Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions: Pregame thoughts

Inactives have gone...active?

Lions: QB Drew Stanton, CB Chris Houston, S Louis Delmas, G Leonard Davis, DE Lawrence Jackson, DT Nick Fairley, RB Kevin Smith.

Vikings: RB Adrian Peterson, CB Chris Cook, MLB Xavier Adibi, C Brandon Fusco, OT DeMarcus Love, TE Allen Reisner, DE D'Aundre Reed.

For the Lions, it pretty much what was expected. 4 starters out: 1/2 the secondary in Delmas and Houston, starting RB Smith and the man who was replacing DT Ndamukong Suh, Fairley. Maurice Morris takes over for Smith, Aaron Berry for Houston and Chris Harris for Delmas. I'd think Sammie Hill gets the start at DT.

But...

The Vikings not having Peterson is reason to celebrate! Not that he's injured, of course...but when taken with the Lions' inability to stop the run with consistency, I'll take anything which could give them an advantage.

Vikes' rookie QB Christian Ponder is banged up, but he will start. The kid has shown flashes of talent, but also a penchant for the killer mistake, as seen in throwing a horrific pick late in the Vikes loss to the Tebows last week.

If there is a game the Lions should win despite their missing several starters, today's is it.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. If there is a must win game for the Lions...this is it. Lose to the 2-10 Vikings, and their playoff hopes take a standing 8 count. They won't be eliminated from the playoffs, but it would be a hike up Everest to get there. Let's not forget the backlash from the Lions' fan base would be significant and vicious.

2. We're hearing all kinds of talk of zero-tolerance for dumb penalties from the Lions' coaching staff. I'll believe it when I see it. It's hard to bench players when you're decimated by injuries.

3. I can't emphasize the penalty issue enough. The Lions still may not have beaten the Saints last Sunday night, but they would have had more than a puncher's chance if the stupid extra-curricurals had been kept to a minimum. Trash talk I can live with. Shoving refs and flipping balls into the face of a defender? I can't. I won't.

4. Matthew Stafford needs to be a difference maker, which he has been when healthy. In today's NFL, against a bad team, 300+ yards and multiple TDs should be expected from a player with Stafford's talent. Stafford should outplay Ponder wby a WIDE margin.

5. THROW THE BALL TO MEGATRON. EARLY AND OFTEN.

6. Lions are at home, facing a 2-10 team in a game with playoff implications. This is what we fans have been wishing for since the Lions' blew up the franchise after Paul Edinger's last second, game winning FG knocked them out of a playoff spot in the final moment of the 2000 season. But if the Lions can't win today, they don't deserve to be thought of as a playoff contender.