The NFC North Picture Looks Different after Week 2
For some fans in the NFC North, this is exactly what they expected, and they never had any doubts. For others, the shock of what has transpired has put them in a mood covered in doubt.
While it is still pretty early in the season, most fans around the NFL can see how things are shaping up. This weekend, what should have been some good matchups in and outside of the division didn’t live up to the hype.
Week 2 reshaped the NFC North race, with shifting momentum for the Vikings, Packers, Bears, and Lions. Here’s how the division picture looks different now.
The Packers and Commanders met on Thursday night, the Bears and Lions went face to face on Sunday afternoon, and the Vikings wrapped it up against the Falcons on Sunday Night Football. Intrigue and games that could affect playoff seeding early on are rare with the way the NFL sets up the schedules.
The State of the NFC North | Entering Week 3
Packers vs Commanders
This was a game that most people were hyping up for several reasons. First, Jayden Daniels is an exciting second-year quarterback who lit up the league and got Washington to the playoffs in his rookie season in 2024. Jordan Love is the veteran quarterback who has helped the Packers be playoff contenders, and he’s hitting his “NFL Prime” at the age of 27.
That’s the same age Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were when they led the team to a Super Bowl win. Second, you had the test to see how good the Commanders’ defense really is and if Micah Parsons could continue his tear as the newest member of the Packers. Daniels looked fine for most of the game with minimal mistakes, and Love was pretty much on point from start to finish.
Playing against the Packers will require quarterbacks to play better than just good enough this season. Washington as a whole played just OK. The Packers seemed to be rolling on both sides of the ball. Early on, they lost Jalen Reed with a broken collarbone on a touchdown pass that was called back due to a Packers’ penalty, adding salt to the wound. Micah Parsons was once again causing trouble for the opposition with half a sack and two assists.
Although the stats don’t look daunting, his pressure rates and the offense’s need to adjust to his mere presence were obvious. I thought, as many did, that this game would be more fun, but it was just bland. Whether Washington was a little off due to the short week can be debated, but the Packers were just the better team. I will say this: if they were to meet in the playoffs, I think the game will be much more exciting, and the Commanders will play better.
Lions vs Bears
At halftime, this was a pretty decent game with the teams exchanging some touchdowns. It didn’t look like we would see a blowout, but we might get an entertaining game. This game was to determine who would end up being the worst team in the division.
Right? I’ll get back to that.
The Bears were coming off a Monday Night Football meltdown that allowed the Vikings to get their first win of the season. Second-half heroics by JJ McCarthy snatched the first win for the Bears, and the Lions were coming off a loss to the Packers that made them seem like last year’s Lions team was a shell of itself. Both teams were playing for the win and to get their mojo back. In the second half, the Lions were the team that wanted it more than the Bears.
Caleb Williams is a talented quarterback, but he’s still growing, and he’ll need to mature further. Right now, he has a habit of throwing balls up for grabs when he gets too flustered. The Lions took full advantage of it, then exploited a banged-up Bears defensive backfield. If the first half was a contest, the second became a quick laugher. Jared Goff took apart the Bears in the air, and Chicago couldn’t find any answers on either side of the offense or defense.
The Bears’ theme this season might be that they struggle in the 2nd half. After two games, viewers are seeing the collapse to the Vikings last week and the dismantling in this game. Both teams were fighting to stay out of the division cellar record-wise, with the Lions pulling it off.
Vikings vs Falcons
Well, I think most Vikings fans had the wrong pick in this game. Many thought that with the home opener, all the positivity from the end of last week’s game, and an overall sense of positive vibes in U.S. Bank Stadium that the Vikings would get the win.
The Falcons aren’t a terrible team, but they don’t show up on paper as a strong team. With Michael Penix being a second-year starter going against Brian Flores’ defense for the first time, most saw a game that would go the Vikings’ way. The team got things going with Jared Allen blowing the Gjallarhorn as they honored his Hall of Fame induction. The stadium was so loud that Penix couldn’t hear the calls from the sidelines and was blocking his earholes as much as possible.
The fan fervor caused the Falcons to take a timeout and triggered a delay of game penalty. Even though the Falcons had moved down the field on some big Bijan Robinson runs, the fans were determined to be a factor. The defense held Atlanta to a field goal on their first drive, and everyone was anxiously waiting to see the offense take the field and drive down for a score and keep U.S. Bank rocking.
That didn’t happen. In fact, it really didn’t happen all night as the Vikings struggled to move the ball, protect JJ McCarthy, or really do anything positive. Thank God for Will Reichard’s couple of field goals, which kept the game close, similar to last week in Chicago. Ryan Wright was also absolutely booming punts for his coverage teammates. Last week’s difference was that McCarthy, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen got going in the 4th quarter, scoring a bunch of points and winning the game.
It seemed like there might be a similar ending to this game, as some things on offense were beginning to click. It wasn’t meant to be, as McCarthy missed Jalen Nailor on a deep throw that would have been a 72-yard touchdown and may have gotten the momentum to swing. While the team struggled on the field, they kept players filtering into the blue injury tent on the sidelines.
Ryan Wright, Justin Skule, Johnathan Greenard, McCarthy, and more all made a trip there, with Greenard and McCarthy returning, but the quarterback was noticeably limited and limping. Now he’s out for this week, possibly longer, and the injury list includes players like Aaron Jones, excluding those already on injured reserve. The Vikings played horribly, and I hate to lump the defense in there since they kept the game close, but they also had their struggles early. This loss was a shock to Vikings fans.
The Division Standings
Once again, this is based on my opinions from what I got to see on the field. Week 2 is when you start to see tendencies versus possible flukes.
- Packers
- Lions
- Bears
- Vikings
Yup, I have the Purple at the bottom of the list. They have a better record than the Bears, but that’s not what I’m looking at here. The Vikings have played one quarter of good football out of eight. There were barely glimmers in some of the other quarters.
The Bears were handling them soundly until things clicked for fifteen minutes. The hope was that it would carry over to the next week as the Vikings knocked the rust off and maybe got some players back like Christian Darrisaw and Harrison Smith.
Those players didn’t return, and the rust seems to have spread. Now it will be up to Carson Wentz to see if he can improve the quarterback play and who else might step up to get the offense to go from sputtering to chugging along.
The dull silver lining is that it is very early in the season. Many times over the years, we’ve seen teams get healthy and make a strong run at the end of the year, while others suffer injuries or encounter better teams and fall back to pack, if not fall completely off.
McCarthy still needs to grow, and there’s always the chance that he gets things straightened out this year. There’s also that slim chance that Kevin O’Connell works his magic and turns Wentz into another reclamation project that surprises everyone.
The problem there is the dreaded “Quarterback Controversy” that immediately pops up, giving Vikings fans one of their favorite things to scream for: PUT IN THE OTHER GUY! When that happens, you know the season is on the verge of disaster.
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