Around the NFC North” 2024 Week 4

Not a great week! At least we had some glimpses of positivity and I don’t have to write about a 30-point Packers loss. 

Vikings

The Vikings held on to win against the Pack, 31-29 (there were two missed field goals for the Packers). 

 Game Notes

• This was a weird one. The Vikings got out to a 28-0 lead thanks to some bad turnovers and missed opportunities from the Packers and then had an insane punt muff lead to a touchdown right before the half that started an avalanche of Packers points. Unfortunately, they did just enough in the second half to get the win.
• Sam Darnold played well enough. He was 20/28 for 275 yards with three TDs and a pick. I will say that the Packers were able to confuse him a little in the second half with sim pressures and he didn’t look as good when his first read was taken away. There were a few more passes that should’ve been intercepted. I’m still not convinced that he’s the guy if this team is supposedly going to go deep in the playoffs. 
• Aaron Jones got most of the carries against his former team, ending with 22 for 93 yards. Ty Chandler had just three. 
• The haters will say that the Packers offense didn’t play well until the Vikings were playing “prevent” defense. As if Brian Flores would ever do that. I think the Packers, again showed that there are holes in this defense. Even when the offense wasn’t playing well it was because of miscues and poor execution not really because the Vikings defense was ultra smothering. 
• Andrew Van Ginkel was quieter than usual with four tackles but no other stats. 

 

 

Bears

The Bears beat the Rams 24-18.

Game Notes

• Caleb Williams had an efficient game after he and the leaders on the team met with OC Shane Waldron to tell him to get with the picture this week. Williams was 17/23 for 153 yards and a TD. Not a lot of production but no picks.
• Fresh off a week of insults (about six month from me) and reports that second year back Roschon Johnson could get the majority of carries, De’Andre Swift had 16 carries for 93 yards and a TD – by far his best performance on the Bears. Definitely a good sign for Josh Jacobs next week against this Rams defense. 
• Speaking of Swift, he had 72 receiving yards as well – topping the total of the best three-man wide receiver corps in the NFL. 
• The defense kept up its streak of not allowing 20 points in a game though it’s worth noting that the Rams are about as beat up as possible and still managed 322 yards, which was 60 more than the Bears did. 
• The huge bright spot for the Bears D was Jaquan Brisker, who was all over the place recording 12 tackles, a sack, two TFLs, and a pick. It was a breakout game for Brisker who has been up and down over his career but has had plenty of good flashes. 
• TJ Edwards had 9 tackles and Jack Sanborn didn’t record a stat. 

 

 

Lions

The Lions beats the Seahawks 42-29.

Game Notes

• This win wasn’t without some controversy and luck the Lions took the lead at 42-27 after a horrific OPI call on a fourth down try by the Seahawks and the only reason the Seahawks didn’t have 28 was because they did the analytics go for two down 14 thing and didn’t get it. Then DK Metcalf got tackled in the end zone and it wasn’t called. Refs are the worst.
• The Seahawks had one of the league’s best defenses before this game. The Lions focused on crossing routes and YAC and Goff executed that plan well enough to complete all 18 of his passes for 296 yards – 210 of those coming after the catch. 
• Almost everyone got in on the fun with Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, the Sun God, Tim Patrick, David Montgomery and even Goff himself having big catches in the game. It was the first game where this many of the Lions’ weapons performed well. And the only one not to get a catch – Jahmyr Gibbs led the team in rushing with 78 yards and two TDs on 14 carries. 
• The improved defense sort of fell apart against a team that had been league average prior to this match-up. The Lions defense is based on stopping the run and hoping the refs don’t call PI and once they couldn’t stop the run here and the refs were calling PI the Seahawks were able to move up and down the field at will. Geno Smith piled up 395 pass yards and Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet combined for 118 rush yards. The Seahawks had 516 total yards compared to the Lions’ 390.