- Toby Gerhart is a solid back, who ran with authority last week against Denver, but he is not Adrian Peterson, who is out with an ankle injury. That will be especially helpful for the Lions defense considering Christian Ponder is a rookie QB. The Lions can load up to come after him.

- The Lions will see the wildcat today. The Vikings run it regularly with backup QB Joe Webb. They might run it more than usual because Ponder is ailing with a hip injury.

- The key to this game is the Lions' defensive line. They need to get pressure on Ponder, who throws a nice football, but is also extremely turnover prone.

- Matthew Stafford is healthy, his receivers are together, the Vikings are a bad team playing for essentially nothing at this point of the season. Time for the Lions QB to shine. If he doesn't today, it will be profoundly disappointing.