After a disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers have a very short week before they run headfirst into the Chicago Bears. Packers fans are naturally worried given how the team—especially Aaron Rodgers—looked last week, on top of the injury to Eddie Lacy, which went from minor to pretty damned serious in a short amount of time.

We’ll be focusing on that game a lot over the next 24 hours, but we’re here to get you ready for everyone else in the NFC North.

So let’s do that.

Minnesota Vikings

Coming out of their bye week, the Vikings will face the Philadelphia Eagles and rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz, who is apparently human after all, got roughed up a bit in the loss to Washington last week and head coach Doug Pederson is likely going to change things up a bit as the Vikings come to town.

The Vikings defense continues to be all kinds of nasty, and is going to be a real issue for Wentz and an offense which had become a tad predictable. It’s fair to wonder if we’ll see more of a run game from the Eagles this week to buy Wentz some time to throw and also help the offensive line get back on track.

Meanwhile the Vikings offense still has the little matter of a bad offensive line and zero run game. While the Eagles defense has struggled the last two games, it’s still one of the best in the league and the Vikings offensive line is….not.

If the Eagles can pressure Bradford, he’ll struggle, so expect a renewed effort to get after the quarterback from the front seven.

This is likely to come down to who is going to make the last mistake. Bradford hasn’t thrown a pick, but this is a decent secondary and he has an average group of receivers outside of Kyle Rudolph and Stefon Diggs. On the other side of things, the Vikings secondary is really good while Wentz’s weapons are inconsistent.

Prediction: Vikings 24, Eagles 21

It’s tough for me to bet against the Vikings right now because of that defense, but this is going to be a toss up, because that offensive line is brutal.

Now all we need is for FOX to get an actual picture of Sam Bradford in a Vikings uniform because....that was awkward.

Detroit Lions

Somehow the Lions squeaked and eked out a 31-28 won over the inconsistent and befuddling Los Angeles Rams last week, but will be lucky to come out of this game against Washington with their dignity intact.

It’s not so much that Washington is great—though Kirk Cousins has begun to play well again and the defense has looked stout lately—as it is the Lions are unpredictably bad.

The Washington defensive front is healthier than Los Angeles’ was, which could make a big difference as well. Matt Stafford had plenty of time to throw last week, and was sacked just once. He looked more comfortable than he has most of this season, so he was more effective than he has been most of the season.

That won’t be the case this week as Washington is a better (and healthier) pass rush unit than the Rams.

They are, however, awful against the run. So will we see a lot of Justin Forsett and Zack Zenner? If the coaching staff is smart, sure.

Are they smart, though? Are they REALLY?

Meanwhile I trust the defensive unit the Lions run out there about as much as I trust…actually I don’t trust them enough to come up with a comparison. I expect Washington to throw the ball well against an inept secondary and run the ball well against a front seven which specializes in underwhelming defense.

Prediction: Washington 27, Lions 14

So that's it for this column, but I leave you with something to get you excited. Enjoy!