Detroit Lions vs Minnesota Vikings Prediction & Preview - 12/25/2025
Updated July 9, 2026
The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings will renew their NFC North rivalry on Thursday afternoon in Week 17 of the NFL season. The Lions are clinging to slim playoff hopes with two weeks left in the regular season and will try to get an important win for their postseason hopes here. The Vikings enter this holiday clash with momentum from a three-game winning streak, but will be without their starting quarterback due to injury. Before kickoff from Minneapolis, you can find my Lions vs Vikings prediction below.
Pick: | Lions -7.5 |
Confidence: | 3/5 |
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The Lions sit at 8-7 on the season and are fighting to stay alive in the playoff hunt. A win here is essential if Detroit hopes to extend its hopes into Week 18. But a win by the Packers later this week would knock the Lions out of the playoffs no matter what. Injuries have impacted Detroit’s roster, including the placement of safety Kerby Joseph on injured reserve, weakening a secondary that has already been tested throughout the year.
Minnesota arrives at 7-8 and has already been eliminated from postseason contention, but the Vikings enter with confidence from three straight victories. The Vikings have taken a critical blow with starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy ruled out due to a hairline fracture in his throwing hand. Backup Max Brosmer will make his second start of the season, which does not inspire confidence based on what we saw the last time Brosmer started.
Detroit’s Jared Goff has enjoyed a strong 2025 campaign, topping 4,000 passing yards with 32 touchdowns against only 5 interceptions. Goff is among the league’s more efficient signal-callers. His connection with his top receivers, especially Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, provides Detroit with one of the more explosive passing attacks in the NFC.
Minnesota’s quarterback situation is less clear. McCarthy’s absence forces the Vikings to turn to Brosmer under center, and while the Vikings have shown some grit recently, Brosmer led the Vikings to a shutout loss in his first start of the year.
Score Projection: Lions 28 – Vikings 20
Win Probability: Lions 68%, Vikings 32%
The Lions should be able to get the job done on Christmas Day against the Vikings. Minnesota's quarterback situation is a mess and I'm not confident in Brosmer's ability to generate much of any offense, even against the struggling defense of Detroit. I am laying the points with the Lions in the second game on the NFL Christmas Day schedule on Thursday.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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