Our early look at the Lions: Roar restored? Probably not, but beware

The Vikings are 3-2 and heading to Detroit to play a Lions team they beat 26-16 in Week 2 at TCF Bank Stadium. But the Vikings also are 2-8 on the road in coach Mike Zimmer's two seasons. Since Zimmer's debut — a 34-6 win at St. Louis — the only road victory came in overtime at Tampa Bay against a two-win Bucs squad.

Here's our early look at the Vikings' next opponent. Warning: The opinions expressed here belong to the author, who welcomes everyone else to form their own.

Let's roll …

NEXT UP: Detroit Lions, noon CT Sunday at Ford Field. Sunday, the Lions became the last NFL team to win this season when they beat the visiting Bears 37-34. Matthew Stafford threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns, Calvin Johnson caught six passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, and the defense held the Bears to a 2.9-yard average on 31 carries.

KEY INJURIES: The Lions are beat up and struggling at running back. Former Eagan High star Zach Zenner, the NFL's preseason rushing leader, was placed on injured reserve with multiple broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung suffered against the Bears. Joique Bell has missed three games with ankle and Achilles' tendon injuries. He's expected back this week, but he also has only 22 yards on 20 carries in the games he has played. Theo Riddick's 4.2-yard average leads the running backs, but he's primarily a pass catcher. To bolster the position, the Lions have promoted George Winn from their practice squad. He played 12 games a year ago, rushing for 73 yards on 19 carries.

LAST TIME: The Vikings ran the ball and harassed Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford while controlling the Lions throughout the Week 2 win. Adrian Peterson ran for 134 yards on 29 carries (4.6), while Stafford was sacked once, knocked down eight times and hit twice more while running out of bounds. The second one drew a personal foul on linebacker Anthony Barr. After the game, Stafford had X-rays on his chest and ribs.

OFFENSE: Dangerous, but still ridiculously one-dimensional and sloppy with a league-high 18 giveaways, including 10 interceptions. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi has run the ball only 118 times in six games. That's running the ball 29.2 percent of the time. However, the lack of balance is less of a problem at home, where the pass protection doesn't have the added burden of crowd noise. The Lions ran for 155 yards on 32 carries against the Bears, but that's misleading. Included in that total is a 30-yard fake punt run and 37 yards on six scrambles by Stafford.

A LOOK AT THE FILM: Detroit's 37-34 win over the Bears is a good example of how an offensively one-dimensional team with a soft defense can use the peacefulness of home games to play pinball football and win games in an evenly-balanced league. The Lions' front lines played well. The defense contained NFL leading rusher Matt Forte, which makes an already suspect Jay Cutler even more beatable. Offensively, the Lions made a change up front, inserting rookie Laken Tomlinson back in at left guard for Manny Ramirez. The move paid off as the Lions' 32nd-ranked running back played well enough to keep the pressure low on Stafford. Stafford completed 27 passes for seven targets. Lance Moore had five catches for 106 yards, including a 42-yarder. Tate had six catches. But it was Calvin Johnson who finally played like Calvin Johnson again. He caught six passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. In the Lions establish some semblance of a running game against the Vikings, which they didn't in the first meeting this year, Stafford and Johnson could strike again based on the chemistry they recaptured against the Bears. In Week 2, Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes shadowed Johnson on nearly every one of the balls thrown to him. And he was exceptional. But Johnson still caught 10 balls for 83 yards and a great TD catch while blanketed by Rhodes. Looking at how the Lions played on Sunday and considering this week's game is in Detroit, fans should not assume the Vikings are good enough to beat this team on the road the way it did at home just five weeks ago.

RANKINGS: Offense: 13^th (32 rushing, 5 passing). Defense 28 (26 rushing, 21 passing). Scoring: T-26 (20.0). Scoring defense: 29 (28.7).

STORYLINE: For those who need the WWE-esque drama to fuel the interest in the NFL,this is the first meeting since Lions receiver Golden Tate took the bait and accused the Vikings of being a dirty team (after being asked if he thought the Vikings were a dirty team). This came a day after Stafford's beating included Barr's late hit out of bounds. Lions coach Jim Caldwell didn't take the bait and Vikings coach Mike Zimmer seemed unconcerned about the charges while defending a style of play he considers tough, but legal. He also said he was told during a phone conversation with a league official the day after the game that Barr's penalty "probably" shouldn't have been called because Stafford slowed down while going out of bounds.

STAT OF THE WEEK: 18

— Number of times the Lions' offense has turned the ball over. The second-highest total: 12 by Indianapolis.

They have 10 takeaways and the league-high 18 giveaways. Detroit's 10 interceptions thrown are tied with Denver for last in the league. But Denver is tied for the league lead in turnover margin (plus-6).

THE QUOTE: "One hundred and ten percent. After watching the film there were several holds, late hits that I thought should have been called. A couple of them I wouldn't be surprised if we turn them in (to the NFL). But that's part of playing on the road. You got to control that by not making the game close and busting it wide open, so that's what we should have done better. But there were a few plays out there I think were clear violations of this game."