Rough Day for the NFC North
Man, what a rough day it was today for the NFC North. The division went 0-4 and a head coach got fired. A few weeks ago I would have said this was without a doubt one of the best divisions in the NFL, but that was when I still believed in the Packers. I still believe it is a solid division, but they took a big hit today by getting swept. Hopefully better days are ahead for the historic division.
The division leading Chicago Bears have been looking better and better as each week passes. They had won five in a row and had an 8-3 record going into today before losing to the lowly New York Giants. Just a really bad game by the Bears. I’m really confused as to how their stellar defense gave up 30 points to Eli and the Giants. The Bears D has been their strongest point all year long, but didn’t show up today. Couple that with backup QB Chase Daniel playing over the injured Trubisky and the Bears didn’t have a very good chance. Lucky for them though, they didn’t lose a single game of their division lead to anybody.
Photo: patriotswire.usatoday.com
The Vikings are a very solid NFL team, and I think their 6-5-1 record doesn’t accurately reflect that. They have had some games that could have gone either way this year where they’ve come out on the losing side. Unfortunate for them, today they had to travel to Foxborough to play the Patriots, which is a place where not very many visiting teams have success. Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings were held to just 10 points in their losing effort today to the Pats, hurting their wildcard chances as they slipped to one game out of the playoff picture.
The Green Bay Packers today proved that they are done for the season. Even with them continuing to lose games in recent weeks, I still held a slim belief that Aaron Rodgers would do Aaron Rodgers-things and somehow win every game left on the schedule to sneak into the playoffs. That’s just what he does. But a bad, and I mean a BAD loss today to the Cardinals proved that any hope that may have remained for the team is certainly gone now. And right after the game, they decided to fire Mike McCarthy (which I believe wasn’t the right move, but just my opinion). This season has been a miserable one for Packers fans, especially since they are so used to prosperity.
The Detroit Lions didn’t stand much of a chance today as the Los Angeles Rams came to visit. The Rams are a top three team in the NFL and overpower just about everybody. The Lions, who came in today at just 4-7, stood no chance. Even though they actually played better than I thought they would, they still lost 30-16 and stand at the bottom of the division, just a half game behind the Packers. The Lions have some very winnable games left on their schedule and end the season in Green Bay. How funny would it be to see the Packers finish at the bottom of the division? I bet it’s been a while since that’s happened. The Lions though, have fought through some bad breaks this season and traded away receiver Golden Tate a few weeks ago, signaling they knew they weren’t going anywhere this season.
Garett