State of the NFC North-Week 4

Photo Credit: Cooper Neill/Getty Images

Its been a great Week 4 for the NFC North, well for every team except the Packers and the Bears coaching staff. Half the division got a win, one team should’ve won but lost it in the last moment, and another got defeated by the team they’ve treated as a little brother for the last two decades. Lots of knowledge to unpack before the Thursday Night Football game for my Bears. Here we go!

Detroit Lions

Its going to be awhile before I put a different NFC North team on the top of the article. The Lions continue to impress and inspire. They don’t seem to be losing anytime soon. They defeated the Green Bay Packers by a score of 34-20 and somehow had more fans in Lambeau Field than the Packers did. The Lions are currently 3-1 on the year and on top of the NFC North going into Week 5

Quarterback Jared Goff threw for 210 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He didn’t have eye popping numbers like the past couple of weeks but he didn’t cost the game for the Lions as the Packers began to crawl back from another deficit.

Running back David Montgomery returned with a vengeance and made RB Jahmyr Gibbs fantasy owners cry with anger and envy at his stats. He ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns, completely destroying the Packers run defense.

Wide receiver Josh Reynolds led the receiving corps with 69 yards off of three catches. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown had 56 yards and a touchdown from 5 catches. Tight end Sam LaPorta also had 56 yards off of four catches.

The Lions defense was the second attraction of the team behind Montgomery. Combining for a total of four sacks from defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, defensive tackle Alim McNeill, DE Isaiah Buggs, DE John Cominsky, and DE Charles Harris. Cornerback Jerry Jacobs also had two interceptions off of QB Jordan Love in a resounding performance.

The Lions next opponents are the Carolina Panthers this weekend in a matchup they are sure to win, as well as give the Bears even better drafting odds.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers almost came back from a big deficit two weeks straight but against Detroit it was not meant to be.

Love threw for 246 yards, one touchdowns, and two interceptions to Jacobs. He seemed to struggle against another actual defense compared to the first three weeks. The rushing attack was non existent again this week. They couldn’t even get a player to rush over 20 yards this time. Testament to either the strength of the Lions defense or possible playcalling preferences? It is unclear what is happening.

WR Romeo Doubs was the leading receiver for the team in the losing effort. He had 95 yards from nine catches. WR Jayden Reed was not far behind with 55 receiving yards. The lone touchdown went to WR Christian Watson who had two catches for 25 yards in his return to football.

The defense did its part to keep the dream of beating Detroit alive. DE Devonte Wyatt, despite the second time he’s committed a questionable move against Detroit, had a sack. The other sack for the defense came from DE Karl Brooks. The defense also had an interception courtesy of safety Rudy Ford who is making his case to be a permanent player in the secondary.

Their next opponent is the Las Vegas Raiders. This one is obvious, the Packers will bounce back and win after this loss to Detroit. Right now they’re 2-2 but they should be 3-2 after Week 5.

Minnesota Vikings

As I predicted, the Vikings finally got a win this season. More wins to be announced as of now. This team is hard to gauge, they could’ve been 4-0 or they could’ve been 0-4. They also could be 2-2 if certain plays didn’t occur. All of their losses have been in one score games. Actually all their games have been one score difference affairs.

QB Kirk Cousins had an underwhelming performance Week 4 but the team finally got a win. Cousins threw for 139 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. RB Alexander Mattison had 95 yards on the ground in a close 21-13 win. WR Justin Jefferson was a one man wrecking crew for the Vikings. He had 85 yards from six catches for two touchdowns on the night.

The defense seems to be good at generating sacks and overall QB pressure but allow a lot of passing yards and points consequently. The defense combined for a total of five sacks on the night. S Harrison Smith had three of those sacks alone. The other two contributors were DE Marcus Davenport and linebacker D.J. Wonnum. The Vikings earned this win and now are 1-3 to start off the year, third in the NFC North.

The problem is that their next opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs. They likely will lose that game to the defending Super Bowl champions and drop to 1-4, but they will generate pressure on QB Patrick Mahomes and even get a few sacks on the Chiefs.

Chicago Bears

Yet again my Bears are at the bottom of the article again.

QB Justin Fields had the best game of his career. Throwing over 300 yards for the first time in Bears history. Such is the life of a Bears fan I guess. They’re currently 0-4 after losing in questionable reasoning to the Denver Broncos 31-28.

Fields threw for 335 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, and one fumble returned for a touchdown by a former teammate at Ohio State.

RB Khalil Herbert took his time to get going in the game but had a great performance. He ran for 103 yards, and also had a receiving touchdown with 19 receiving yards to add.

The receiving corps was amazing. WR D.J. Moore led the charge with 131 yards and one touchdown. He was followed by TE Cole Kmet with 85 yards and two touchdowns. WR Darnell Mooney finally saw some action with 51 yards on the day.

The defense performed well during the first half but then the wheels came off and they allowed 24 points in the second half. 17 of which occurred in the fourth quarter alone. I’m not sure what else to say at this point.

Only positive news for my team is that we have the number one and two overall picks in the upcoming draft. That and offensive guard Tevin Jenkins is a possible returning player that could help an offensive line find its identity. S Eddie Jackson is also rumored to be trying to play this Thursday but that is unlikely to happen.

Well that’s all I got here today. The Bears will likely lose to Washington and drop down to 0-5 on the year. Hopefully the offense performs like it against Denver and not how it performed the first three weeks.