Lions looking to stay among NFC contenders, hosting slumping Vikings in QB J.J. McCarthy's return

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions are rested coming off a bye week, relatively healthy and ready to roll for a 10-game stretch to improve their positioning in the NFC.

Detroit (5-2) is a half-game behind Green Bay in the NFC North and a game ahead of Chicago in the division, and in a logjam in the race for the conference's best record with Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle and San Francisco.

Lions coach Dan Campbell shared the outlook in the conference with his team this week, saying the next month will be pivotal.

“You’re going to start seeing the risers and fallers," Campbell said. “And, a lot of these teams are playing each other.”

Minnesota (3-4), meanwhile, seems to have its season slipping away after losses in two straight and three of its last four games.

The Vikings will visit the Lions on Sunday with much different stakes than their last matchup at Ford Field.

Detroit beat Minnesota 31-9 in the 2024 regular-season finale, earning the NFC North championship and top seeding in the NFC playoffs and sending the Vikings on the road as a wild card. Both went 0-1 in the playoffs.

The Lions have been impressive enough this season to trail only Kansas City in the odds to win the Super Bowl, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

“We’re not where we need to be yet,” Campbell said. “We’ve got so much room to grow, and I’m sure they feel the same way.”

J.J. McCarthy is back this week as Minnesota’s starting quarterback after a five-game absence while he recovered from a high ankle sprain. Carson Wentz, who had a season-ending shoulder injury, went 2-3 in his place.

McCarthy, who went 63-3 as a starter in high school and college, led Michigan to the 2023 national championship.

“He's a winner,” Campbell said.

Now, McCarthy is returning to Michigan for the first time to play in an NFL game with a 1-1 record in the league and so much to prove after a knee injury knocked him out of his rookie year.

“I think it’s all just about the process and me being focused on that," he said. "The outcomes really don’t mean anything. It’s just about getting better.”

McCarthy's teammate at Michigan, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, may be picking up tabs the next time they're together on campus.

Hutchinson signed a four-year, $180 million deal that includes $141 million in guarantees — the most for an NFL player who doesn’t play quarterback — that keeps him under contract through the 2030 season.

McCarthy would prefer to limit his contact with Hutchinson on Sunday to a postgame handshake, but it’s inevitable that he’ll make his presence felt off the edge.

“You’ve got to give him that credit,” McCarthy said. “He is that good.”

The Vikings have been repeatedly run over this year after finishing last season with the second-fewest rushing yards allowed in the league. The Los Angeles Chargers became the second team to top the 200-yard rushing mark against them in last week's 37-10 rout.

That's not a good sign heading into a matchup with speedy running back Jahmyr Gibbs and the powerful David Montgomery leading a top-10 rushing team.

The Vikings traded nose tackle Harrison Phillips to the New York Jets right before the regular season to make way for veteran interior pass-rushing specialists Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave along with some up-and-coming young players. Linebacker Blake Cashman’s four-game absence was costly, and edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel has missed five of seven games due to a neck injury.

“We can’t rush the passer if we can’t stop the run," Van Ginkel said. “When teams are able to run the ball, it’s kind of tough to play defense because then they have play action and they have deep shots.”

The Lions entered the season with a lot of questions about the interior of their offensive line after four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow retired.

To make up for the loss, they moved veteran Graham Glasgow from guard to center and gave second-round pick Tate Ratledge and second-year pro Christian Mahogany a chance.

After a rough start in the season-opening flop in Green Bay, the trio has improved each week to help Detroit field one of the NFL's best offenses.

“There was a lot of noise and we canceled that noise,” said Mahogany, a sixth-round pick in 2024.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, center, congratulates wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) after his touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Detroit. AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason (27) runs with the football as Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still (29) tries to tackle during the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) celebrates his touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Detroit. AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

NEW YORK (AP) — An emotional plea by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and moving words from Ryan Coogler on the violence in Minneapolis stirred a National Board of Review Awards ceremony Tuesday in which Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was again crowned the best film of the year.

Coming two days after Sunday’s Golden Globes, the annual, untelevised New York gala, held in the cavernous midtown banquet all Cipriani 42nd Street and hosted by Willie Geist, played out as a more intimate and frank-spoken alternative.

The winners themselves were already announced, so the night was always going to belong to “One Battle After Another.” The National Board of review, a group that is made up of film enthusiasts and dates to 1909, not only named it 2025’s best film but awarded the best actor prize to Leonardo DiCaprio, best director to Anderson, best supporting actor to Benicio Del Toro and breakthrough performer to Chase Infiniti.

Yet in an ongoing parade of awards for “One Battle After Another,” its night at the NBRs still stood out. The surprise presenter of the movie’s best film award was Martin Scorsese, who praised “the audacity” of Anderson’s narratives and the accomplishment of his latest.

“Like all great films, it can’t really be compared to anything else,” Scorsese said. “It stands alone. It’s a great American film.”

Anderson, trying to take in the wealth of honors, attempted to describe what “ One Battle After Another,” his father-daughter tale of revolution, might represent. His answer came in pointing out his own daughter, sitting at his table.

“I don’t know what our movie is about, but I do know it’s about loving your kids,” Anderson said.

For many of the honorees, the world outside the starry banquet weighed heavily. Coogler’s speech was among the night’s most poignant. The “Sinners” director was honored for his screenplay for the vampire thriller and was introduced by the film’s star, longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan.

Both were honored 13 years earlier by the board for their first movie together, “ Fruitvale Station.” Recalling that film, based on the true story of the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in Oakland, California, Coogler turned to the recent fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an immigration enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

“I was young and naive, and I thought the movie was going to change the world and make it so you didn’t see people executed by civil service on camera anymore,” Coogler said. “I was proven wrong again and again. And it’s tough to be here and not think about Minnesota.”

“I can’t be here and not think about Renee,” Coogler added.

Still, the ceremony’s most powerful words came from Panahi, the dissident Iranian filmmaker who for nearly two decades worked clandestinely in his native country while being placed under house arrest and jailed. Panahi’s latest, “ It Was Just an Accident,” was awarded best international film.

The movie, inspired by Panahi's own imprisonment, is a revenge drama about stopping the cycle of violence and oppression in Iran. On Tuesday the death toll from a nationwide crackdown on demonstrators in that country surpassed 2,500, according to activists.

“As we stand here, the state of Iran is gunning down protesters and a savage massacre continues blatantly on the streets of Iran,” Panahi said. “Today the real scene is not on screens but on the streets of Iran. The Islamic Republic has caused a bloodbath to delay its collapse.”

“This is no longer a metaphor,” he continued. “This is not a story. This is not a film. This is a reality written with bullets day after day.”

Panahi called on the film community to speak out and “use any voice and any platform you have.”

“Today, cinema has the power to stand by defenseless people,” Panahi said. “Let’s stand by them.”

Panahi’s remarks, delivered through an interpreter, shook the audience. And when the next award went to Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, for adapted screenplay for their plaintive Pacific Northwest period drama “Train Dreams,” the filmmakers seemed to cut short their speech, which was partially about how making the movie and then promoting it through awards season meant sacrificing time with their young children.

“When the world is kind of burning down, it can feel frivolous at times,” Bentley said. “I just want to say thank you most of all to Mr. Panahi for reminding us for what we can do with the medium and why it can be worth doing.”

Jafar Panahi attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ryan Coogler attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Chase Infiniti attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Michael B. Jordan attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Benicio Del Toro attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Sara Murphy, from left, Teyana Taylor, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Chase Infiniti pose in the press room with the award for best motion picture – musical or comedy for "One Battle After Another" during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)