EAGAN, Minn. — To borrow from the headlining halftime act, Snoop Dogg, our mind is on a strong finish to 2025 — and a fourth consecutive Vikings win (and an unblemished December record) is on our mind!

Admittedly, the Doggfather's lyrics flow better. But we felt obliged to work in his genius with him set to grace U.S. Bank Stadium at the interlude of the Vikings clash with the Lions, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. (CT) on Thursday.

While fans enjoy the game and festivities, Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell will push his team to play the way it has all month: complementary, physical and unconcerned with anything except going 1-0.

"Although different from a standpoint of maybe how we won [against New York] and the aesthetics of what it looked like," he said, "I think this team has learned how to win a variety of different games, depending on the elements, depending on injuries, depending on any potential obstacles. We're going to try to find a way to win a football game by any means necessary — every 60 minutes that we do get."

O'Connell on Tuesday confirmed QB J.J. McCarthy will miss the Christmas Day game with a "very, very small hairline fracture" in his right throwing hand and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer will make his first home start and second of the season. Brosmer started on the road at Seattle and filled in for McCarthy in the second half Sunday at the Giants. He didn't flinch in a pinch and earned his first game-winning drive last week.

Additionally, veteran center Ryan Kelly won't play after leaving the last game in concussion protocol and Michael Jurgens will start in his stead. The club activated running back Ty Chandler from Injured Reserve on Tuesday and he could play for the first time since Week 1, with Jordan Mason out because of an ankle injury. The Vikings also will be without tight end T.J. Hockenson, who was ruled out Wednesday because of a shoulder injury.

Vikings Uniform

Minnesota will treat fans to its alternate "**Winter Warrior**" uniforms, featuring white-on-white jerseys and pants and white helmets. This uniform (and the white helmet) debuted on Monday Night Football last season in a win against the Bears.

3 Vikings Storylines

1. Brosmer's 1^st home start

For first-time viewers of Brosmer, keep in mind his top traits likely aren't physical. He won't wow you with a rocket-launcher arm or foot speed that gives defenses problems outside the pocket. But his QB makeup is sound. He has good touch and accuracy, solid anticipation and understanding of the offense, and great skills above the neck. He's a quick processor that was admittedly too quick at Seattle and slowed down his mind in New Jersey. It paid off in the form of seven completions on nine attempts for 52 yards.

He looked like someone Coaches and teammates trust him as someone very capable of playing in rhythm and feeding the ball to Minnesota's playmakers.

Brosmer's astuteness is obvious when you listen to him, which translates to an easy-to-have belief in him. And it's clear he's confident in himself. You can read more about his lightness in the huddle here.

By the way, if Brosmer passes for six points on Thursday, he'll enter a rare fraternity of former Gophers: Chris Streveler, Spergon Wynn, Mike Hohensee, Gino Cappelletti, Andy Uram, Hal Van Every, Bronko Nagurski and Tuffy Thompson are the only ones to attend the U of M and throw a TD in the NFL.

2. No-Fly End Zone (NFEZ)

Since Baltimore came to town and Lamar Jackson flicked a gimme 2-yard TD to Mark Andrews with about 10 minutes remaining in a one-score Vikings defeat, Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores has engineered an almost unprecedented string of games — i.e. six in a row without a TD pass allowed.

None to Chicago in Week 11 or Green Bay in Week 12 or Seattle in Week 13 and so on and so forth.

It's a credit to Flores' masterful scheme and Minnesota's personnel, anchored by safety Harrison Smith, executing it at a masterful level. The last unit to restrict TD airspace in seven consecutive games was the 1988 Cleveland Browns, led by First-Team All-Pro CB Frank Minnifield and Pro Bowl OLB Clay Matthews.

Ironically, the most recent QB with a TD pass against the Vikings that wasn't the result of a plain-as-day coverage bust (sorry, Lamar) was Jared Goff, when he connected for scoring plays of 40 and 37 yards.

We dove into some of the historical context of Minnesota's domineering pass defense here.

3. More Jefferson milestones

The phenom receiver looked more like his usual self in Week 16.

Jefferson nabbed six catches for 85 yards in the slim win over the Giants. It signaled his first game with five or more receptions since Week 11 and his first topping 80 yards since Week 5 in London. Even more impressive, though, Jefferson demonstrated the traits that make him so unique: mesmerizing awareness, as seen on his 21-yard toe-dragging third-down conversion on Minnesota's go-ahead possession, and atypical toughness for someone so slenderly built, as seen on a pair of third-and-longs that resulted in first downs thanks to his competitiveness and tackle-defying strain to gain enough yards after the catch.

He reflected on his re-emergence as being back in " 'Jets' mode." Yeah, that's a good way to describe it.

