Tag: NFC North

Packers and Rams put pressure on Vikings with wins

The Packers took down the Giants 31-13 in snowy conditions in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon. That improved the Packers to 9-3 on the season. They now hold a half game lead over the Vikings, who play on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks. …

The Packers took down the Giants 31-13 in snowy conditions in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon.

That improved the Packers to 9-3 on the season. They now hold a half game lead over the Vikings, who play on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks.

Green Bay is 1-0 against Minnesota this season, but the Vikings can even that up in Week 16 at home.

The Vikings also have to worry about the 7-5 Rams, who dominated the Cardinals and could be just a game back from the Vikings if they were to fall to the Seahawks.

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Vikings still have a 91 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 42 percent chance to win the division. The Packers have a 94 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 58 percent chance to win the division. The Rams have just a 19 percent chance to make the playoffs.

We’ll know more about what the playoff picture looks like after Monday’s game between the Vikings and 9-2 Seahawks in Seattle.

Bears open as 1.5-point underdogs vs. Lions in Week 13

Coming off a victory over the Giants, the Bears are underdogs heading into Thursday’s Thanksgiving matchup against the Lions.

Coming off Sunday’s 19-14 victory over the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears (5-6) will have a quick turnaround before Thursday’s meeting against the Detroit Lions (3-7-1).

This marks the second straight Thanksgiving meeting between the Bears and Lions, which has a different feel this season as the Bears’ struggles have been noticeable.

The Bears will likely be facing off against Lions backup quarterback Jeff Driskel again as starter Matthew Stafford continues to deal with tiny fractures in his back.

In their first meeting this season, the Bears defeated Driskel and the Lions 20-13 behind Mitchell Trubisky’s three touchdowns on Nov. 10.

With all of that and the Bears coming off a win over the Giants, Vegas still isn’t as confident in Chicago’s chances against the Lions.

The Bears have opened as 1.5-point underdogs against the Lions, according to BetMGM.

Chicago has been favorites in every game they’ve played this season except three — the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 and now against the Lions in Week 13 — which is surprising considering their struggles this year.

But the fact that the Lions are only 1.5-point favorites doesn’t indicate much confidence from Vegas, as home teams are usually afforded a three-point advantage.

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NFC North watch: Packers get smoked, Bears win ugly

It was an awful day of football in the NFC North

The Detroit Lions weren’t the only NFC North team in action in Week 12. The Lions also weren’t the only team in the division to leave a stinky impression upon their fan base.

Chicago hosted the New York Giants in an ugly, poorly executed game by both teams. A strong third quarter from Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky produced 16 of Chicago’s 19 points in the 19-14 win. Trubisky also tossed two INTs that rival Jeff Driskel’s brutal picks at the end of the Lions loss.

The Bears were bad. The Giants were worse. New York missed two field goals and failed on 4th down twice in the fourth quarter to cement the loss. Chicago improved to 5-6 in advance of Thursday’s game at Ford Field.

Green Bay got blasted on national television, suffering an embarrassing 37-8 loss in San Francisco in a game that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score indicates.

Watching the rival Packers get blown out and completely outclassed by the San Francisco 49ers in primetime was a little bit of consolation for Lions fans on Sunday night. Aaron Rodgers managed just 102 passing yards before being pulled late in the game for his own safety against the 49ers pass rush.

The Packers fell to 8-3 with the loss. It drops them back into a tie with idle Minnesota at the top of the division. Green Bay won the first matchup between the two leaders.

Standings

Green Bay 8-3

Minnesota 8-3

Chicago 5-6

Detroit 3-7-1

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49ers win over Packers opens door in NFC North

The Packers and Vikings are now both 8-3 with Green Bay having the tiebreaker.

The 49ers absolutely embarrassed the Packers on Sunday Night Football, and that’s great news for the Minnesota Vikings.

The loss drops the Packers to 8-3 on the season, the same record as the Vikings. Of course, Green Bay has the tiebreaker over Minnesota with its Week 2 win at Lambeau field. However, the two teams play again in Week 16 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Vikings have a 91 percent chance to make the playoffs, while the Packers have a 90 percent chance. The Packers, however, have a 53 percent chance to win the division, while the Vikings have a 46 percent chance.

