him after his hand collided with Broncos cornerback, Champ Bailey, during a throw.

There are no reports yet on the seriousness of the injury. If Stafford does have to miss any time because of the hand injury, the Lions will have to rely on their run game, which is missing its star, Jahvid Best. The run game, while effective, is still missing the big-play ability of Best, who missed his second game in a row due to a concussion suffered in the Week 6 game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The running back by committee again consisted of Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams, who rushed for a combined 83 yards and touchdown by Morris. While the Lions are thankful for the improved play of Morris and Williams, they will be hoping for a speedy recovery for Best when they return to football action in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears.

For the Tebow-faithful, not a lot of good aspects could be found in this game. They can only hope that the next time he is on his knees during a football game, it’s on his own terms.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.facebook.com/DetroitLions

The article Detroit Lions Trample Tebow and the Broncos appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.