Tahir Whitehead intercepted Teddy Bridgewater twice, Joique Bell put the game away with a fourth-quarter touchdown run, and the Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings 17-3 on Sunday.
With Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush missing, the Lions played a low-risk game and punted nearly as often as the Vikings did. But their defense made another case for top billing in the league. Ziggy Ansah had 2 1/2 of Detroit’s eight sacks,
Bridgewater threw three interceptions in his second career start for the Vikings.
The biggest problem for Detroit was two more missed field goal attempts. Matt Prater did make one from 52 yards in his debut.
The Lions won at Minnesota for only the second time in their last 17 trips.
