The NFC North Delivered Chaos in Week 3
With the way things have started this season, it was time for the NFC North to see some separation between the teams. The Packers would come out undefeated as their new defense handled the Browns.
Week 3 flipped the NFC North on its head as the Browns stunned the Packers, the Vikings stayed in flux, and expectations collapsed across the division.
The Vikings would continue to struggle with a backup quarterback who hadn’t played any preseason snaps with any team. The Bears would get knocked around by the Cowboys and continue to dwell in the basement. Finally, on Monday night, the Lions would receive the Lamar Jackson treatment and be sitting next to the Vikings, who had a losing record.
A Peek at the State of the NFC North after Week 3
Of all the things that were supposed to happen this weekend, it turns out that none of them did.
Packers at Browns
We finally had some NFC North noon games to discuss after everyone played mostly prime-time games in the first two weeks. The Packers were at the top of the division, with fans salivating over a cupcake opponent like the Browns facing them at their own stadium.
The Browns were even wearing their Alpha Dawg uniforms, which are a notable shade of brown sponsored by Dudes Wipes, and they got a lot of laughs this week. Surely at the end of the day, the Packers would have the win.
A funny thing happened while most of us watched the Vikings game, seeing a meager score in the Packers tilt: late in the game, the Pack had only managed a field goal, and the Browns were scoreless. OK, the offense was having an off day, but the defense was surely dominating. Right? No. The Browns apparently have a better defense than most people think. They were giving up yardage but stopping the Packers when it mattered.
However, with 4 minutes left in the game, the Packers finally scored a touchdown and then held the Browns to a field goal. All quarterback Jordan Love and his teammates needed to do was milk the clock, get on the plane, and head for home. It was going fine until Love threw up an interception that the Browns took back to the 5-yard line and then got a rushing score from rookie Quinshon Judkins to tie it up at 10 apiece.
Again, the Packers needed to get into field goal range to win, and they seemed to do that with ease. Ballgame, right? No. The Browns blocked the kick and then drove the field for their own field goal to seal the win with no time left on the clock. I think most Minnesota fans switched over to that game, like I did, to watch that long field goal slip past the upright. That was probably the biggest surprise of the weekend.
Vikings vs Bengals
The Vikings got their first noon start time game of the season on Sunday. Their home opener was an abysmal loss to the Falcons on Sunday night. Now they had to host the Bengals with JJ McCarthy sidelined with an injury and Carson Wentz taking the reins.
The only balance to that was that Joe Burrow is also injured, and the Bengals had to start Jake Browning, who has stepped in for the team in the past and won games, including one against the Vikings a few years ago. With the Vikings struggling on both sides of the ball last week, I wasn’t convinced the team would pull off a win or that it would be hideous.
What happened was what I expected to happen last week: the offense played balanced, and the defense ate up the opposition. Wentz took the team down the field and hit Josh Oliver for a touchdown, and the Vikings never looked back. Jordan Mason was the featured back as Aaron Jones sat out with an injury, and he racked up 116 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Justin Jefferson had 5 catches for 75 yards, and TJ Hockenson had a great game, scoring his first TD since 2023.
The offense wasn’t even the biggest story. It wasn’t even about most of the defense. It was all about new cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. He was a phenom yesterday, notching a 97-yard pick-six, a forced fumble recovery for a score, and a second forced fumble recovered by Jeff Okudah. No player in the history of the NFL has ever done that, and it was all in the first half for him.
The Vikings dominated so well that the fans got to see something they really wanted: rookie and former Golden Gopher Max Brosmer taking the field in the 4th quarter. The crowd cheered so loud when he took the field that he had to cover his ear holes to hear the call. The cherry on top would have been him and Zavier Scott getting the ball down the field and scoring their first touchdown together.
The added highlights in this game included the return of Christian Darrisaw and Harrison Smith, and that Will Reichard continues to hit his field goals and extra points, including a Vikings’ record 62-yarder after the defense stripped the ball away again just before halftime. This week, the Vikings played like we expected to see them play over the last two games. If they can keep this up, the season should turn around starting now.
