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Lions have reach their end-of-season test against the Vikings
Detroit has a three-game lead on the Vikings in the NFC North with three games to play.
MINNEAPOLIS — The games have been lurking at the end of Detroit’s schedule like a difficult end-of-semester final exam, two games against Minnesota in the last three weeks that ought to show just how far these on-the-rise Lions have progressed.
Despite a three-game lead on the Vikings in the NFC North with three games to play, the franchise’s first division title in 30 years is far from secure. The biggest test for the Lions (10-4) this season will come Sunday at Minnesota, where they haven’t won in six years.
“The more you win, the more the pressure goes up,” coach Dan Campbell said. “When we’re at our best is when you have people gunning for you.”
The fact the Vikings (7-7) are still in contention to defend the NFC North they ran away with last season has been a testament to coaching and chemistry, having lost quarterback Kirk Cousins nearly two months ago to a torn Achilles tendon and turned to three other starters since. Nick Mullens has the reins now, with a finally healthy Justin Jefferson leading his receiver crew after a severe hamstring strain sidelined him for five games and a chest injury kept him out for most of a sixth.
“It’s all about beating the Lions. The playoffs are awesome, but if you don’t win, then the playoffs don’t matter,” said Mullens, who passed for 303 yards, two touchdowns and two costly interceptions in last week’s overtime loss at Cincinnati.
The Lions just need to win once more to take the division and get their first home playoff game at Ford Field, which opened in 2002. But sandwiched in between the two matchups with Minnesota is a daunting Dec. 30 game at Dallas (10-4), which is busy trying to win its own division. The Vikings host Green Bay (6-8) in between the games against the Lions.
The pass rush will probably be pivotal in the outcome. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a variety of unpredictable pressure packages to present quarterback Jared Goff.
“I do feel very confident that we will have success, but they’re going to have successes in offense,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “They do every single week, but can you just make it a little harder on them? Can you make it not as comfortable of a day to where they can really get it humming in both the run and pass phase?”
Flores ran the New England defense in the dominant Super Bowl 53 performance against Goff and the Los Angeles Rams. Goff has thrown five interceptions against the blitz this season, the second-most in the NFL according to Sportradar data.
“We don’t carry the weight of the last 30 years here. We don’t. It’s the 2023 Lions, and we’re different than last year’s team and the year before and 30 years before that,” Goff said. “So we’re trying to make our mark this year, and we have a chance to do it this week.”
Lions general manager Brad Holmes has helped spark the franchise’s turnaround, particularly his draft-day deals this year that netted them running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta with the 12th and 34th overall picks.
“They’re two of the best rookies I’ve ever been around,” said Goff, who’s in his eighth NFL season. “They’re as good as it gets and you see the results out here on the game day, but the work they put in, and how professional they both are, it’s really impressive.”
LaPorta had a season-high three touchdown catches and Gibbs had a rushing and receiving score in last week’s rout of Denver. That made Detroit the third team since the 1966 AFL-NFL merger to have five or more touchdowns in a game by rookies. On defense, linebacker Jack Campbell and cornerback Brian Branch are also playing key roles.
With Alexander Mattison on the mend with a sprained ankle, the Vikings gave Ty Chandler the full backfield load last week at Cincinnati with auspicious results. Chandler had 23 carries for 132 yards, both career highs, with a touchdown. The 2022 fifth-round draft pick also had three catches for 25 yards.
“Ty is exactly where we want him to be in his progression, and I think the role he is ascending to is something that we had our minds on when we brought him here,” O’Connell said. “We’ll continue to try everything to get him valuable touches and make him a big part of our offense.”
Lions center Frank Ragnow, a Minnesota native who played at Chanhassen High School about 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis, returned to the lineup last week against the Broncos after missing only one game while recovering from knee surgery for a meniscus injury.
“His mind controls his body, which we talk about all the time,” Campbell said. “The good ones can do that.”
Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks returned to practice this week with his sights set on playing against the Lions, four weeks after a badly bruised shin turned into a rush to the emergency room for surgery to treat a dangerous condition called compartment syndrome.
Hicks, who’s still third on the team with 87 tackles despite missing three-plus games, was finally processing the gravity of that injury.
“Man, things could’ve really, really, really gone bad,” Hicks said. “I haven’t allowed myself to feel that. It’s always been the mindset and getting back on the field.”
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Johnson, who played hockey at Hibbing and UMD, died after his neck was cut by an opponent’s skate during a pro game in Sheffield, England.
SHEFFIELD, UK — It’s been one year since the death of American hockey player Adam Johnson, whose neck was fatally cut by an opponent’s skate during a game in Sheffield, England.
A man remains under investigation after being arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Thousands of fans witnessed the grisly collision last Oct. 28 and there’s video of it but authorities have not announced a decision about whether they will bring charges.
There could be a variety of explanations, from delays in digital forensic analyses to weighing the potential difficulty in proving criminality for “on-the-ball” incidents like this one.
