Lions and Packers and Bears oh my

The Lion vs. Packers match-up did not provide any spectacular insights into either team, they both performed to expectations. That said the Packers out passed, out rushed, and out hit the Lions thoroughly last Sunday. Aaron Rogers completed over 80% of his passes, but fans should still be cautious as this team is built to blow out bad teams and have not been able to produce anything but large numbers of sacks for their opponents, against quality teams. They did their job however and are back in the thick of things as far as the playoffs go.....especially with Cleveland and their one win lurking.

For the Lions to win games this season their defense is going to have to hold teams to under 20 points. They have gone through two quarterbacks (and are now onto Drew Stanton)and Kevin Smith and Calvin Johnson have been hurting for last few weeks. With their two best threats ailing or sidelined and the general atrocity that is their offensive line don't expect them to outscore many opponents this season. This loss does set up a clash with the 0-6 (likely to be 0-7 by week 8) Rams after their bye week. I have a feeling FOX will be going elsewhere for their ratings.

Finally we come to the Bears who ended their three game honeymoon with Jay Cutler with a 7 point loss to the Falcons. It is hard to stomach a loss where you moved the ball rather effectively out rushing and out passing your opponent, but any time you turn the ball over 3 times and go 1 for 4 in red zone (Cutler's red zone qb rating was a paltry 37) appearances you can not expect anything but a loss.

The good news for the Bears is you leave the game feeling you could beat that team if lined up against them in the playoffs, not just win but almost, be careful here, expect to win. I would be confident if I drew the Falcons for a round one playoff game, not likely with the surging Saints, but the problem is you have to get there first.

Also, the whole storyline of two of the next young gun talents facing off, really failed to develop. Both looked flashy and inconsistent with neither really developing a good rhythm during the game. Good things can be said for the defenses, but let's not knight these two as the next Brady and Manning....at least not yet.

Different shade of purple

After building a momentous lead in the early part of the game this weekend, Minnesota allowed Baltimore to churn their way back into the game and barely survived as Steven Hauschka missed a game winning field goal. Even with Brett Favre having a quarterback rating of nearly 137 with no turnovers they still nearly lost to game to a Baltimore team that appears to be reeling after a third straight defeat.

In no sport more than football however, does the statement "a win is a win" matter more. Every week we have seen with flashes of brilliance followed by disappointing performances and visa versa. The common trend for Minnesota through all that time however is a team who has put up a minimum of 27 points in every performance, although this will be tested next week against the Steelers, and a quarterback who has not hardly at all turned the ball over (12TD compared to 2 ints).

Now with a two game advantage in the loss column over both the Bears and the Packers a new sense of reality seems to be coming over a team that realized the potential benefits of Brett Favre but still where aware of his recent history in New York. With their success in close games against San Fransisco and Baltimore just fueling the confidence fire. It appears at this point at least that there might be something more that this old quarterback brings besides what appears on the surface. After all a win is a win.

Week 5 Pick'em

Minnesota 21 St. Louis 10- I think the Vikings offense will look sluggish, especially early. After back to back weeks of San Francisco and Green Bay the Rams provide a much needed break in the schedule for the Vikes. Expect them to act accordingly and have a letdown on offense.

Luckily the Rams offense is quickly becoming a mockery of the NFL, producing anemic numbers all season. Minnesota's defense is too stingy to allow any kind of offense explosion out of this group and expect the intensity to be less than last week, but the result to be the same...sacks and turnovers.

Detroit 21 Pittsburgh 31- The Steelers have outplayed and even dominated every team on their schedule this year for three quarters. The fourth quarter has become an exercise in self destruction for the defending champs and do not expect that to change. Pittsburgh will go ahead early and appear to be in control for the majority of the game. Lions fans should tune in around the beginning of the fourth quarter where they will pick apart the Steelers prevent d.

Do not expect a Bengals/Bears letdown however. The lead will be to substantial and Ben Roethlisberger will be able to make enough plays against a weak secondary to keep the lead at a safe distance.

Vikings

It seems that everything that can be said about Brett Favre at this point has been thrown around the web. The consensuses appears to be that everyone who lives in Minnesota is ridiculously overconfident and everyone else is cautious about throwing any kind of positive support behind him. The good thing for Vikings fans is that it might not matter, this is a team who won the division last season with a combo at quarterback of Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte, he can't be worse then that....can he? Although the rest of the division seems to have improved, the Vikings have looked stout on defense this preseason and still have the best player in the division.

Jared Allen and the "Williams Wall" (that's an unfortunate nickname for everyone involved) did not disappoint last season and the rest of the defense should be improved if the loss of Darren Sharper's leadership doesn't cause any trouble.....speaking of Sharper, he might have been worth keeping around if they would have known for sure Favre was coming. What better way to settle locker room controversy then having a proven leader speak up for a guy he played with back in the day and put everyone minds at ease about his last season and two off seasons.

The left side of their offensive line is also impressive with Bryant McKinnie and Steve Hutchinson and it should be noted Favre did play much better last year when Thomas Jones was able to run the ball and in '07 when Ryan Grant exploded out of obscurity to carve up defenses for a freakishly productive half year. Wide Reciever is still a question mark, but Bernard Berrian seemed to improve drastically last year and it might be the fact that Jackson was throwing to them. The wide receiver corp might go through a post-Michael Vick Atlanta Falcons receiver corp transformation this season, which actually thrives once their quarterback is equipped with things like touch and finesse. But then again maybe I'm giving Favre too much credit. Basically the Vikings looked like a team that who could win and make a run with a game manager like quarterback and rolled the dice on a play maker which could propel them over the top into the elite of the NFL or bring them back down a few notches getting them overconfident in their new toy and losing the team identity that won last season.

For me the biggest advantage for the Vikings is their early season schedule, Browns, Lions, Niners, which allows them to work out some kinks on offense against poor defenses and create some confidence for the defense against Matthew Stafford. If they can get through this easy part of their schedule untainted it might be enough to get an early lead in the division and give them enough experience to get in sync for the remainder of the season