Bears Vs Cowboys
There is no long-standing rivalry here, nor is there even a side commentary rivalry between these two franchises. However, one was perhaps more developed on the bulletin board than in the field. The Cowboys came to town with former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator.
A boatload of nasty stories started to emerge just before the season, suggesting that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was lazy and unwilling to learn, according to sources, and that the coaches didn’t like him or wanted to work with him. It was a media-generated rivalry. But the Bears have not looked good in their first two games. Needless to say, the Cowboys aren’t looking much better as they barely lost to the Eagles in week one and then barely beat the Giants in week two.
They should have been able to beat the Bears soundly, considering the injuries they have and the way the Bears let the Vikings game get away from them late, as well as Detroit trouncing them. The Bears had other plans on Sunday. Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys kept it close in the first half, even after they lost CeeDee Lamb, who left with a brutal ankle injury.
The Bears went into the second half feeling good, but given their recent performances, their fans weren’t confident that they would hold on. In the second half, the Bears not only continued to play well but also dominated the Cowboys. They snagged four turnovers in the game that kept Dallas out of the endzone and sealed the victory.
Chicago played very well, and this is what fans consistently look for from them. If they falter next week against the Raiders, the experts will say that maybe the personal nature of the last opponent was the real driving force for proper execution.
Lions at Ravens
The Lions were offseason darlings to once again push for a chance to play in the Super Bowl. Even with all their offseason losses, most were betting that Dan Campbell would hold things together.
The Ravens would be a great test to see if the Lions remain the leader of their pride or if they show they no longer belong in the NFL elite. The first half was quite interesting, with the Lions seeming to be in full control, only to allow the Ravens to tie it up in the waning seconds before halftime.
Jared Goff was hitting receivers, and David Montgomery and Jamyr Gibbs were giving the 1-2 punch down the field. Lamar Jackson seemed confused all night and was the most hesitant to run that I’ve ever seen. Derrick Henry was his usual, stable self, running with his trademark strength and speed. The defense was slow to start, but eventually made key stops. In the second half, the Lions continued to stay the course they had run for most of the night, pounding the ball up the middle and connecting on passes with ease at times.
They looked like last year’s Lions.
The Ravens just basically fell apart in the second half with Travis Henry fumbling once again in a crucial moment when Aidan Hutchinson snuck up behind him and punched the ball out. Even after that and another score, the Ravens could still get back in the game, but Jackson wouldn’t pull the trigger with his arm or his legs. It was confusing even to watch.
The Lions didn’t dominate the game, but they kept it in control and never panicked while playing on the road. The Ravens were missing a few starters on defense, and that may have been the key to the win. Either way, the Lions beat a formidable team and have found their stride again. We’ll see if the “roar is restored” when they play those same Browns the Packers lost to, and follow that up with a game against the Bengals that the Vikings throttled.
The Division Standings
I know what you’re thinking, “Tony, this week the Vikings aren’t the worst team in the division, are they? They’re tied for first place!” Sorry, but they are. Not because of their record but because of their inconsistencies.
- Packers
- Lions
- Bears
- Vikings
The Packers stumbled, but they still have had some pretty convincing wins. This loss was to a team that might have one of, if not the best, defenses in the league as the year progresses.
The Lions have lost to two better teams, but have at least put up a better fight than the Bears and the Vikings. The Bears secured a solid win this week and have played better than Minnesota, at least in terms of consistency.
The Vikings’ loss to the Falcons looks even worse after they got hammered by the Panthers this weekend. I don’t want to take too much away from the Vikings’ win as it was dominant, but the Bengals didn’t have their star quarterback, and their offensive line is bad. They also seem to have a mediocre defensive front.
The Vikings need to put two good games together back-to-back to show they are the better team in the division. If they can do that, the next two weeks, while traveling across the pond to Ireland and London after the bye week, will be exciting, as many of their injured players will return to the field.
It just goes to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same. That is to say that the start to this season in the NFC North has been confusing.
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