Here’s what the remaining schedule looks like for the two teams:

Vikings Packers
@ Seahawks @ Giants
vs. Lions vs. Redskins
@ Chargers vs. Bears
vs. Packers @ Vikings
vs. Bears @ Lions

The Packers look to have the easier schedule, but hey, crazy things happen in the NFL.

Bears keep playoff hopes alive with win over Giants

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago still has a one percent chance to make the playoffs.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless.

The Bears beat the Giants 19-14, thanks to 16 third-quarter points, to improve the team to 5-6 on the season.

Per FiveThirtyEight, Chicago is holding onto playoff hope, with a one-percent chance to make it.

The 8-3 Vikings have a three-game lead on the Bears, but Chicago has the tiebreaker from its Week 4 win over Minnesota. The two will meet up again in Week 17.

The Bears also play the Lions, Cowboys, Packers and Chiefs to close out the season. Not exactly an easy stretch.

With the Bears likely to miss the playoffs, there are a lot of questions to answer this offseason in Chicago.

This is a team that finished 12-4 in 2018, looking like one of the teams of the future in the NFC. Not so fast.

The struggles of Mitch Trubisky have become too much for the Bears to overcome. The 2017 No. 2 pick is averaging just 5.6 yards per attempt this season. He’s had trouble throwing to the left side of the field. When you take away half the field for a defense, things become a bit easier.

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Trubisky was replaced this offseason (Ryan Tannehill, anyone?), which would likely extend coach Matt Nagy’s time in Chicago as well.

Lions fall to Redskins, playoff appearance in 2019 nearly impossible

With Detroit’s last-second loss to the Redskins on Sunday, the Lions fall to 3-7-1 on the season.

The Lions fell 19-16 on a last-second field goal to the Redskins on Sunday afternoon.

That knocked Detroit, who was without Matthew Stafford for the second-straight game, to 3-7-1 on the season. The Lions, per FiveThirtyEight, have less than a one-percent chance to make the postseason.

Detroit would need to win out, while also getting literally all the help.

It’s probably safe to say the Lions will not make the playoffs for the second-straight season under coach Matt Patricia and third-straight season overall.

It’s also probably fair to wonder or not whether Patricia, who has failed to bring the Patriot way to Detroit, will be the team’s head coach in 2020.

This has to be incredibly disappointing for Lions fans considering how the season started. The Lions started the season 2-0-1 and lost their next two games to the Chiefs and Packers by a combined five points. It felt like they were legitimately a good team.

But here we are and it looks like another losing season for Detroit.

The Lions close out their season against the Bears, Vikings, Buccaneers, Broncos and Packers.

NFC North Week 11 roundup: Lions drop another, sit alone at the bottom

The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears suffer losses, the Minnesota Vikings pull off a comeback win and the Green Bay Packers stay at the top despite being on a bye.

The Detroit Lions were unable to defend the den and their defense got torched by Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. The Denver Bronco’s almost played spoiler as they traveled to Minnesota to play the Vikings, but Kirk Cousins had other plans. Mitchell Trubisky went down with a hip injury as the Chicago Bears dropped a game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Green Bay Packers were off, still sitting atop the NFC North.

Let’s take a closer look at the NFC North starting at the bottom of the division:

Detroit Lions (3-6-1)

Simply put, the Lions couldn’t get the job done, and it was the defense putting up a dud — again.

Jeff Driskel started at quarterback for the second consecutive week, and had a good stat line, completing 15 of 26 for 209 yards and two touchdowns while notching another touchdown on the ground with 51 yards on eight carries.

Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay each sit with a league-leading eight touchdowns, and the Lions only silver lining is that they continue to put up points on offense.

The Lions lose their third in a row on the season, and fourth in a row to the Cowboys 27-35. The Lions hope to rebound against the struggling Washington Redskins, next week.

Chicago Bears (4-6)

In the Bears 7-17 loss to the Rams, Mitchell Trubisky went down with a hip injury and possibly lost his starting job for the rest of the season.