Jefferson became the all-time catches leader in a player's first six seasons Sunday afternoon at the Meadowlands, leapfrogging Jarvis Landry (564). Cowboys receiver and Jefferson's draft classmate CeeDee Lamb also caught six passes Sunday to move his total to 565. Dallas visits Washington ahead of Minnesota's role as a Christmas Day host.

Jefferson can eclipse Randy Moss' receiving yardage record for a player in that same span (8,375) by racking 27 in front of the home crowd. Jefferson also is taking aim at his sixth straight 1,000-yard season. With 83 yards, he'll elevate his status as the third player to begin his career with six seasons above that bar, joining Moss and Mike Evans. (Jefferson's college teammate at LSU, Ja'Marr Chase, can join in 2026.)

The coolest aspect of Jefferson's game that's come to light in 2025 due to adversity is he doesn't care about stats as much as winning. FYI, "Jets" has caught TDs from four QBs — Kirk Cousins (28), Sam Darnold (10), Nick Mullens (2) and McCarthy (2). One from Brosmer would raise his TD catch tally to 43.

2 Things 'Bout the Lions

1. Post-bye week blues

Detroit enjoyed a +64-point differential in Weeks 1-7 but is just +14 since resting in Week 8.

After the bye, the Lions lost a dogfight to Minnesota, stomped the injury-riddled Commanders, fell to Philadelphia in a low-scoring affair, needed overtime to overcome the Jameis Winston-led Giants, lost by seven at home against Green Bay, dropped 44 on Dallas in a game they absolutely had to win, blew a 10-point lead on the Rams turf and tried but failed to come back against the good-but-not-great Steelers.

Basically, it's hard to make sense of Detroit's post-bye week inconsistencies. Two common themes, however, are its defensive lapses and its uncharacteristic laboring to establish a presence on the ground.

The Lions averaged 3.5 yards a rush in Week 15 and 1.3 in Week 16. The latter counted as their lowest mark in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts since the Vikings held them to 1.1 in a 26-23 OT win on Sept. 25, 2011. Also, Jahmyr Gibbs' 2 yards on seven tries (0.3 avg.) against Pittsburgh last weekend was the least efficient effort by a Detroit RB with 5-plus carries since D'Andre Swift averaged 0.2 on six during a 2020 matchup with Indianapolis. Gibbs' previous low-water average was 2.1 in Detroit's 2025 opener.

It seems worth mentioning the Lions are 8-1 this season when Gibbs scores and 0-6 when he doesn't.

Defensively, some of the issues can be tied to injuries. There are holes in the secondary without ball-hawking safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, both of whom are on Injured Reserve. Last season, they combined for 13 interceptions and 192 tackles. This season? Joseph picked off three passes in six games, and Branch made 75 stops in 12. Their absences have stressed Detroit's pass rush, spearheaded by Aidan Hutchinson, who is the lone player in NFL history with 40 sacks and five interceptions through his first four seasons, and put the Lions at a disadvantage relative to what they aspire for coverage-wise.

Opponents have totaled 517, 359, 417, 519 and 481 yards dating to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. That's the most yardage (2,293) surrendered by a team in any five-game stretch in the past two seasons.

2. Goff & Gibbs — 'nuff said

Maybe, it's lukewarm, but hardly a hot take: Goff is a Top 5 QB and Gibbs is a Top 5 RB.

Goff, 31, placed fifth on the league's MVP ballot last season and would be a shoo-in for the same this year if the Lions weren't trending toward missing the playoffs 12 months after obtaining the top seed in the conference. His 32 passing TDs are second to Matthew Stafford (40), same as his 109.4 passer rating.

Goff has excelled regardless of the setting. His Expected Points Added at home, which factors in the Week 9 showing he had versus Minnesota (25-for-37 passing with 284 yards, two TDs and zero interceptions but a season-high five sacks), is +45.4, good for sixth overall, according to Next Gen Stats. On the road it's +38.5, which is fourth after Jordan Love (+63.7), Drake Maye (+63.5) and Stafford (+53.8).

The Lions offense leans into Goff's strengths, namely his quick and smart decision-making (his 1.0 interception rate on 507 attempts leads the sport, and his average time to throw of 2.71 seconds is an updated benchmark), and a right arm that can touch every blade of grass. As a byproduct, Goff has downright dominated play-action concepts, owning an 8:1 TD-to-INT ratio on throws following a fake. Not overly mobile, though, Goff is susceptible to pressure, a problem exacerbated in 2025 because of changes and challenges on the o-line, including the retirement of multiyear All-Pro center Frank Ragnow.

Under duress, Goff has clipped 47.7 percent of his passes, almost seven points worse than 2024 and his poorest efficiency across five campaigns in Detroit. It's important to know because Minnesota's defense leads the NGS pressure index at 41.3% and disrupted Goff on 47.6% of his dropbacks in early November.

