The Lions do not commit many penalties. They are 29th in defensive penalties, however, they are 5th in the number of defensive penalties resulting in 1st downs. When they commit a penalty, they usually commit the worst possible penalty.
Minnesota is the exact opposite. They commit the 4th most penalties on defense but have the fewest penalties that result in 1st downs.
Kevin O'Connell's largest margin of victory as a Vikings coach is 16 points and that was the first game of the 2022 season. Vikings have a total of 3 games they have won by double digits since 2022. The Lions have 10 such games.
In the past 7 weeks Will Harris has 12 defensive snaps with 5 coming during the Chargers game. He's basically a special teamer. Charles Harris has been inactive the last two weeks and hasn't cracked 25% of the defensive snaps since week 6. Steven Gilmore has been inactive most of the year and only has two defensive snaps all year.
They are eventually going to have to create a roster spot for Badgley when he runs out of elevations. They will also need to create room when CJGJ and McNeil return and Houston's possible return. I would not be surprised if Charles Harris is waived. I also haven't heard from Will Harris in a long time. I suspect he could get waived.
This reminds me of a couple years ago between the Chargers and Raiders and a tie could have meant both teams made the playoffs and it almost happened but I seem to remember Staley messing it up.
Last time the Lions were in this position was 2016. The Lions were 9-4 and really just needed a win to clinch the division. It came down to the final game against the Packers and the Lions really weren't competitive in that game. The Lions promptly lost to Seattle in the wild card. The caveat is Stafford had a broken finger and wasn't the same after the injury.
The Eagles have scored less than 20 points in three straight games. I'm concerned about Hurts without Steichen. Hurts has more turnovers, fewer passing TDs, lower completion %, lower QB rating, and fewer passing yards than Ben Johnson McVay.
Lions control their own destiny for the number two seed if they win all three remaining games. Remember, they are tied with Philadelphia so winning out would make the Lions 5-1 in common games vs 4-2 for Philadelphia.
Seattle scored a lot of points on them to. That game was similar to the Lions game with Seattle except Dallas came out ahead. They also beat an Eagles team that is struggling right now.