By Wes French
How ’bout that North Division? All four teams from the NFC’s black and blue group registered a win in week three, the first time that has happened since the fall of 2005. I guarantee the division goes 2-2 this week though, pretty simple when you have DET @ CHI and the much anticipated GB @ MIN on Monday night. First lets recap last week’s wins.
The Viking’s fans found out just why Brett Favre is worth all that hassle with some help from Gregg Lewis, the Packers beat up a downtrodden Rams bunch for an easy road win and the Bears found themselves the beneficiary of another come from behind victory thanks to Jay Cutler (with a little more help from bad kickers). Which leads us to the biggest North story…
LIONS WIN! Break ‘em up!
Calvin Johnson Celebrates the Lions win with some loyal fans (cortesy DFP)
The Detroit Lions snapped a 19-game losing streak by beating the Washington Redskins in front of a very appreciative home crowd. Congratulations Detroit, your reward is a visit to Chicago, home for the defending champion Steelers and a visit to Green Bay before your bye week. Good luck and thanks for coming out. On to this week’s match ups…
Detroit @ Chicago
The Lions visit the windy city Sunday fresh off their emotional win last week. It has to be a huge relief for Jim Schwartz and the rest of the new regime; now they can wash their hands of everything that was the Detroit Lions’ recent past and build this thing up. Good thing they landed that win with the upcoming schedule they have, that wait could have been even more brutal.
Mare should blame the missed FGs on those awful jerseys (courtesy/Chi Trib)
The Bears had a bit of trouble out west but prevailed in the end with another game winning drive from the talented MR. Cutler. The team was helped out yet again by bad kicking and this time Olindo Mare was the goat, missing from 34 and 42 yards as Seattle lost 25-19. I’d blame it on being distracted by my nuclear jersey if I were him.
The Bears again failed to get their run game going and now rank 28th in the league in said category. The Lions haven’t played a whole lot of run defense, but with their brutal pass defense I wouldn’t doubt it if Cutler gets his number called a bunch and the team waits until the second half to do most of their handing off. Cutler should thrive this weekend, I’m thinking three scores and 300-plus yards.
The Lions will struggle to run not only because of the stout Chicago rush defense but also because top back Kevin Smith is banged up. Matt Stafford could break a long pass or two on the suspect pass coverage, but he’ll need to be weary of LBs Lance Briggs and Nick Roach.
Roach stepped in to assume the MLB role-the third Bear to do so in as many weeks-when Hunter Hillenmeyer went down with a rib injury. He’ll likely miss the game, so look for a heavy dose of Roach attacking the Detroit backfield. He was the one who chased Seneca Wallace from the pocket last week leading to a key Briggs INT.
That said, Detroit will score but the Bears will roll.
Bears 37 Lions 24
Green Bay @ Minnesota
Do I really have to give you a setting for this game? Brett Favre plays his first game against the team he created his legacy with, and does so after making the single biggest play since leaving said team. Aaron Rodgers, Favre’s replacement, gets his first crack at the old timer since he took the reigns just over a year ago. Oh yea, and it’s on Monday Night Football, go figure.
The Pack enter this tilt after playing bully in St. Louis; leading big early, sleeping on the Rams long enough to let the game get close (23-17 2Q) only to end up throttling them for the rest of the game. The offense was still a bit stagnant, though, as Rodgers found himself outside the pocket much more than he’d like. Green Bay needs to fix that O-line this week or Rodgers will be moving alot, and maybe not moving a lot (as in motionless, under Jared Allen).
The Vikings were tamed at home for about 58 minutes and change until Brett Favre did what Brett Favre does, win the ball game in ridiculous fashion. Favre hit newbie Gregg Lewis in the back of the endzone as time expired to give the Vikes a 27-24 win, crushing the visiting 49ers spirit in the process. All was not well, though, as the defense gave up 24 points to a team without it’s top player, Frank Gore (injury on first play), and Adrian Peterson was contained (90 yrds, no scores).
The Vikings will obviously look to Peterson to carry the load, and he should have an easy go of it against a team that allowed 140-plus yards to Cedric Benson. Favre could be a problem in this one though. He’ll want his number called more than it has been in the last few weeks, and if he forces plays that aren’t there we’ll see bad Brett. Ask Jets fans how that looked from week 12 on last season. Goo.
The Packers can win this game, even in Minnesota, but they need exceptional play from their O-line. They need to control the clock to keep Peterson and Favre off the field as much as possible, so establishing a rush and moving the chains is a must. Rodgers acts like a big time QB and he’ll get his chance to prove Green Bay made the right decision to let Favre go two years ago. The Vikes pass D is formidable, but Rodgers has a chip on his shoulder and I feel a big game coming from #12. What would be better than watching Favre fall in his new home at your hands? To Rodgers, nothing.
Packers 33 Vikings 28
