Minnesota Vikings Vs. Detroit Lions Week 9 NFL Picks and Parlays

Vikings Banged Up, Lions Make Swift Cuts

The Detroit Lions are coming off their bye week, looking fresh and ready to solidify their NFC North lead, but the Minnesota Vikings? They're limping into Ford Field with a giant, shoulder-shaped hole at quarterback. The biggest, most soul-crushing news for the Vikes dropped just hours ago: Carson Wentz is officially done for the season. Season-ending surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, which he apparently played on for over two weeks, is the diagnosis. Tough as nails, sure, but what a gut punch for a team still fighting for a playoff spot.

This means it’s the J.J. McCarthy show, maybe even sooner than anyone in the Minnesota brass wanted. He’s supposed to be ready to roll for Week 9, but man, stepping into a heated divisional matchup on the road against a defense that's been playing surprisingly well is a baptism by fire. The Lions' pass rush will have blood in the water with a rookie in the backfield, just off how Wentz got blitzed behind that ragtag O-line.

Talking of the Lions, they just made a head-scratching, blink-and-you-miss-it roster decision: releasing veteran corner Kendall Fuller just two weeks after adding him to the practice squad. Seriously? Their secondary was supposed to be their biggest weakness, so adding an older guy like Fuller, even just to the practice squad, seemed like a good veteran move for depth. Now he's gone.

The word is that key injured corners like Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox are expected to be back this week, so maybe they feel the cavalry has arrived and Fuller's stop-gap need evaporated. Still, two weeks is a brutal, quick eject button. It either signals the returning guys are 100% good to go, or the Lions felt Fuller just didn't have it anymore. Either way, Dan Campbell and the Lions are all-in on their young secondary against Justin Jefferson. 

We’re about to find out if that faith—or that cut—was misplaced. This divisional showdown is gonna be a straight-up slugfest. The numbers are still being crunched for the odds, that's how confusing this game is. You can expect these two to put up around 45 points before it's all said and done.