Johnson and the Nottingham Panthers were playing the Sheffield Steelers in the Elite Ice Hockey League’s cup competition. The Steelers were leading 2-1 in the second period. Johnson, a forward who briefly played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, skated with the puck into Sheffield’s defensive zone. As he pivoted to move inside, Steelers defenseman Matt Petgrave was skating toward him. Petgrave had another Panthers player in front of him and appeared to have made contact. Then, Petgrave’s left skate elevated as the defenseman began to fall and the blade hit Johnson in the neck.
Johnson, a Minnesota native who was 29, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Panthers had described it as a “freak accident.” On Nov. 14, South Yorkshire Police arrested a man but have not released his name or age. The man was released on bail the next day and has been “ re-bailed ” several times — a formality while the investigation continues. In the British system, an arrest signals the start of an investigation — a decision on charges would come afterward.
Police try to determine the “state of mind” of defendants. Besides conducting interviews, that likely means examining phones or computers — and that’s time consuming, even when defendants give passwords, which they’re not obligated to do.
“There are massive delays in the British criminal justice system. Cases are taking a long time to be brought to charge,” criminal defense lawyer Quentin Hunt told The Associated Press.
A report published less than two years ago said there was a backlog of 25,000 devices waiting to be examined.
“My cases are regularly being delayed by up to a year because of delays in getting back digital analyses of devices,” Hunt said. “It is notorious within the British justice system, why cases are taking longer to be brought to a charging decision.”
Lawyers point to a 2004 court ruling that overturned the “grievous bodily harm” conviction of an amateur soccer player who seriously injured an opponent with an on-the-ball tackle. It said criminal prosecution should be reserved for conduct that is “sufficiently grave.”
In deciding if conduct reaches the criminal threshold “it has to be borne in mind that, in highly competitive sports, conduct outside the rules can be expected to occur in the heat of the moment,” the ruling added. “The type of sport, the level at which it is played, the nature of the act, the degree of force used, the extent of the risk of injury, the state of mind of the defendant are all likely to be relevant in determining whether the defendant’s actions go beyond the threshold.”
Prosecutions have been more common in “off-the-ball” scenarios such us punching, biting or head-butting.
An “on-the-ball” case that involved a rugby player being left partially paralyzed was handled in civil court. Natasha King wasn’t criminally charged despite dropping her body weight onto Dani Czernuszka-Watts, who was in a vulnerable position as she was about to pick up the ball in a 2017 match.
Czernuszka-Watts won her civil suit in which a former referee testified after watching video of the game that in his 60 years in rugby he had “never witnessed such a reckless incident.” The civil court judge had found that King had acted out of revenge built up from earlier in the match.
“Against those hallmarks, the fact that the incident would likely be considered ‘on the ball’ may have saved the injuring player from concurrent criminal prosecution,” attorney Henry Goldschmidt wrote in his analysis of criminal liability in sports.
Petgrave’s collision with Johnson was clearly “on the ball” because Johnson had the puck on his stick.
An incident in a hockey game in December 1995 led to a grievous bodily harm charge against Nicky Chinn, who played for the Steelers and was accused of purposely using his stick to injure an opponent’s eye. A jury found him not guilty.
The case is likely an involuntary manslaughter investigation in which “there has to be an unlawful act or negligence,” Hunt said, but prosecutors wouldn’t need to prove the intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm.
Gross negligence manslaughter is still involuntary but more complicated: “You owe a duty of care to someone else, and you are negligent in conduct and that gives rise to death due to your negligence,” Hunt added.
Voluntary manslaughter is more akin to a murder charge with clear intent to kill. The fact that Johnson wasn’t wearing a neck guard could prove legally significant.
“Given that it’s not up to him (the man under arrest) as to whether the other player wore a neck guard or not, then it will be, I imagine, quite difficult for the prosecution to prove to the requisite standard that he should be held criminally accountable,” Hunt said.
A week before an arrest was made, South Yorkshire coroner Tanyka Rawden issued a “ Prevention of Future Deaths ” report urging that neck guards be mandatory for all hockey players.
“In due course the inquest will consider whether the use of a neck guard or protector could have prevented Mr Johnson’s death. At this stage in my investigation however, I am sufficiently concerned that deaths may occur in the future if neck guards or protectors are not worn,” Rawden wrote.
The coroner’s inquest was suspended in January, a procedural move because the police investigation was ongoing.
There has been debate about player protections. Britain’s top league made neck guards mandatory last Jan. 1, two months after Johnson’s death.
The next key date is Nov. 11, when the man who was arrested would need to be re-bailed again. Petgrave, a 32-year-old Canadian, has not made any public statements and his agent declined to comment. Police have also declined to comment.
Teams around the league began recognizing the one-year mark by holding 47 seconds of applause before games this weekend.
The Panthers plan to hold a jersey retirement ceremony for Johnson’s No. 47 on Dec. 14.
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