News & Updates

Only one game separates the division leader from the last-place Lions in the NFC North division. That makes every divisional game a must-win, and this one will be no different.

But both teams in this game are coming off disappointing home losses and will need to shake off the hurt before taking the field Sunday.

Minnesota became the sixth-straight victim of the New Orleans Saints Monday night. While there is little shame in losing to Drew Brees, the Vikings to a man were not happy with their primetime performance.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will look to rally the troops and make sure they do not look past the 3-4 Lions as they head into their bye week.

Detroit has played better since their opening week upset at the hands of the Jets. But last week, they were ambushed by the surprising Seahawks.

The addition of nose tackle Damon Harrison seemed to indicate Lions’ management believed the team can challenge for the playoffs this season.

But then they traded away top receiver Golden Tate at the deadline. Are they not as sure of their chances after the Seattle game? Or is the team confident Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay can carry the load?

Injuries and notes

Minnesota continues to list Dalvin Cook as questionable with his hamstring issues. Backup rusher Roc Thomas joins him this week with his own hamstring injury.

Several defensive players are also questionable, but none are new to the list and all are expected to play.

Detroit is relatively healthy, with only defensive lineman Ezekiel Ansah listed as injured. The addition of Harrison offsets Ansah’s absence if he can’t play again this Sunday.

Coaching matchup

So far, Matt Patricia has his team right where they have been every season under his predecessor- around .500 and flirting with playoff contention. He will have to create the right message about Tate’s trade if he is going to get buy-in from his team that they are better than that.

Mike Zimmer was cranky again this week. Clearly, he feels his team is under-achieving, especially on defense. Another sub-par performance could precipitate changes in their bye week.

How to watch the Vikings-Lions game

Fox Sports will provide this game to their affiliates across most of the Northern United States in the early time slot.

And if you’re tired of expensive cable and satellite bills, you can watch this live stream NFL action on Fubo TV from the comfort of your favorite internet device.

Fubo carries the Fox Sports networks in almost every market. In fact, Fubo and other internet TV providers like DirecTV Now and Sling carry all the NFL-contracted networks so you can watch live stream NFL action all season.

Check out their websites to see what else they offer and why you should join the internet TV revolution.

Read More: NFL week 11 Game Preview: Vikings at Bears

Who will win the Vikings-Lions game?

How Detroit’s offense adapts to the loss of Golden Tate will impact their chances all season. The Lions have capable alternatives, but no one on the scale of Tate.

Minnesota won’t let them figure it out this week in front of their home crowd in a needed victory.

Sunday Night Football will show a battle for the NFC North division lead when the upstart Bears host the Vikings.

Minnesota went out and spent big money to get their quarterback in veteran Kirk Cousins. Despite a suspect offensive line, Cousins has mostly played to his contract, racking up points and statistics as expected.

Chicago pays considerably less for their second-year passer, Mitchell Trubisky. Rookie head coach Matt Nagy is growing his quarterback into his offensive game plan, expanding the selection of plays each week.

Trubisky comes into Week 11 with a quarterback rating of 101.6. That is just 0.6 points lower than the Vikings’ Cousins.

Neither head coach is completely satisfied with their offensive output so far. Matt Nagy continues to add new twists and move different players into featured roles. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer knows his offensive line woes and the lingering injury to Dalvin Cook have kept his offense from reaching its potential.

Now that Cooks is back on the field, Minnesota could be without wideout Stefon Diggs, who is dealing with a rib injury.

Zimmer is more concerned with his defense, telling reporters he’s never had a pass defense look so bad in his career. Since that statement, the Vikings have made some adjustments. While their numbers look much better, the only real test came against the Saints who put up 30 points.

Coming off a bye week, it will be interesting to see how the Vikings defense does against a confident Bears offense coming off a big win in Detroit.

Injuries and notes

Minnesota only lists Diggs on their injury report, meaning Cooks is expected to play without limitations. Diggs says he will be on the field, too. The team has not made an announcement yet.

Chicago also has a short injury list, naming only tight end Dion Sims as questionable.

Coaching matchup

Mike Zimmer has been around long enough to realize his signature defensive attack hasbeen replicated enough that offenses made the necessary adjustments to beat it.

It was insightful to hear Zimmer tell reporters how the Vikings need to tweak their defensive strategy to keep ahead of opponents. It is that quickness to recognize and adapt that keeps coaches employed.

Matt Nagy’s offense started off slow, but over the past few weeks, it has looked like what Chicago fans hoped for when they brought the former Kansas City offensive coordinator into the Windy City.

