One look at history gives Vikings plenty to play for

As the Vikings head into Sunday's game against Detroit, here are four questions we're trying to answer.

1 Can the Vikings win two more games?

That's become an announced in-house goal with many players growing tired of the outside muttering that these Vikings could wind up with the worst record in franchise history. That mark is held by the 1984 team, which went 3-13.

Linebacker Erin Henderson does not want this team to be part of that conversation and spoke up recently to express his discontent.

"I hope it registered," he said. "I hope they understand. Don't think we're going out there and playing for nothing. Because we are. We're playing for a lot of pride. It's hard, man. You don't want to look at that. I'm telling you. That's not something you want to look back on. ... I don't want to be associated with the worst team in the history of an organization."

Henderson also wants no part of the silver-lining discussion that says the more the Vikings lose, the better their draft status will be.

"I'm not going to go out there and throw a game," Henderson said. "That's my livelihood we're talking about. If I go out there and I'm giving up plays so we can get a draft pick, they're going to look at me and say, '[Number] 50 is the weak link, let's get him out of here.' Then I have to look at my son and my fiancée and tell them I don't know how to provide for us right now. That's not in me."

If you've forgotten that afternoon, Detroit rallied from a 20-0 halftime deficit to win, a major confidence boost for a team that hadn't claimed a victory in Minneapolis since 1997.

"It wasn't just the comeback, it was exorcising some demons that had haunted us in the past," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said this week. "And that included winning at Minneapolis. However we did it, whether we built a big lead and kept it or had to come back, the important thing was getting a division win and getting a win on the road. There's confidence that comes from that."

That was the first of three big comebacks for the Lions. The following week, they crawled out of a 27-point second-half hole to beat Dallas. In Week 11, the Lions trailed Carolina 24-7 before winning 49-35.

3 Do the Vikings have any shot at containing Calvin Johnson?

On the surface, it doesn't seem like it. Johnson is the only player in the NFL with more than 1,000 receiving yards and at least 10 touchdowns. The Vikings, meanwhile, have gone more than two months since last recording an interception. This could be a big, big problem.

More likely: Struggling cornerback Cedric Griffin will get the first crack at covering Johnson, with plenty of safety help required.

4 If Christian Ponder can't play, how does the coaching staff feel about Joe Webb?

We'll turn this one over to Leslie Frazier, who said Webb had a great week of practice and could get the call if Ponder's hip pointer causes problems.