Around the NFC North – Week 3

Week three finds the teams around the NFC North traveling outside of the division with contests against the AFC East and NFC West.

Minnesota Vikings

Make no mistake about it: the Minnesota Vikings players, coaching staff and fanbase were as equally upset as Packers fans about the team’s stunning comeback in regulation and subsequent tie at the end of overtime.  The source of the frustrations are obviously coming from a different place and the Vikings front office took immediate action by signing free agent kicker Dan Bailey to their squad.  Bailey joins the Vikings after mysteriously being cut by the Dallas Cowboys on September 1st and having received four strong offers between then and now.    Bailey joins the Vikings as the second-most accurate kicker in league history, having made 88.2% of his kicks as a Cowboy since 2011.

The tie against the Packers proved a lot for the Vikings franchise outside of their special teams units.  On offense, the Vikings showed just how dangerous they can be with Kirk Cousins leading the offense with Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph as his primary weapons.  Coupled with a still-potent defense, the Vikings proved that they will be a threat to the entire NFC for the remainder of the regular season.

This weekend, the Vikings will gladly welcome the Buffalo Bills to US Bank Stadium.  With the Bills absolutely reeling after a 0-2 start and having cornerback Vontae Davis walk away from the team and retire at halftime in their game against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday, the Vikings enter their upcoming matchup as heavy favorites.

Detroit Lions

In their battle with the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday out west, mistake-ridden football once again by the Lions caused them to fall to a 0-2 hole to start their 2018 campaign.  While having a solid game overall, Matt Stafford gave up a costly fumble deep in their own territory early in the game.  Running back LeGarrette Blount received a personal foul penalty and ejection for defending his quarterback off the sideline with a shove to an opposing player.

The Lions entered the fourth quarter of the game down by 14 points and made a valiant effort to mount a comeback, but it was too little, too late for the Lions.  Detroit’s defense was absolutely gashed by the 49ers running game throughout the contest and the overall prognosis for the team is looking very poor at the moment.

This weekend, Sunday Night Football comes to Detroit where Matt Patricia gets to face his old team in the 1-1 New England Patriots.  As the matchup looks currently, this is probably not an ideal time for Patricia to be facing his mentor Bill Belichick.  Following a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tom Brady and company are usually spot on in the weeks that follow a loss.  The prophecy of 0-3 doesn’t look good for the Lions, but they face an uphill battle this week to find their first win of the season.

Chicago Bears

The Bears followed up their week one disappointing loss to the Packers with a convincing win over the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field on Monday night.  In the contest, the Bears defense dominated the Seahawks for most of the game and scored late on a pick-six off of Russell Wilson.  Seattle did their best to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter but just ran out of time.

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky found some struggles during the contest by throwing interceptions on consecutive possessions in the second quarter of play.  Luckily, the Bears defense bailed him out with two three and outs following the picks.  With the talent at the skill positions on offense and an overall solid defense, the Bears truly appear to be solid quarterback play away from being a contender in the NFC playoff picture.

This Sunday afternoon, the Bears travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals.  Currently sitting at 0-2, the Cardinals are coming off of an embarrassing 34-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and will be looking to show some sign of life in week three. 

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Ryan Brunner is an avid Packers fan hailing from Chippewa Falls, WI.  He is a firm believer that punters are NFL players too!  Follow him on Twitter @brunwardo

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Comments (10)

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PatrickGB's picture

September 19, 2018 at 11:57 am

My wife’s family are Bills fans. Sad for them but I hope that the Bills snap out of their funk and beat the queens.

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croatpackfan's picture

September 19, 2018 at 03:16 pm

Hope dies last....

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

September 19, 2018 at 02:08 pm

Quick question.

Why are kickers held accountable and replaced with available veteran free agents but safeties are not? Just curious.

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Oppy's picture

September 19, 2018 at 02:55 pm

There isn't much of a competitive element in kicking would be the answer.

Kickers who get fired get fired because the kicker failed himself.

Safeties are competing and while they may make mistakes, there are other players on the field and schemes at work that are competing against the safety. We hear coaches talk all the time about not sweating the competitive errors, but the mental ones are an issue. A lot of times, players don't necessarily do anything wrong, they just get beat by the other guy, or a scheme designed to lure them into poor position. But when a kicker misses 3 or 4 reasonable FG's in a row without adverse conditions, bad holds, or a player touching the ball? That's 100% on the kicker.

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dobber's picture

September 19, 2018 at 03:08 pm

Because cutting a S and injecting a new S in a single week leads to potentially fatal breakdowns in the defense?

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

September 19, 2018 at 08:19 pm

"fatal breakdowns"

Yes, I guess that is the same result.

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PatrickGB's picture

September 19, 2018 at 04:23 pm

If “Hope dies last” it’s the thing that remains when all else is lost.
My expectation is that the Bills will lose yet I hope they don’t.

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Minniman's picture

September 19, 2018 at 05:39 pm

Micah Hyde for a pick-6......... that would be poetic

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Minniman's picture

September 19, 2018 at 05:44 pm

If a 2-game stretch can be considered form, then it looks like the Vikes and the Bears are favorable over their respective competition and the Lions will struggle against the Pats. Status quo?

Redskins with a savvy veteran QB in Smith shouldn't be taken lightly by the packers or they could cede control of the NFC North to 2 teams.

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dobber's picture

September 19, 2018 at 05:48 pm

Lions = Bad Football Team

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