Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions Prediction, Odds and Picks for Sunday, 11/02/25

We have a marquee matchup in the NFC North on our hands on Sunday as the Detroit Lions will host the Minnesota Vikings in a game that features a couple of teams trending in different directions. On one side, the Vikings have been sliding a bit and it all starts with a lack of consistency at the quarterback position. Carson Wentz was doing a serviceable enough job under center for Kevin O’Connell until the last few weeks, when the wheels came off the bus and Wentz couldn’t take any more hits while playing through an injury. Suddenly, second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy is all healed up and ready to go this week, which has to make you question if he could’ve started a week earlier for a Minnesota offense that has struggled of late. Furthermore, the Vikings offensive line is still not healthy and Minnesota is also going up against a Lions defense that should be much healthier coming out of the bye week. It could be a long day for McCarthy and company.

On the other side of the ball, the Lions offense has been a well-oiled machine for the majority of the season, as Detroit sits at 6th in both EPA per play and success rate. There are plenty of avenues for Detroit to score in this game, and it all starts on the ground for Dan Campbell’s group. That success running the football should continue against a Vikings defense that is 23rd in EPA per rush allowed and 24th in explosive play rate allowed. If the Lions are able to jump out to an early lead, that could spell major trouble for a Minnesota team that isn’t really equipped to play from behind given its current quarterback situation. I’ll lay the points with the home team.

Vikings vs Lions prediction: Lions -8.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to 9.

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Games involving the Lions are typically defined by plenty of scoring, typically from both teams involved. However, I actually lean toward the under in this matchup, and it really comes down to my skepticism of Minnesota’s offense with McCarthy at the controls. Per EPA per play and success rate, McCarthy is one of the 3 worst quarterbacks in football this season (minimum 60 snaps) and even though Detroit is still working through some issues in its secondary, the Lions remain a very solid defense that should be able to generate pressure on the young quarterback thanks to a bad Minnesota offensive line. On the other side of the ball, the Lions are a run-first offense and that should be in the game plan for this week’s matchup considering how the Vikings have struggled defending the run this season. The under is the only way I can look in this one.

Under 48.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to 48.