Vikings vs. Lions 2017 live results: Highlights from Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving football fans! The biggest game of the day was up first. The Vikings got some revenge for their earlier loss to the Lions with a 30-23 win. Minnesota is now 9-2 and is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Lions fall to 6-5 and have some work to do to get into the playoff picture.

If your family kept you from watching the game, then get a new family — no wait, just kidding. Here’s a better idea: Catch up with everything you missed:

Vikings 30, Lions 23: Matthew Stafford missed badly on a long pass to an open Golden Tate. The Lions decided to go for it on fourth-and-7 — despite being at their own 28- yard line, with a timeout and the two-minute warning remaining. It didn’t work out. Xavier Rhodes batted Stafford’s pass in the air and then jumped up to snatch the interception. That could just about do it.

Vikings 30, Lions 23: Matthew Stafford, gingerly, came back out, but the Lions just missed a first down when Golden Tate decided to go backward instead of forward after making a 2-yard catch on third-and-3.

The Vikings forgot about their punter again and started bleeding some clock on their ensuing possession. Kai Forbath made up for his earlier blocked kicks with a 36-yard field goal.

The whole game could come down to this next drive.

Vikings 27, Lions 23: Suddenly, the Vikings’ offense can’t do anything BUT punt. At least Adam Thielen reached a milestone:

Vikings 27, Lions 23: Wow, what a TD catch from Marvin Jones!

But uh oh, Matthew Stafford took a huge hit and limped off the field. Trainers are retaped his ankle on the sideline, but he’ll back in on the next drive.

Vikings 27, Lions 16: The Lions are about to get the ball back after Ziggy Ansah sacked Case Keenum on third down. And then Keenum got a 15-yard penalty for taunting? What the efffffffff?

Vikings 27, Lions 16: Bad news for the Lions: Center Travis Swanson is questionable to return with a knee injury.

Good news for the Lions: Mike Zimmer wasted a challenge:

Sorta bad, sorta good news for the Lions: They couldn’t get into the end zone, but Matt Prat3r was aces as always and added another field goal.

Vikings 27, Lions 13: A rare sighting: a Vikings punt! Aided in part to a non-PI call:

Vikings 27, Lions 13: THE LIONS CONVERTED A THIRD DOWN, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

And as a result, they moved the ball pretty well. On third-and-11, after a “Travolta” audible, it looked like Darren Fells had hauled in a nice little touchdown pass. But the Lions then took their sweet time attempting the XP, and so the refs decided, since they were waiting, why not look at that play again.

But really, they probably had no choice:

On further review, the ball touched the ground, the touchdown was reversed, and the Lions turned a touchdown into a field goal.

Vikings 27, Lions 10: The Vikings didn’t do much on the ground in the first half, despite going up against a struggling Lions rush defense.

But on their first drive of the second half, the Vikings kept it on the ground the entire time. Latavius Murray got things started with a 46-yard run:

And after 16-yard run and 11-yard run from Jerick McKinnon, Murray finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown.

Vikings 20, Lions 10: Kenny Golladay’s 41-yard catch got the party started for the Lions. A couple of penalties later, and “juuuuuuust crossed the goal line” touchdown to Marvin Jones got the Lions into the end zone for the first time all game. And with just 10 seconds left in the half.

Matthew Stafford also broke Tony Romo’s record for most passing yards in Thanksgiving Day games.

Vikings 20, Lions 3: Case Keenum knew he was going to get hit, and hung in anyway to deliver a beautiful 22-yard touchdown to Kyle Rudolph.

It’s been almost all Vikings so far.

Vikings 13, Lions 3: Another quick three-and-out and the Vikings get the ball back. The Lions haven’t converted on third down once in this game. Maybe they’re saving it all for the fourth quarter.

Vikings 13, Lions 3: A couple of times, the Vikings looked dead on a drive that started from their own 8-yard line. But they kept picking up first downs — until Akeem Spence dropped Jerick McKinnon in the backfield for a loss, setting the tone for the rest of the possession. The Vikings couldn’t convert on third down, for once, and then attempted a field goal.

Just like Kai Forbath’s first PAT, his 53-yard FG try was blocked, this time by “I don’t, I don’t know whether I was the boxer or the bag” Jeremiah Ledbetter. At least something is going the Lions’ way:

So seven minutes later, the score stays the same.

Vikings 13, Lions 3: Help Everson Griffen name his newborn son!

Vikings 13, Lions 3: The Lions have awakened from their tryptophan nap and looked pretty dang good on their drive ... until they got to the red zone, where Matthew Stafford missed a couple of targets. But at least the home team got on the board with Matt Prater’s 32-yard field goal.

Vikings 13, Lions 0: The Lions went three-and-out, no surprise.

