NFC North Week One Preview
NFC North Week #1
Minnesota v. New Orleans
His royal diva-ness and the purple headed warriors travel to the big easy to take on the super bowl champs. The return to the scene of the crime of last year’s NFC championship game, a game the Vikings were in position to win until Favre decided to avoid running for the first down and instead chose to throw an interception. Lost in the good feelings surrounding the Saints’ super bowl win was the fact that the Vikings dominated them in that game. Only unforced errors prevented the Super Bowl from bring a 2 week infomercial about Chris Berman’s man crush on Brett Favre.
This week the Vikes return to face one of the best passing offenses in the league with a weakened secondary. No Cedric Griffin. No Chris Cook. And, after losing Sidney Rice, the Vikings decided they simply could not live without Greg Camarillo so they traded their nickel back for him. Why not wait until other teams had made their cuts? Oh no. One cannot wait to get a talent to play backup receiver like Camarillo…
The flip side is that even Greg Camarillo could get open against this Vikings secondary. The Vikes are down to three cornerbacks on the roster. Not a good thing against the Saints. Even more than usual, the Vikings will rely on their pass rush to help their weak secondary. It worked against the Saints last year, it remains to be seen if it can work this year. Look for the Saints to spread the Vikings out and thrown on every down. The Vikings can stop anybody who runs right at them, but they will struggle against teams that have time to throw. One back, a tight end and a tackle on Allen, and the Saints will throw all over the Vikings.
On offense the Vikings return everyone but Chester Taylor from the offense that dominated the Saints last year. The Saints love to blitz and attack, giving up a few big plays, but also creating turnovers. That’s what happened last year as the Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre had good games, but turned the ball over and allowed the Saints easy paths to the end zone and ultimately cost the Vikes the game. If the Saints choose to use the same tactics, the same results may occur. Lots of Vikes turnovers as Favre eschews simple game management and decides to throw caution to the wind. Or caution to the Camarillo as the case may be.
It won’t be enough. Saints 34, Vikings 21.
Chicago v. Detroit
As a Lions fan, I’m hearing a lot of support for the Honolulu Blue and Silver this year.
As a Lions fan, I heard a lot of support for the Honolulu Blue and Silver in previous years. And look what happened.
Look, the Lions are moving in the right direction, but I can’t in good conscience say that they’ve arrived anywhere other than two baby steps in front of where they were last year. And in the time it took them to take those baby steps, Louis Delmas and DeAndre Levy got injured.
Yes, they’ve added talented players in Vandenbosch, Suh, Scheffler; and taken on interesting projects in Smith, Jackson, and Houston…but really, they’re not ready for prime time yet. Not with a second year QB behind an average offensive line and with a defense that might be the worst back seven in football. And now two of their best defensive players (yes, there are more than two….but not much more than two. Think three.) are hurt and doubtful the game. Can a relatively untalented Lions squad win on the road against a division rival?
Well…it is the Bears. Back in 2005-2006, the Bears defense was the best in football. They played the cover-two better than anyone with Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs and Mike Brown leading them to the Super Bowl.
As my hairline will tell you, too bad it’s not 2006 anymore. Now they look old on defense and lost on offense. Their offensive line looked a shambles in the preseason, their starting receivers are less than inspiring and their quarterback looks lost in his new offensive playbook.
And yet, they are playing the Lions.
The Bears new offense will pass, pass and pass. The weakness of the Lions is their pass defense, especially if Delmas is hurt or operating at less than 100%. If the new Blue and Silver sack attack can’t get to Cutler, he’ll find someone open. And that someone is going to score. Often. Hell, even Devin Hester might figure out how to get open against the Lions cornerbacks.
The Lions might score too, but it won’t be enough. Not this year. Bears 28, Lions 24.
Green Bay v. Philadelphia
Back in 2008, Aaron Rogers emerged from sitting for two seasons behind Brett Favre to lead the Packers offense. Two years later and he is considered one of the top 3 or 4 quarterbacks in football and the Packers are a legitimate super bowl contender.
The Eagles can only hope that the same thing happens to them. For the first time this century, they will not be led by Donovan McNabb. Having traded their franchise quarterback to the Redskins in the offseason, the Eagles are placing all of their eggs in the basket of one Kevin Kolb. Whether Kolb is ready will determine if the Eagles are contenders or also-rans.
His first game will be a baptism by fire. The Packers love to rush the passer and they are very good at it. With a virtual rookie under center, they will be licking their chops. However, if the Eagles can protect him – and if his wits hold out – Kolb should have room to find his receivers. Green Bay is without starting CB Al Harris and starting safety Atari Bigbee. Charles Woodson’s old legs are back, but don’t be surprised if he’s on Jeremy Maclin rather than super-speedster DeSean Jackson. Kolb will have lots of space to throw into, provided he isn’t on his back all afternoon.
The Eagles are also rebuilding on defense. As a team they love to blitz, and they have cornerbacks who make interceptions because of that blitz…but they also make mistakes. While the o-line is considered the weakness of Green Bay’s offensive machine, the Eagles may not be the team to take advantage of it. The beginning of a long year for the Eagles starts on Sunday. Packers 38, Eagles 24.
Trackbacks