What is scary is that there is another half a season for Nagy to add to the repertoire of Trubisky and company.

How to watch the Bears-Vikings game

NBC Sports will televise this matchup nationally as part of its Sunday Night Football package. Most American fans will flip on their overpriced satellite or cable-contracted televisions to watch the game.

Smarter fans will watch the livestream Sunday Night Football game on Fubo TV. Fubo TV is a sports-centric internet television provider that lets you watch live stream NFL action for a fraction of the cost of cable and satellite.

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Read More: NFL Week 12 Game Preview: Packers at Vikings

Who will win the Bears-Vikings game?

Chicago’s offense is getting a lot of attention, but it is Khalil Mack and the Bears defense that make the team a playoff contender. Mack and his teammates will try to disrupt the Vikings attack enough to let Trubisky pull out another victory.

But Kirk Cousins has shown the ability to avoid rushes and make plays under pressure all season. Even if Diggs is slowed by his injury, Adam Thielen is still out there to catch the ball like he’s done all year. Zimmer’s experience and adjustments to his defense might be the deciding factor.

Green Bay faces a must-win game in a nationally-televised contest. Aaron Rodgers is determined to get his team into the playoffs despite a disappointing performance so far. We’d never bet against one of the most clutch quarterbacks in history.

Of course, we said all that last week before the Packers coach, Mike McCarthy, added to the list of criticisms and head-scratches registered against him this season by punting the ball away late in a close game instead of letting Rodgers have a Rodgers-like moment.

It’s almost as if McCarthy knows this is his last season and is trying to torment Rodgers as much as possible on his way out of town.

That’s silly, of course. But we’re not the only ones wondering what McCarthy is thinking week to week. Whether it is game decisions like the punt that ended any chance of a Packers victory or his early season insistence on using a three-man running back rotation despite having a true workhorse (and superior) runner among the trio.

Meanwhile, Mike Zimmer and the Vikings couldn’t take first place in the division away from the upstart Bears. Chicago’s defense gave Kirk Cousins fits and held Adam Thielen to his lowest yardage total of the season.

But at least his decisions won’t be blamed for stealing a defeat from victory.

Injuries and notes:

Green Bay will again go into a game with a battered defense, especially the secondary. Two safeties and two corners join a linebacker and lineman as questionable on the injury report.

Tight end Jimmy Graham broke his thumb during last week’s game and is questionable, while Randall Cobb’s hamstring again has him on the injury list.

Minnesota safety Andrew Sendejo could miss the game with a groin injury. Linebacker Anthony Barr is also questionable with a hamstring injury.

Coaching matchup

Mike Zimmer came away impressed with the Bears’ effort and game plan, knowing he will have to figure out a way to slow them down if his Vikings are to make it to the Super Bowl. Knowing your job is secure lets you accept losses a little more graciously than if your job is on the line.

Mike McCarthy was somewhat more rebellious in his response to questions about the punt decision. He insisted he trusted his defense to make a stop, even though they didn’t make many stops throughout the second half.

If nothing else, his decision to take the ball out of Rodgers’ hands did nothing to improve what is an openly contentious relationship between the star quarterback and his longtime coach. Judging from Twitter and talk radio callers, fans are firmly on the side of their quarterback.

How to watch the Vikings-Packers game

NBC Sports will broadcast this Sunday Night Football matchup across the nation. For many internet television aficionados, that means watching the live stream feed via Fubo TV, Sling, or DirecTV Now.

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Read More: NFL Week 14 Game Preview: Vikings at Seahawks

Who will win the Packers-Vikings matchup?

Aaron Rodgers is in a must-win situation, but Minnesota is his kryptonite. His record in the Great White North is unimpressive, to say the least. Plus, Kirk Gibson is in an almost-must-win scenario, too, with a slew of receivers anxious to show last week’s game was a fluke.

If the NFL season ended today, the Vikings and the Seahawks would be your NFC wild card teams; but with three 6-6 teams lapping at their heels, they know they can’t afford to lose winnable games from here on out.

For Minnesota, that means reversing a trend. They have lost two of three since their Week 10 bye, squeaking out a one-score victory against the reeling Packers in Minnesota between losses to the Bears and Patriots. A second game against the Bears looms large on the schedule.

Seattle has won three straight, with one-score victories against the Packers and in Carolina prior to last week’s rout of the 49ers. They face the Kansas City Chiefs in between games versus the Cardinals and 49ers to end the regular season.

With one tough game and two games against lesser opponents for each team, this Week 14 matchup could decide which one of these clubs continue into the postseason.

