NFC North Week 9 Recap
Week 9 is in the books and two out of the three NFC North teams that played this week came out with a win. The Detroit Lions were on bye this week so that leaves us recapping the Vikings, Packers and Bears games this week.
Green Bay Packers 20, Los Angeles Rams 3
The Packers got a much-needed win after going on a four-game losing streak. A huge component of the Packers victory was finally having running back Aaron Jones in the lineup and consistently feeding him the ball racking up 20 carries in the game.
Jordan Love had a much better game not turning over the ball once and throwing one touchdown to Luke Musgrave. Love completed 20 of his 26 pass attempts for 228 total yards.
While it did turn out for a win in the Packers favor many of their same issues arose throughout the game. They got off to an extremely slow start in the first quarter not being able to move the ball at all until they scored a touchdown at the start of the second quarter. They continued to have failed drive after failed drive throughout the rest of the second quarter.
The Packers seem like every other team in the NFC North besides the Detroit Lions. They have a stout defense that holds teams to minimal points, but the offense can’t move the ball and score with all the opportunities they are given.
The Packers should feel lucky that they played a Rams team with a backup quarterback this week or else it could have turned into another loss on the season.
Minnesota Vikings 31, Atlanta Falcons 28
Rookie quarterback Jaren Hall started for the Vikings today but was knocked out of the game due to a concussion early on. Hall looked good in his few opportunities throwing for 5 of 6 and 78 yards. After Hall was ruled out, newly acquired quarterback Josh Dobbs entered the game after only being with the team a week and having limited practice and time to get used to the playbook.
Dobbs came out and led the Vikings to a comeback win in the fourth quarter and likely showed the Vikings who their new starter should be.
The Vikings biggest problem besides their QB dilemma is the lack of a rushing game. Alexander Mattison continues to struggle on the carries he is given only getting 2.8 yards per carry on 16 attempts. On the other hand, Cam Akers who they traded for from the Rams seems to be playing at a higher level and is slowly getting more and more carries each game. The Vikings may start to shift their focus on giving Akers the ball more in the future.
The defense looked good in the first half with only a few misses like dropped interceptions and missed sacks. In the second half, they seemed to give up more big plays and let the Falcons continuously drive down the field and put points up on the board.
Chicago Bears 17, New Orleans Saints 24
Where to even begin with this game. The Bears would have lost by three touchdowns if New Orleans knew how to seal a game away.
The game was competitive throughout until the Bears hit a stonewall in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Tyson Bagent was playing good with only one bad interception in the first quarter and the Bears had four chances to tie the game up at 24.
The Bears proceeded to turn the ball over on three of their four possessions in the fourth quarter with two interceptions thrown by Bagent and a fumble by him as well.
The Bears outclassed the Saints in all statistics besides passing yards and yet fell short of coming away with the victory. The Saints continuously served the victory on a plate for the Bears who fell down just before reaching the table every opportunity they got.
The Bears biggest issue is obviously quarterback play, but that is not their only concern. The defense makes stops but rarely makes turnovers happen, and this is a defense that the Bears have invested heavily into. Contracts like T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds and now Montez Sweat need to playing at the level that they are getting paid.
It doesn’t help that the offense continually drops the ball on promising drives with interceptions and fumbles by multiple players not just one.
The Bears might need to do an extreme major overhaul this offseason to completely start fresh because drafting Caleb Williams or Drake Maye will not make all the other problems simply disappear.
NFC North Standings:
Detroit Lions (6-2)
Minnesota Vikings (5-4)
Green Bay Packers (3-5)
Chicago Bears (2-7)
