State of the NFC North-Week 3
Photo Credit: Paul Sancya/AP Photo
Three weeks in and the NFC North is a tight race between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions for supremacy and the division crown at 2-1 each. Meanwhile the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears are at the bottom 0-3 each. With each having a tough matchup arriving, including a Thursday night football division matchup for Detroit and Green Bay, let’s look at the state of the NFC North for Week 3.
Detroit Lions
For the third week straight, the Detroit Lions are on top in the NFC North. Quarterback Jared Goff is leading the way with 819 passing yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions to start off the season. In his recent game against the Atlanta Falcons, Goff threw for 243 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
With running back David Montgomery out for an extend period of time, RB Jahmyr Gibbs currently has 139 rushing yards and 59 receiving yards. He recently ran for 80 yards alone against the Falcons so he is expected to get some touchdowns here and there.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is lighting up the competition second only to Justin Jefferson in the division. He currently has 275 yards and one touchdown, with 102 yards in the last two games straight. Tight end Sam LaPorta is also becoming an underrated TE so quickly into his career. He has 186 receiving yards and one touchdown to start off his career. In their recent game against the Falcons, LaPorta had 84 yards and his first career touchdown in the win.
The defense continues to inspire the hearts and minds of the Lions fans. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson has two sacks and three pass deflections to start off the season. Rookie safety Brian Branch has an interception to start off the season and three deflections to start off his young career.
The Lions take on the Green Bay Packers this Thursday in their second Thursday Night Football game of the year. It’ll be a fight for early supremacy in the NFC North just four weeks in. I got Detroit winning that game with them scoring between 20-27 points in a battle that will shake QB Jordan Love’s confidence.
Green Bay Packers
Its been a great start to the Packers season as well, much to my expense. The Packers are tied for first place with Detroit at 2-1. QB Jordan Love has 655 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception in the first three weeks into the year. In his recent comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints, he threw for 259 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. RB A.J. Dillion is leading the rushing attack with 107 rushing yards but he has no touchdowns. RB Aaron Jones however is the main threat. Currently he has 41 rushing yards, 86 receiving yards, one rushing touchdown, and two receiving touchdowns. WR Romeo Doubs, WR Jayden Reed, and TE Luke Musgrave are leading the receiving core. Each having 148, 129, and 124 receiving yards respectively.
The Packers defense has nine total sacks. Most of the contributions come from DE Rashaan Gary who has 3.5 sacks to start off the year. Other contributors include defensive tackle Kenny Clark, DT Devonte Wyatt, DE Karl Brooks, and linebacker Lukas Van Ness who are making the Packers passing defense look like a dark horse threat.
The Packers will be taking on the Lions this Thursday night. I have already given my predictions for that game.
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings lost for the third time in a row to start the year. This time to the Los Angeles Chargers in a high scoring, no defense game. The final score of that game was 28-24 dropping the Vikings to 0-3.
The offense has been phenomenal to start the year. QB Kirk Cousins has thrown for 1,075 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He has thrown for almost 400 yards every single game, including 367 against the Chargers. The rushing attack has been inconsistent as of late. RB Alexander Mattison has run for 155 yards but has not scored a rushing touchdown. In fact the Vikings haven’t run for a touchdown all season so far.
The receiving game is where the action is at. Jefferson is leading the way with 458 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile rookie WR Jordan Addison is quietly contributing with 185 yards and two touchdowns. TE T.J. Hockenson is also a key contributor with 179 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense has not been able to stop the passing attack and it shows. They’ve allowed 10 touchdowns to their nine scored so it doesn’t help there. Their pass rush is nonexistent with the exception of DE Danielle Hunter who has five sacks in just three weeks. He came away with one sack last week against the Chargers but had three in Week 2 against the Eagles. They only have one interception from S Theo Jackson so there’s not much of a turnover threat from this defense.
Their next opponent is the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers have one of the worst offenses in the league but an underrated defense. Problem is the Vikings offense is leagues better. So I believe the Vikings will come away with their first win of the season and be 1-3 by the end of Week 4.
Chicago Bears
There is nothing else to say. I’ve already gone over this in length about the Bears start to the season. One of the worst offenses in the league combined with possibly the worst defense in the league. They lost 41-10 against the Chiefs. Despite the two interceptions from QB Blaine Gabbert thrown to LB Jack Sanborn and S Quindell Johnson there was nothing there. No sacks no flavor.
The Bears next opponent is the Denver Broncos at home in Chicago. Maybe we can get a win and go to 1-3.
See you all next week NFC North fans. Go Bears.
