The Rest of the North, Week 2 Preview
I mainly focus on covering the Green Bay Packers when it comes to the NFL, and by doing so, I believe that what goes on in the rest of the division is just as important as what goes on with the Packers. I'm not one of those guys who believes you need to beat out the best competition week in and week out (in Pro Sports more so than College Sports) to prove you are worthy of the playoffs, because that is not what matters. All that matters is the standings after Week 17, which is why I root for the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings to lose each week. So, with that in mind, here is a preview of the matchups these teams will be facing coming out of the gate.
Another thing to keep in mind as the season progresses, six times every season the Packers play a team within the division, and this is the first of those weeks. The Packers will be going on the road to play the Minnesota Vikings, and with that in mind and the fact that I have already covered the Vikings in that article, I will not be talking about them here. This article is solely focused on the Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions.
Week one is usually a weird week of football, and it did not let down in that regard. The Titans almost beat the Vikings last week, the Rams were crushed by the 49ers (who I still think are the worst NFC team), the Brady-Gronk-less Patriots went into University of Phoenix stadium and beat the Cardinals. So, keeping in mind that it was just week one, here are previews of who the Lions and Bears face this weekend.
DETROIT: I'll start with the Lions, since they are the only NFC North team to not play a night game this weekend, and with good reason. They have the mediocre Tennessee Titans coming into Motown, and it should be a much better game than expected to start off. Outside of a few turnovers that turned into defensive touchdowns for the Vikings, the Titans would have beaten the Vikings last week. Detroit's defense is nowhere near as tough as the Vikings, and the Titans should be able to put up some decent numbers on the road. If I were the Lions, I would attempt to rattle QB Marcus Mariota with DE Ziggy Ansah among others and try to force him into committing turnovers. The Titans at this point are a better running team, so loading the box and doing no more than a cover two on defense should allow the Lions to have the edge there. If the Lions don't allow 35 points again (which they won't), the Lions should be the clear favorite here, although Tennessee will put up a good fight for a while. The Lions' offense also looked great without Calvin Johnson, but it was against a Colts defense which should be worst in football, and one of their defensive stars in CB Vontae Davis was out. Don't expect 39 more points, but the Titans aren't that much better defensively, so 28 is very likely. All in all, this might be one of Detroit's "easier" games, and I'd have the final score be something around the lines of: Detroit 28, Tennessee 16.
CHICAGO: The Bears play on Monday Night Football this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles and new QB Carson Wentz. I know everybody is on the "Wentz Wagon" right now after his performance against the Browns, but I'm not on it yet, since it was the BROWNS. The CLEVELAND BROWNS. This is a classic example of a week one overreaction, and although the Browns have some good talent on defense, they are not ready to compete in the NFL. This game at Soldier Field will be pretty tough for a rookie quarterback against what Bears' fans think is a revamped defense (wait and see on that one too), and expect the Bears to bring the heat early as well. The Eagles have solid wide receivers and Wentz should have a decent game if he doesn't get rattled, and I'll assume he throws for 225-275 yards and two touchdowns. It's manageable, assuming QB Jay Cutler doesn't make his classic mistakes. I'm going to assume the Bears find a way to win this game, mainly because it's a rookie quarterback going against them on Monday Night. But it won't be easy, and the Eagles could potentially walk out with an upset and 2-0 record. I'll go with a final score of: Chicago 19, Philadelphia 17.
