NFC North Weekend Roundup – Week 3

The saga continues - for both the Lions and the Vikings. The Lions maintain their unbeaten streak and the Vikings go up big early and manage to let the lead slip away in the second half. The Purple offered a clinic in the first half, holding the Lions scoreless and keeping their offense to only 64 passing yards, a handful of rushing yards, and forcing a bunch of 3-and-outs. While the defense beat up on the Lions offense, the Vikings offensive unit collected 20 points and a comfortable lead. The second half developed as the others have for the Vikings. The defense struggled to contain Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew, and Matthew Stafford. Stafford's Lions marched down the field for 23 unanswered points. Individual efforts from the Vikings defense offered glimmers of hope, but stops by the defense were squandered by the Vikings offense with missed opportunities and poor passing, leading to only 3 points in the 4th quarter to tie the game. The match up ended with the Lions scoring an overtime field goal to win the game in the opening minutes of overtime. Next week the Lions head to Dallas (1-1) and the Vikings challenge the Chiefs (0-3) at Arrowhead in Kansas City.

In a contrast to the other NFC North battle, the Packers managed to get ahead early and maintain the lead to go on and beat the Bears in Chicago. The Packers remain perfect on the season and continue momentum from last season's Super Bowl victory. The last time these two teams met, it was for a chance to head to the Super Bowl. With the stakes only for positioning in the division this time, the Bears had a chance to bring the records of the two teams even in a fight for the second position in the rankings for the North. Even with a Packers defense porous enough to allow over 400 passing yards in each of the first two games of the season, Jay Cutler was unable to take advantage of the situation. Cutler found himself with 302 passing yards leading to 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Also hurting the Bears is their lack of rushing in the game, managing only 13 overall yards on the ground, with 11 of them belonging to Jay Cutler. Oddly enough, Matt Forte's main contribution once again is through the air, catching for 80 yards - just behind Johnny Knox's team-leading 84 yards in the game. Next week, the Packers take on Denver (1-2) at home and the Bears host the Panthers (1-2).