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Scouting report: Detroit Lions

October 9, 2014 at 5:58AM

GAME 6

LIONS AT VIKINGS

Noon Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium

TV: Ch. 9

Radio: 100.3-FM, 1130-AM

ABOUT THE LIONS RECORD: 3-2

• The Lions lost 17-14 to the Bills on Sunday after Dan Carpenter nailed a 58-yard field goal with four seconds left. The Lions went scoreless in the second half.

•. They signed kicker Matt Prater after cutting Alex Henery, who missed all three field goal attempts against the Bills. Prater was cut by the Broncos after he was suspended four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

• Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson and running back Reggie Bush both suffered ankle injuries against the Bills and their statuses are unknown against the Vikings. Johnson initially hurt his ankle in Week 4.

• Detroit has the top ranked defense in the NFL, allowing just 282.4 yards a game. Opponents are averaging 15.8 points per game against the Lions, which is the second best in the league.

• The Lions have allowed 17 sacks on offense, which is the second most in the NFL behind the Jaguars.

• Linebacker DeAndre Levy is fifth in the NFL with 51 combined tackles. He also has an interception and three pass deflections.

PLAYER SPEAK QB Matthew Stafford

• Stafford went 18-for-31 for 221 yards and a touchdown with an interception against the Bills.

• He's fifth in the NFL with 1,397 passing yards but 19th in completion percentage, .631, and quarterback rating, 89.1.

• On NFC North race: "I think everybody's division is still pretty wide open but, yeah, ours is definitely bunched up there. Every one of these counts; a division game counts as two – you get a win and force your division foe into a loss."

• On offensive struggles: "We're still grooving this thing in to be as good as it can possibly be. We put a lot of work in with a lot of work left to do, and we'll continue to work hard until we reach our goal of playing as good of football as we possibly can."

COACH SPEAK Jim Caldwell

• The 59-year-old is in his first season as the Lions head coach. He spent three seasons as the Colts head coach from 2009-2011, where he went 26-22 and won one conference championship.

• On Johnson's status: "We'll see. We'll see how it goes. He's certainly getting treated and coming along, but we'll see toward the end of the week. It's a medical decision. Doctors will look at him and make a determination of whether or not he can go."

•On the NFC North: "We have to look at it from week-to-week and see how it plays out. We know one thing – we've got a very, very tough opponent to deal with this weekend. They're a talented group."

• On Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater: "We really believe that he was extremely talented coming out, had some unusual traits. He can run, he's smart, he's tough and he can be explosive."

MASTER TESFATSION