The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 18 matchup between the Lions and Vikings.
Find a breakdown of every Week 18 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Minnesota | Rank | @ | Detroit | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | Spread | -5.5 | ||
| 20.5 | Implied Total | 26.0 | ||
| 20.3 | 22 | Points/Gm | 26.9 | 5 |
| 20.8 | 12 | Points All./Gm | 23.4 | 23 |
| 62.6 | 19 | Plays/Gm | 67.6 | 2 |
| 64.9 | 26 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 60.4 | 5 |
| 5.5 | 12 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.9 | 4 |
| 5.1 | 10 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.4 | 24 |
| 37.06% | 29 | Rush% | 44.13% | 10 |
| 62.94% | 4 | Pass% | 55.87% | 23 |
| 40.71% | 11 | Opp. Rush % | 39.92% | 8 |
| 59.29% | 22 | Opp. Pass % | 60.08% | 25 |
Playoff Scenarios
Lions: They will need a win and some help, but Detroit can still land the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
The Lions have to win on Sunday and need both the Cowboys and Eagles to not win their games.
This is an early kickoff while the latter two are in the second window of games.
Both the Cowboys and Eagles are sizable favorites, but Dan Campbell has already stated that he has no plans to rest starters.
I am going to write up their players as such, but there could be some fragility here based on how things go in game.
Vikings: The Vikings are still mathematically alive for the playoffs.
They are eliminated with a loss of their own but also a win from any of Seattle, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, or New Orleans.
Quarterback
Jared Goff: Goff has been a top-20 fantasy option in just one of his past four games.
That includes a QB22 (14.3 points) scoring week in Minnesota just two weeks ago.
Goff completed 30-of-40 passes in that game, but 32.5% of his passes were behind the line of scrimmage, his second-highest rate in a game this season.
Just 7.5% of his passes were 15 yards or further downfield, his second-lowest rate of the season.
Minnesota mixed things up versus Goff.
They played Cover-2 just 7.3% of passing snaps, well below their 28.1% rate on the season. It was their second-lowest rate of Cover-2 in a game this season.
As a byproduct, Minnesota played Cover-4 on 19.5% of passing snaps (their second-highest in a game this season) and Cover-3 on 39.0% of snaps, above their seasonal rates.
While Goff was a letdown in that game and last week against a tough Dallas defense, we are catching him at home to offer some upside as a boom-or-bust fantasy option.
At home this season, Goff has completed 69.9% of his passes for 7.8 Y/A with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has averaged 274.3 passing yards per game at home.
On the road, Goff has completed 64.8% of his passes for 7.1 Y/A with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has averaged 259.4 yards per game away from Detroit.
We did just see Minnesota allow a massive game to Jordan Love (28.4 points) on Sunday night.
Nick Mullens: Mullens was QB14 (17.1 points) and QB19 (16.5 points) in his two starts.
As a pro, Mullens threw for 9.2 Y/A and 11.4 Y/A in those games for 303 and 411 yards.
As a con, Mullens threw six interceptions in those games.
This Detroit defense is one we can target for passing yardage. If Mullens can limit the turnovers, he has a path to be a viable Week 18 streamer and pay-down option.
Over their past 10 games, Detroit is allowing 8.7 Y/A (31st) with 1.8 passing touchdowns per game (28th).
Running Back
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