Around the NFC North: Week 3

Talk about regression. The Vikings have now lost three games that they would’ve luckily won last year. The Packers won in the exact same way that they lost last week. The Lions turned it around against the Falcons. And, well, the Bears still suck, but we expected that. 

Vikings

The Vikings lost 28-24 to the Chargers. 

Game Notes

• With a defense this bad and a receiving corps this good, Kirk Cousins could end up with 5,000 pass yards this season. With today’s 367 yards, he’s now on track to hit 6,000. Of course, it didn’t matter. But if you give Cousins a full season of basically garbage time with the best receiver in the NFL to throw to, he could set records.
• Speaking of the best receiver, Justin Jefferson nearly put up 150 yards for the third game in a row (he had 149). He projects to 2,600 receiving yards, which is even more insane than 6,000 pass yards. 
• It’s all thanks to the team’s trash defense, which upped the blitz rate again today on the way to giving up 405 yards and 3 TDs to Justin Herbert, which included 18 catches for 205 yards (and one pass for a 49-yard TD) to Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen lost offensive rookie of the year to Eddie Lacy, that’s how old he is. Giving up 18 catches and 200 yards to him in the year 2023 is like giving up 150 yards and 3 touchdowns to the circle button in the year 2023. 
• Who will end up with more yards? Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ offense? Or the teams they play? 

 

 

Former Packers

• Dean Lowry didn’t record a stat. 

Next Week

The Vikings may have a get-right game against the Panthers. Let’s hope not. 

Bears

The Bears embarrassed themselves in front of Taylor Swift. 

Game Notes

• You know what’s worse than the Vikings’ defense? The Bears’ everything. The only way this game could’ve been worse is if it hadn’t happened on the same day as the Broncos giving up 70 points. 
• After a week full of Justin Fields drama where he blamed his coaches and then he blamed the media, he put up an 11/22 for 99-yard performance. He at least had some rushing yards this week, though outside of one long run of 17 yards, he only averaged 3 YPC. 
• It’s hard to find a bright spot for the offense. All 10 points came in garbage time. DJ Moore only caught 3 out of 6 targets. The running backs were OK? I guess? 
• Now, the defense. Pat Mahomes had a yawn-worthy 272 yards, 3 TDs, and QB rating of 127. 10 receivers caught at least one pass. On the Bears’ side, 0 defenders had at least one sack. 
• The Bears spent a ton of money on their defense this offseason. They brought in several free agents and draft picks and the defense is still trash. Hard to fathom that they can do anything other than fire everyone this offseason. 

 

 

Former Packers because saying former players who have Wisconsin ties would be too long but we include former Badgers anyway because there aren’t enough former Packers to make this section interesting on their own

• Marcedes Lewis and Bobby Tonyan have combined for zero catches on the season. MVS had a 37-yard catch for the Chiefs. 
• TJ Edwards had an insane 17 tackles and Jack Sanborn had 3 tackles and a pick. Leo Chenal had 3 tackles for the Chiefs. Big game for ex-Badgers linebackers. 

Next Week

The Bears take on the Broncos in a battle of ineptitude. 

Lions

The Lions beat the Falcons 20-6. 

Game Notes

• Last week, the Packers played the Falcons really well for three quarters and then had some sort of collective lobotomy in the fourth quarter. The Lions did the same thing minus the 4th-quarter choke job. 
• In the offseason, I wrote an article (too embarrassing now to link to it) ranking the NFC North QBs minus Jordan Love. I had them Fields 1, Cousins 2, and Goff 3. It looks like I may have had them completely backwards. Fields is obviously the worst of the three and probably the worst QB in the league and Goff has been the best in the division so far. 
• Goff was 22/33 for 243 yards and a one TD and one pick. Not a life-changing performance, but the Lions are protecting him and Goff is doing enough week in and week out to get wins. 
• Jahmyr Gibbs won the battle of rookie running backs with 17 carries for 80 yards next to Bijan’s 10 for 33. 
• The defense looked pretty good too, unfortunately. Aidan Hutchinson had 2 sacks, 2 passes defensed, and a forced fumble. Brian Branch had 11 tackles, including 3 for a loss. Even the Sun God got into the fun with a tackle on an interception return. 

 

 

Former Packers

Nada. 

Next Week

The Packers and Lions play on Thursday night.