BUT THE VIKINGS DID TOO. Well, sorta. They looked like they were going for it on fourth-and-1 until a Vikings OL got a little jumpy and was called for a false start. So for the first time all game, punter Ryan Quigley made an appearance.

Vikings 13, Lions 0: Well, that was kind of a weird play: Jerick McKinnon weaved in and out to get the Vikings into the red zone, and when he hit the ground, the ball bounced up into Adam Thielen’s hands and he ran it into the end zone.

But! The call didn’t stand.

BUT! Case Keenum ran it in for a touchdown on the next play, and the Vikings, always good for at least one must-watch touchdown celebration a game, enjoyed a nice little Thanksgiving dinner in the end zone.

Vikings 6, Lions 0: The Vikings are probably thankful for bad handoffs right now — specifically, the one between Matthew Stafford and Ameer Abdullah. Just like that, the Vikings get the ball back at the Lions’ 39-yard line.

Vikings 6, Lions 0: If you thought Case Keenum looking like a legitimate starting quarterback was a fluke, the Vikings’ first drive proved you wrong.

Keenum engineered an impressive 14-play, 80-yard drive, including a key third-down throw to Adam Thielen and a QB scramble on third-and-6. A 1-yard touchdown to Kyle Rudolph capped it off, but oops, Kai Forbath missed an XP, his fifth of the year — and the 41st missed PAT this season.

Lions 0, Vikings 0: The Lions started with great field position, but then Matthew Stafford threw a pass to your cousin, Marvin Jones, just a bit short of the first-down marker.

At their own 47-yard line, do you think Jim Caldwell opted to go for it? Naaah:

The first of three Thanksgiving Day NFL games will feature an NFC North battle between the Minnesota Vikings (8-2) and Detroit Lions (6-4). The Lions are a fixture on Thanksgiving, and they have a great opportunity to make gains in the division on Thursday. The game will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX (live streaming via Fox Sports GO).

Minnesota is coming off six consecutive wins, its latest being a 24-7 victory over the surprisingly good Los Angeles Rams. Many have suggested the Vikings have been beating up on bad teams to make their way to the top of the NFC North, but they’re beating the teams in front of them and that’s what matters.

Their last loss, however, came in their first game against the Lions, a 14-7 win for Detroit — in Minneapolis. It was a defensive battle, with neither offense being particularly impressive. Matthew Stafford completed 19 of 31 passes for 209 yards and was sacked six times. He had no touchdowns or interceptions, same as Case Keenum for Minnesota, who also completed 16 of 30 passes for 219 yards.

Neither team rushed for 100 yards, with the only touchdowns being short rushes. But while the Vikings went on to win their next six games, the Lions lost three straight before launching what is now a three-game winning streak.

The Lions last beat the Chicago Bears in a close 27-24 game. They haven’t looked great, but those three recent wins have them second in the division and within striking distance of the Vikings. The Bears aren’t really a factor at 3-7, while the Green Bay Packers are a game back of the Lions at 5-5 on the season.

Minnesota is definitely one of the weirdest division-leaders at this point in the season. It’s had issues at the quarterback position, with Teddy Bridgewater out with injury and Sam Bradford struggling, but Keenum has found some rhythm in recent games.

Keenum has been more than a game manager for a Viking team that’s surprised throughout 2017. After a rocky start — losses in Weeks 2 and 4 — the sixth-year veteran has laid the foundation for the league’s ninth-ranked offense. In his last six games, all victories, he’s averaged 240 passing yards per game and a 68% completion rate.

His numbers got even better once Bridgewater returned from injured reserve to push him for playing time. In his last two games, hard-earned wins against Washington and the Rams, he’s thrown for 584 yards and five touchdowns while completing 71.6 percent of his passes.

The Lions have come close before. In fact, back in 2014, the Lions were a game away from sweeping the NFC North in both home and away games. But a Week 17 matchup in Lambeau prevented the Lions from winning the North and from getting the full sweep.

Detroit will get the opportunity to continue their sweep of the division next week. On Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings—hot on a six-game winning streak—come to town. The Lions remain two games behind Minnesota in the NFC North race, but if they can win on Thanksgiving, they will have swept the Vikings and hold the tiebreaker over them for the rest of season.

On one running play, Akeem Spence drove the offensive lineman into the backfield and made a tackle for loss. That is the only good thing I’ll be saying about the defensive line.

Detroit’s front four was an absolute disaster on Sunday. Earlier in the week, I wrote about how the Lions’ defensive end rotation is a mess, and Detroit proved me right against the Bears. Anthony Zettel and Jeremiah Valoaga were horrible both in the running and passing games. They were extremely susceptible to misdirection and completely failed to hold the edge in the running game.