Now, forget the advanced stats. Goff has the most games of 3-plus pass TDs and no INTs since 2024 (11).

In support of wideouts Amon-Ra St. Brown, Isaac TeSlaa and Jameson Williams, one of Goff's go-to targets is Gibbs, a third-year back with uncanny stop-start ability and a nose for six. Gibbs, 23, is tied for first with Jonathan Taylor for the most 20-plus mph rushes (6), per NGS, and is tied for second with 5.3 yards per rush among qualifiers. He has 72 catches on 86 targets, second- and third-most at his position.

Although he was contained in the initial meeting (12 touches, 28 yards), Gibbs has gouged the Vikings in previous appearances, rushing 66 times for 365 yards (5.5 avg.) and eight TDs and nabbing 13 balls for 95 and a score from 2023-24. In Week 18 at Detroit last year, he piled up 170 scrimmage yards and four TDs.

To contextualize his gifts, consider Gibbs is up to 48 trips to paydirt in 47 career games. His skills are reminiscent of Barry Sanders, arguably the greatest RB ever, who had 47 in as many years and 46 games.

1 Key Matchup

Vikings front seven vs. Lions starting five

Frankly, this area was the difference in Minnesota upsetting Detroit at Ford Field.

Goff had good numbers, sure, but he was never comfortable. The Vikings splattered him with pressure and prevented him from finding a rhythm at the top of his drops. Goff released the rock at his quickest rate in a game in his entire career (2.44 seconds; h/t NGS) but did so out of necessity and not preference.

The numbers that really mattered were 20 pressures, the most endured by Goff in a single game since the Bills affected him on 25 of 64 dropbacks in their Week 15 thriller last year, which Buffalo won 48-42. Also, Minnesota's five sacks in Week 9 were the most takedowns of Goff since Baltimore got home on five plays in Week 7 in 2023. Likewise, Goff was pressured 21 times and the Ravens cruised to a 38-6 win.

One denominator in beating Detroit is pressuring Goff, who sees blitzes well (his 116.9 passer rating in those situations is No. 3 in the NFL) but struggles to navigate progressions under pressure (72.4 rating).

Minnesota's defense, so you know, has generated two of its five-greatest 2025 pressure performances in the past two games, heating up Dak Prescott and Jaxson Dart on 51.2% and 47.4% of their dropbacks.

Top Quote of Week 17

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell on J.J. McCarthy's mentality after another injury setback

"I think he's just disappointed because he's been really feeling — it's hard to explain. And even for him, when we're talking, going through ideas or thoughts early in the week or as the week progresses, you just feel a level of [comfort.] We can now circle back to reps of 'This is going to kind of feel like this did,' or 'I remember I checked the ball down on this one but maybe had that down the field,' and 'I like this play,' or 'Hey, can we try this?' And that's growth for all of us together. So really, it's just — if it ends up being a week, having that taken away, it's just a bummer because like I said it's been really fun. … I know the week-to-week judgment of players and decisions and all these things that are noise in many cases — I understand it all — but the most fun part of this and the most real part of it is coaching a young player on his journey where we've really started to see some things click for him. And he's done that. He deserves all the credit for that. So it's just a bummer we don't get to see it this week on Thursday back at home. But like I said, he's in a good spot mentally. No reason to overanalyze anything at this point from a standpoint of 'Hey, let's get you healthy. And if you can go next week, let's go. Let's get right back at it.' "

From the Inbox | by Craig Peters

It's too bad that the Cowboys and the Vikings didn't play earlier this year. It would have given football fans an opportunity to see Will Reichard and Brandon Aubrey go head-to-head. If they had, we could have seen who is the better field goal kicker. Hey, wait a minute!!! Drat … fooled again.

Skol,

— Bill Dunn

Aubrey is a fantastic kicker, but Reichard shined brighter in Week 15. As Bill points out, that game was too late in the season to affect votes toward Reichard. Compounding matters is how much Minnesota struggled as a team from Weeks 10-13 during a four-game losing streak.

The Pro Bowl, which incorporates votes from fans, players and coaches, often is affected by name recognition, as well as a team's exposure. There seems to be a carryover effect once a name is well-established.

Reichard has been nothing short of stellar this season. He became the NFL's first with four field goals of 59-plus yards in a season (Aubrey joined him this year) and booted the longest field goal ever at Soldier Field (59 yards in Week 1), the longest FG in Vikings history (62 in Week 3) and the second-longest at Lambeau Field (59).

His performance is certainly worthy of a Pro Bowl designation. Perhaps he'll garner respect from The Associated Press when media members cast their All-Pro ballots. Even if not recognized in that way this year, "Will the Thrill" has shown to be "The Real Deal" and should have tremendous football ahead of him.

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