Detroit Lions cruise past NFC North rivals Minnesota Vikings

The Detroit Lions have moved to 4-2 for the season courtesy of a comfortable 17-3 victory over NFC North rivals the Minnesota Vikings at the TCF Bank Stadium this evening.

The visitors opened the scoring on the first possession of the match as Matthew Stafford found Theo Riddick at the front of the endzone for a nine-yard touchdown.

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Both sides struggled to muster anything on offense throughout the first half, with Matt Prater putting an earlier miss behind him to notch a 52-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the second quarter.

Prater missed another kick in the second half, meaning that the Lions have already had more unsuccessful field goals this season than any side did throughout the entire 2013 campaign.

The Vikings could not take advantage, however, and they found themselves trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter as Joique Bell ran in from a yard out.

The hosts finally got on the board with less than five minutes remaining of the match as Blair Walsh kicked a 40-yard field goal to ensure that the Vikings wouldn't become the first team shut out by the Lions since 1996.

It was too little too late, however, and the Lions were able to hold out in the closing stages to pick up the 14-point victory, during which Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was intercepted three times and sacked eight times.