Editing Episode 622 (section)

=== Special Teams and Game Prediction ===

Jeremy confirmed the Lions were #5 in special teams DVOA against the Vikings' #1. Tom Kennedy, who had been their punt and kick returner, suffered a season-ending injury; DeAndre Carter was signed as the replacement and had nearly broken two returns against the Packers. Jake Bates had again begun training camp at roughly 70% accuracy in practice, then been automatic in-season; Jeremy described this as a yearly tradition he did not understand. Jack Fox was an outstanding punter whose precision mattered more than distance given the Lions' tendency to punt from near midfield.

The game was a 3–3.5 point Lions favourite, with a huge playoff-probability swing involved: a Lions win moved their playoff probability to 62%, a loss dropped it to 46%. Jeremy called it a genuine toss-up. His bar: anything better than the Christmas game (the Brock Brosmer game, which featured nine net passing yards from the Vikings' quarterback). Arif described that as an appropriately humble target. Jeremy: "And it felt like the Colts came the closest to finding out what works against this defence and they scored 10 points."

Jeremy's contact information: prideatdetroit.com for the main site, prideatdetroit.com/subscribe for the premium newsletter, Pride Detroit on YouTube, Pride Detroit on Twitch, and @DetroitOnLion on Twitter ("Detroit on Lion, on lion, Gates" — he noted that no one ever gets the joke).