NFC North Week 8 Divisional Recap
The NFC North has had an interesting week of games already and all the teams have not even played their games yet. From blowouts to major season altering injuries here is the Week 8 recap of the NFC North so far.
Minnesota Vikings 24, Green Bay Packers 10
Minnesota came off of a big win last week against the San Francisco on Monday Night Football. Minnesota continued the hot streak with a dominating win against their division rivals the Green Bay Packers defeating them 24-10.
While that was good news for the Vikings and their fans this week an event during the game would be the big headline coming out of this game. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins would go down in the third quarter with a no contact injury. After the game, Adam Schefter reported that Kirk Cousins had torn his Achilles and that the team would be getting an MRI to confirm it.
The loss of Cousins is enormous for the Vikings, and now it is up to rookie quarterback Jaren Hall to keep this momentum going for the rest of the season. The Vikings offense and defense were both playing lights out all game and continually stopped the Packers on key drives.
The Packers looked sloppy in all aspects of the game for another week with the offense not having a single first down for almost the entirety of the first half. Their defense made a few stops here and there, but only were able to hold the Vikings offense after Cousins left the game.
The Packers drop to 2-5 on the season and the Vikings improve to 4-4 on the season and still in the Wild Card race after starting the season 1-4.
Los ANgeles Chargers 30, Chicago Bears 13
The Tyson Bagent train ran out of steam just as fast as it had gotten going. The Bears after an impressive win last week over the Raiders seemed to regress back to the Bears we saw earlier in the season. Bagent threw two interceptions in the Bears 30-13 loss last night on primetime and overall, the Bears couldn’t get anything going both offensively and defensively.
The Bears were without some of their secondary like safety Jaquon Brisker and cornerback Terell Smith. The two touchdowns scored by the Bears were both rushing touchdowns scored by Bagent and running back Darrynton Evans.
The Bears consistently were not converting short third and fourth downs causing many promising drives to stall out around midfield and just outside of the redzone. The Bears are much better suited for offensive gameplans that rely heavily on the run game using multiple backs.
Since they got behind in the game early on they were forced to throw the ball more with Bagent having 37 pass attempts compared to his 29 last week. Last week against the Raiders they had a combined 36 rushing attempts, and this week only had 25 rushing attempts 21 if you take away scrambles from Bagent.
The Bears drop to 2-6 after the loss and remain in a competition with the Packers for last in the division.
Las Vegas Raiders at Detroit Lions
This game has not yet taken place and will be played tonight on Monday Night Football. After an embarrassing loss to the Ravens last week the Lions are hoping to bounce back with a powerful win tonight. The Raiders should be an easy opponent for the Lions who may have only hit a small speed bump in their season last week.
However, knowing the league and this season it is hard to predict how teams will perform week to week. The Ravens who stomped the Lions last week, struggled and nearly allowed a fourth quarter comeback to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Lions will be missing running back David Montgomery once again this week and all week the coaching staff has talked about giving Gibbs a “full workload” tonight. The biggest issue for the Lions on offense will be shutting down All-Pro pass rusher Maxx Crosby. The Lions defense should have an easy time dealing with wide receiver Davante Adams as the team has seen him many times in the past when he suited up in the dreaded green and yellow.
The Raiders have looked terrible this year if we are being honest. It isn’t a Raiders season without the consistent drama that comes out of the team’s locker room and from the players. Star players are frustrated with how the season is going and head coach Josh McDaniels is on one of the hottest coaching seats this season.
NFC North Standings
Detroit Lions (5-2)
Minnesota Vikings (4-4)
Green Bay Packers (2-5)
Chicago Bears (2-6)
