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Friday open thread: Which Lions player will be key to victory vs. Vikings?

Which player on the Lions’ roster could be in for a big day on Sunday?

Minnesota Vikings v Detroit Lions Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Thursday we asked our readers which Vikings players they thought could cause problems for the Detroit Lions this week. Many of you went with rookie Dalvin Cook. Others believe Adam Thielen or Stefon Diggs could give the Lions fits on Sunday. But Minnesota also has a bunch of defensive weapons including, but not limited to, Everson Griffen and Xavier Rhodes.

But now it’s time to look at the matchup from the Lions’ point of view. Certainly they have players that match up well against this Minnesota team. So today’s Question of the Day is:

Which Lions player do you think will be key to victory against the Vikings?

My answer: Let’s put Matthew Stafford aside, because as goes Stafford, so goes the Lions. We’ve already established that.

However, I think Jarrad Davis may be the key to Sunday’s game, presuming he plays. Davis has been limited in practice both on Wednesday and Thursday, so there’s no guarantee he clears concussion protocol by Sunday, but if he does, it’ll be huge for Detroit.

Dalvin Cook is a tackle-breaking machine, and while Davis isn’t a perfect tackler, he’s much better than Nick Bellore or Jalen Reeves-Maybin right now. The Lions need to be at full strength in the middle of that defense to neutralize the Vikings running attack and force Case Keenum to try and replicate last week’s performance—something I seriously doubt he can do against this Lions secondary.

Your turn.

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