The Bears couldn’t get anything going on offense as the Rams defense held them to 267 total yards and seven points. The details on the injury to Trubisky’s hip haven’t surfaced as of yet, but some expect Chase Daniel to take over the reins at quarterback for the next couple of games. Thanksgiving in Detroit is shaping up to be Daniel vs Driskel — yes, I took a deep breath putting that thought down too.

The New York Giants come to town next week, and the Bears will be looking to not start another losing streak this season.

Minnesota Vikings (8-3)

The Vikings proved that they are a powerhouse team, picking up the win against the Broncos 27-23.

If you didn’t watch the game and just see the box score, this may sound puzzling to you. At halftime, the Broncos led the game 20-0 and seemingly had the game in hand. Mike Zimmer made some adjustments at the half, and his Vikings looked virtually unstoppable scoring 27 to the Broncos 3.

The Vikings get a lengthy bye as they won’t take the field again until a Monday Night Football Week 13 meeting on the road against the surging Seattle Seahawks.

Green Bay Packers (8-2)

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were on a bye week and still hold first place in the NFC North, however that could be in jeopardy as they have a Sunday Night Football showdown next week with the (9-1) San Francisco 49ers.

NFC North standings after Week 11

With their comeback win over the Broncos, the Vikings inched closer to the top of the NFC North.

Packers, 8-2

The Packers still sit on top of the NFC North after having Week 10 off.

In Week 11, the Packers have quite the challenge, facing off against the 9-1 49ers in San Francisco. That game will be on Monday Night Football.

Vikings, 8-3

What. A. Comeback. The Vikings came back after being down by 20 points to the Broncos at half, winning 27-23.

The Vikings now get a bye week, and it really couldn’t come at a better time. The team is dealing with injuries to Adam Thielen, Linval Joseph, Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris and Josh Kline.

Minnesota will be rooting for San Francisco on Monday night hoping it opens a door to an NFC North championship for the Vikings.

Bears, 4-6

The Bears fell to the Rams in an ugly game on Sunday Night Football, 17-7.

The loss might have just removed Chicago from the playoff picture. Per FiveThirtyEight, the Bears have just a one percent to make the postseason.

Mitchell Trubisky was benched late in the game and it’s probably time for the Bears to think about getting a new quarterback for 2020.

The good news: Chicago hosts the New York Giants in Week 12.

Lions, 3-6-1

The Lions are without Matthew Stafford, and might be for the rest of the season. That’s not great news. Jeff Driskel held his own against the Cowboys, but the Lions still lost 35-27.

Things get easier in Week 12. The Lions travel to Washington DC to play the Redskins, but the 2019 season has turned into a pretty disappointing one for Detroit.

Irish in the NFL: Rudolph Puts Vikings in Front

Make that five times now in his last five games.

Last week we discussed how Kyle Rudolph had turned a corner after he pulled down a pair of one-yard touchdowns in Minnesota’s victory Sunday night at Dallas.

Despite a slow start that saw him fail to get in the end zone through six games, Rudolph managed to find pay-dirt four times in the four games since.

Well.

Make that five times in his last five games.

The Vikings got off to an incredibly slow start Sunday against the underdog Broncos, falling behind 20-0 on their home field by halftime.

The Vikings came marching back in the second half before Rudolph put them in front for the first time all day.

Tight End U at it again as the Vikings held on to win, 27-23.

Nearly all experts have Vikings beating Broncos

The 7-3 Vikings host the 3-6 Broncos at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 10.

The 7-3 Vikings host the 3-6 Broncos at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 10.

The Vikings are double-digit favorites in the game, and per NFLPickWatch.com, 99 percent of experts have the Vikings beating the Broncos.

While the Vikings should win this game, it’s worth noting that the team will be without Adam Thielen, Linval Joseph, Anthony Harris and Josh Kline.

The Vikings are 7-7 all-time against the Broncos, and have lost the last three games, most recently in 2015.

To round out the NFC North, the Packers are on bye, 97 percent have the Lions losing to the Cowboys at home, and 86 percent have the Bears losing on the road against the Rams.