Bye, Bye, Bye Weeks Don’t Change Much NFC North
The bye week has become something fans have learned to embrace more over the years. Instead of it simply being a weekend where you didn’t have to sweat over your team, it has become recognized as a moment for your favorite players to rest and come back from injuries.
Vikings enter bye week at 1-1 overseas with injuries piling up, while the NFC North race stays tight as Green Bay, Chicago, and Detroit remain in the mix.
Most hope that theirs comes later in the season when injuries have piled up. The Vikings are heading into their bye week after a 1-1 record in Ireland and England, and with a season’s worth of injuries already piled up, the early break may be a blessing.
NFC North … Stays the Same after Week 5?
The Packers and Bears had their byes this week, so there’s nothing to break down with them. The Lions don’t earn a break until Week 8, leaving them and the Vikings as the only teams to review this week.
Vikings at Browns
For the second week in a row, the Vikings took a short jaunt across the Irish Sea to have their second game in Europe. This time, they faced the AFC North Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a battle of the backups in more ways than one.
The Browns gave up on Joe Flacco and moved on to rookie Dillon Gabriel to face the Vikings and Brian Flores’ defense. On the other side of the ball, Kevin O’Connell marched out his backup quarterback, Carson Wentz, along with a cobbled-together offensive line mixed with starters and backups.
The question was whether the Vikings’ defense would befuddle the rookie to the point of collapse or whether the Browns’ defense, considered the best in the league, would tear apart the makeshift offensive line. The answer is that neither really happened. Gabriel had an okay day, but didn’t burn the defense, nor did he throw multiple picks and get swallowed up trying to make throws.
The short passing attack worked out well for him as he was supported by fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins and his superb day running the ball. The Vikings’ defense played well but wasn’t dominant over the rookie. The Browns’ defense was a concern, as they excel at nearly every level, and defensive end Myles Garrett is arguably the best in the business. Surprisingly, the three sacks the Browns generated were by other players, and Garrett’s pressure rating was also minimized.
It was mostly attributed to Christian Darrisaw playing, but in the final game-winning drive, he was benched after reaching his play count because of his knee rehab, and Justin Skule held off Garrett with help from chipping tight ends and running backs.
For the Vikings, the game started well with a strong drive that reached about midfield, but it stalled when Jordan Mason fumbled the ball. Vikings fans suddenly had the stomach-turning feeling that this game might be more like the one the week before in Dublin.
It was very reflective, right down to the opposing coach making a questionable decision, giving the ball back to the Vikings. Only this time, Wentz and the offense drove down the field and got the winning touchdown to Jordan Addison.
The defense kept the Browns from scoring again, and the Vikings remain undefeated in London. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win with adverse conditions. Things almost became more interesting than they needed to when Wentz got his shoulder hurt just before halftime.
Fans were wondering if the Max Brosmer era might begin if he had to come in and try to lead the team to a come-from-behind win. It was less dramatic than that as he came out on the final play of the half and kneeled down. Kudos to Wentz for toughing it out and coming back in the second half with a brave sleeve on his non-throwing shoulder.
The biggest props go to Blake Brandel, who jumped in and played center. A position he has never played at any level, and he held up quite well.
Lions at Bengals
It was the Lions’ turn to serve up the Bengals and their decimated team. The Vikings whooped up on the Cincy Kitties a few weeks ago, and the Lions treated them no differently.
It’s not worth even going over much as the Lions merely dominated them all game long until the Bengals came alive late in the 4th quarter and scored three touchdowns. The Lions ended the shellacking with a safety for good measure. The story of too little, too late in garbage time. The Lions have righted their ship after the Week 1 loss to the Packers and are looking back to last year’s form.
The Division Standings
Nothing changes at this point, in my view, with the teams. The Vikings gutted out a win against the Browns, who gutted out a win over the Packers, but were dominated by the Lions.
- Lions
- Packers
- Bears
- Vikings
The Vikings need this bye week more than I think we know. The feeling I got from the press conferences following the win was a sense of the entire staff being worn out and missing their own beds. If that’s the case, I hope they relay that to the league in reference to the first two-week swing in Europe.
Maybe it would have been different if one of the games was a “home” game, but since the London crowd was vastly in favor of the Vikings, I think that isn’t going to hold much water.
After the bye week, the Vikings have a grueling stretch of games, starting with a home game against the Eagles, followed by road games against the Chargers and Lions, before hosting a mostly beat-up Ravens team.
The only way the Vikings can change their standing in the division is if they get healthy and play at full strength against the top teams in the league.
The health issue is the main character in this year’s story. Since the backups held up well against the Browns and previously against the Steelers, it should bode well when everyone is back on the field healthy and in sync. We can only hope that the walking wounded trend ends quickly.
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