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Lions' high-powered offense to face toughest test to date in Vikings' defense

The Detroit Lions own the league's top scoring offense after six weeks of football with a 30.2 average per contest.

Detroit's also top five in total offense (third), rushing (fourth) and passing (fourth). Quarterback Jared Goff is coming off back-to-back performances where he had a 155.8 passer rating in Week 4 in a win over Seattle and a 153.8 passer rating in a Week 6 win over Dallas, becoming the second quarterback in NFL history (Drew Brees) to record a passer rating of 150-or-higher in back-to-back starts.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has that side of the ball playing some really good football right now, scoring 89 points combined their last two times out.

Sunday's game in Minnesota will be the toughest test yet for Johnson, Goff and the Lions' potent offensive attack.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores plays an aggressive scheme in Minnesota. They get after the quarterback and capitalize on mistakes. Minnesota is allowing just 15.2 points per game and is one of only 10 teams in NFL history to have at least 20 sacks and 11 interceptions through their first five contests.

The Vikings lead the NFL in defensive scoring efficiency, allowing just 13 scoring drives on 60 total drives (21.7 percent), and they haven't allowed a touchdown outside of the red zone so far this season.

"What a test we're going to have this week," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said this week. "These guys are playing really good football. Five-and-0, at their place, 1-0 in the division for these guys, active opportunistic defense, ball hawks, takeaways, they're just playing at a high level.

"Flores is doing a great job with them. So, active defense, it really starts with them because these takeaways are really kind of fueling this team right now."

Linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, along with cornerback Stephon Gilmore, have been terrific offseason acquisitions for the Vikings' defense. Rookie edge rusher Dallas Turner is starting to make more of an impact too. Not to mention safety Harrison Smith, who's been doing it at a high level for a long time.

"Yeah, their personnel's better and they're on version 2 of this defense, so it's definitely a tough unit and we've got our hands full, but it's something that we're getting ready for now and it'll be a good one," Goff said Wednesday.

"I've got a lot of respect for coach Flores and obviously Kevin (O'Connell) and those guys. They do a good job of getting those guys ready and I think what I've noticed, they're extremely ball-aware – their defenders, they are. They know where the ball is, they've got their hands on the ball a lot, they're putting their hands up at the line of scrimmage, they're trying to knock balls down, they're trying to bat balls up in the air, so it's a challenge and it'll be fun."

View photos from Detroit Lions practice on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.

Flores is able to get his players after the quarterback a lot of different ways, but the blitz has been the most effective. He's blitzed 105 times in five games, or over 40 percent of their defensive snaps this season. To put that number in a little bit of perspective: Denver is second on that list with 94 blitzes, and they've played one more game than Minnesota.

This will be a great test for center Frank Ragnow and Goff getting protections right in a hostile and loud environment. Detroit did a great job in that regard last year Week 16 in Minnesota allowing just one sack and three quarterbacks hits in a win over the Vikings. This is a much different Vikings defense in Year 2 under Flores and Sunday should be a great test for Detroit's high-powered offense.

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