ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions beat Sam Bradford twice last season, but they'll face the Minnesota Vikings without him this Sunday when they travel to Minneapolis.

Minnesota has ruled its starting quarterback out for the third straight game, coach Mike Zimmer told reporters Thursday. The Vikings will instead roll with Case Keenum, who led Minnesota to a win last week and who has been productive against the Lions before.

The fifth-year quarterback was starting for the Rams last year when he came to Ford Field for a thrilling showdown. Keenum played one of the better games of his career then, completing 27 of 32 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns and an interception. The 321 yards are his third-most in 28 career games. The 84 percent completion is his best ever.

The interception, by safety Rafael Bush in the final two minutes, sealed a 31-28 Lions victory.

"How we were built last year, we were trying to make sure we didn't keep letting anything behind us, which were doing every year, but we didn't challenge as much last year," Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "He was able to deal that ball to the right guy, time after time after time. Our guys did a good job of just holding up and then at the very end, getting an interception off of him."

Keenum's career high for yards in a game came in his most recent one, when he tore up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 369 yards and three touchdowns against no interceptions. He finished with a rating of 142.1, just a little off a perfect mark of 158.

He leads the league's third-ranked offense in terms of yards into a matchup against a Lions defense that has made life difficult on opposing quarterbacks so far with seven interceptions in three games. Last week, reigning MVP Matt Ryan came into the matchup with 22 touchdowns against zero interceptions over his past nine games, and the Lions took three of his passes away, including one that safety Glover Quin ran back for a touchdown.

The Lions will hope they can have the full arsenal of their defense back in time to stop Keenum and the Vikings. Defensive end Ezekiel Ansah and strong safety Tavon Wilson have been limited in practice, with Wilson missing last week's game with a shoulder issue. Rookie linebacker Jarrad Davis also missed last week with a brain injury, though he's been progressing this week toward trying to play Sunday.