After blowing yet another winnable game against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, the Lions will take on fellow NFC North division rival, the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday at Ford Field.
Detroit already has one loss to Minnesota on the year, having dropped its Week 5 contest to the Vikings, 19-17, on a last-second, 54-yard field goal made by Greg Joseph.
Since then, Mike Zimmer & Co. in Minnesota have gone a combined 3-3, including dropping their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers last week, 34-26.
Meanwhile, the Lions have continued their losing ways since and remain winless at 0-10-1.
Unfortunately for Detroit, this week, it could be without the services of its most consistently productive offensive weapon this season in second-year running back D'Andre Swift.
The Georgia product, who has rushed for 555 yards and four touchdowns and has accumulated another 429 yards and two TDs as a pass-catcher in 2021, injured his shoulder in the second quarter of the Lions' Week 12 tilt with the Bears, and now could miss "multiple weeks," according to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler.
It's a significant blow to a Detroit offense that is only averaging 15.8 points per game, the third-worst mark in the NFL through 12 weeks.
The Lions, in fact, have scored north of 19 points only once since the start of the '21 campaign, and it came all the way back in Week 1 against the 49ers (a 41-33 loss).
In stark contrast, in its last four games, Minnesota hasn't scored less than 26 points, and is averaging 25.5 points a game on the season -- good for ninth best among the league's 32 franchises.
Vikings star running back Dalvin Cook dislocated his shoulder a week ago against San Francisco, and is expected to miss the team's next two games. It offers Detroit a glimmer of hope for a win Sunday.
However, with Swift out and an already subpar offensive attack, I don't see a realistic pathway to victory for the Lions against Zimmer & Co.
I give Dan Campbell and company a 17.5 percent chance to pull off the Week 13 win.
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