Expect the Seahawks’ 12^th man to play a role as the Vikings offense, and particularly Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen, look to get back on track.

Injuries and notes

Cornerback Trae Waynes suffered his second concussion of the season and could miss Monday night’s game for the Vikings.

Seattle placed CJ Prosise on injured reserve limiting the running back committee Pete Carroll seems to be leaning toward.

Guard DJ Fluker will probably miss the game after suffering a hamstring injury last week.

Linebacker KJ Wright and fullback Tre Madden are also questionable for Seattle.

Coaching matchup

Pete Carroll continues to receive praise for the way he handled the massive turnover in personnel this season. His early-season shift to a run-first mentality makes the Seahawks the only team in the league to run more than they pass.

Fans in Minnesota are hoping their offensive coordinator, John Defilippo takes note of that. The Vikings ran less than 20 times last week for the fifth time this season. They are 0-5 in those games. Head coach Mike Zimmer has his own problems tweaking his defense and special teams. But he says he’s been talking to his offensive play-caller about some things in hopes of kick-starting the unit in time for a playoff push.

How to watch the Seahawks-Vikings game

ESPN will broadcast this Monday Night football event across the country, which means lots of savvy NFL fans will fire up their favorite internet device and watch the live stream NFL action on DirecTV Now.

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Read More: NFL Week 15 Game Preview: Dolphins at Vikings

Who will win the Seahawks-Vikings game?

Minnesota knows they have to correct a few more flaws if they are to maintain control over their playoff destiny. With a healthy Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray, there is no reason they can’t launch a running attack similar to last season’s, even with a suspect offensive line. With the receiving threats they have, play action should work all day.

But they might have to settle for winning three of their last four games. The Vikings are 2-9 on the road against playoff teams in Mike Zimmer’s tenure. It is too much to expect they will fix all their flaws against a Seahawks team that is coming together in all aspects of their game.

Minnesota was held to just seven points by Seattle last week in a nationally-televised game that put the Vikings’ playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Coach Mike Zimmer agrees that the Seahawks’ defense is coming around after losing a slew of players in the offseason. However, he didn’t think they were coming around enough to hold his talent-laden offense to seven points.

The loss spelled the end of Mike DeFilippo’s short tenure in Minnesota. A longtime assistant, Kevin Stefanski, will take over the play-calling.

One of the factors leading to the decision was a basic difference in opinion in how much the running game should be used. One can’t blame an offensive coordinator for wanting to go “pass-first” after the team guarantees millions of dollars to their new quarterback.

But running the ball has always been key to the Vikings success. When the coordinator doesn’t hear the multiple hints and directives to increase the rushing numbers, he has to go.

There was no such turmoil in Miami this week after the Dolphins hung tough with the Patriots all game and dialed up a Miami Miracle to steal a win as time expired.

With the Patriots putting their “hands” team on the field for what they expected to be a game-ending Hail Mary pass, Miami instead threw short. Two laterals later, Kenyan Drake cut left and then right to work his way through a matrix of Patriots and into the end zone.

The win puts the Dolphins right in the mix with the 7-6 Ravens, Colts, and Titans for the last AFC wild-card spot. Baltimore holds the tiebreakers and the wildcard entry for now.

Injuries and notes

Ryan Tannehill is expected to start this week. Cornerback Xavien Howard is questionable for Miami.

Linebacker Eric Kendricks is questionable for the Vikings with a rib injury.

Coaching matchup

Zimmer and the Vikings blocked Kevin Stefanski from interviewing for the Giants’ offensive coordinator position after last season. Zimmer says it is obvious this is an opportunity for Stefanski to show what he can do. Whether that means he could be the Vikings’ (and only the Vikings’) offensive coordinator next season remains to be seen. If nothing else, Zimmer knows Stefanski remembers how the Vikings played offense the past few playoff years.

Adam Gase is still battling doubters who said there was no way his Dolphins could make the playoffs. This could be one final tough test before they host the Jaguars and visit the Bills to end the season. The big question in Miami is whether being close enough to the playoffs would be enough to bring Gase and Ryan Tannehill back next year.

How to watch the Vikings-Dolphins game

CBS Sports will broadcast this game across much of the country. If you don’t have a local team playing in the same time slot, you can probably watch Minnesota and Miami.

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Read More: NFL week 16 Game Preview: Vikings at Lions

Who will win the Vikings-Dolphins game?

Miami has been surprising teams all season, but the Vikings are in the middle of a Mike Zimmer shake-up. Minnesota still has control of its playoff fortunes if they win out. Winning out starts with the visiting Dolphins.