Sports Betting

We have a new leader in the NFC North in the Detroit Lions at 2-2. Following closely are the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings at 1-3. Last place belongs to the Green Bay Packers at 1-4 after Sunday’s games.
Although the Lions lead the division now, they are far from a dominant force. After a heartbreaking loss last week at Tampa Bay, in which a potentially game winning touchdown catch with 13 seconds left was reversed by an instant replay, they rebounded nicely, and beat the Ravens 35-17.
Lions QB Joey Harrington was 10 of 23 for 97 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. RB Kevin Jones had 58 yards on 26 carries and 2 scores. While WR Roy Williams had 2 receptions for 24 yards before leaving with a quadriceps injury, which left the Lions with just 3 receivers. WR Charles Rodgers was suspended 4 games for violating the League’s substance abuse policy. WR Mike Williams had one catch for 7 yards. The Lion’s so far have invested over $57 million on these five players alone, so it’s easy to say the offense is not pulling its weight.
S Dre Bly had 2 interceptions forced, and recovered a fumble against the Ravens. The Lions have the 19th ranked defense overall. The last two games have seen Detroit play against the 1st and 2nd ranked defenses. The defensive efforts of the last two weeks haven’t gone unnoticed by the offense. RB Artose Pinner had this to say, “Dre Bly and this defense have been playing great for us all season long. They’ve been turning the ball over and we’ve been taking those opportunities and turning them into points. If we do that the rest of the season, we’re going to have a pretty good season.�
In 2nd place in the division are the Chicago Bears. Da Bears could just have easily been tied with Detroit for the division lead, until 2 TD’s late in the game by the Browns last week. Bears QB Kyle Orton threw an 8-yard TD to Marc Edwards to put Chicago ahead 10-6. The defense gave up a 33-yard TD to Cleveland’s Trent Dilfer with 3:03 left in the game. On the next possession Orton fumbled, and the Brown’s scored again. 38 seconds, 2 Tds, game over.
The 3rd ranked defense led by LB Brian Urlacher, with 4 sacks, said “Two Plays killed us. No excuses.� Safety Mike Brown put it a little more bluntly when he said “We’re just terrible. It’s like we suck, man.� Brown is new to this feeling, where at Nebraska was 42-6. With Chicago since being drafted in 2000, he is 22-46. Even though the defense looks good on paper, you still have to play the games.
Rookie QB Kyle Orton leads the offense. Although he had less than a mediocre outing last week, 16 of 22 for 117 and a touchdown, he keeps improving with his confidence as well as his play. His passer rating though plummeted like a lead balloon, going from 74.4 to 51.7 in the last 2 weeks. The Bears had a strong RB in Thomas Jones, who rushed for 137 yards on 24 carries, his 3rd straight 100-yard game, last week before leaving with a knee injury. Cedric Bensen is next in line to fill Jones’s spot, even though he gained 6 yards on 5 carries and fumbled once.
The Vikings are coming off a bye week, and are going to try and turn their season around. After a disappointing 1-3 start, they are still only trailing the division leader by one game. So winning this game could be a jumpstart the rest of their season big time.
New owner Zygi Wilf has told Coach Mike Tice that his job is safe this season as long as there are wins involved. Coach Tice is making adjustments to the coaching as well, bringing in a couple of consultants.
The off season loss of Randy Moss some say could be the difference, but Daunte Culpepper has been a shell of his usual self, since injuring his knee in week one. He has 4 TD passes this year, but 3 of those were in the 1st half of the New Orleans game. RB Mewelde Moore has one 100-yard game to lead the team in that category.
The Vikings’ defense has given up 178 yards per game rushing, worst in the NFL. Opponents are averaging 5.4 yards per carry. As far as the pass defense goes, the jury’s still out on that one. With the way opponents run against the Vikings, there is really no reason to establish the passing game.
Time to sit Bret Farve, huh? Sure the ‘Pack’ may be 1-4, they are still in the thick of things in the division. After a 0-4 start, the Packers royally dominated the Saints last week, 52-3. Green Bay goes into the bye week for a much needed break. Last week Farve was as sharp as ever. He threw for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns, while only playing three quarters. He did not throw an interception, he had 8 in the previous 4 games, and had a rating of 130.9. RB Najeh Davenport had 54 yards and 2 TD’s, before a broken ankle ended his season early. Davenport was filling in for Ahman Green, who Coach Sherman said might be questionable for Green Bay’s next game at Minnesota, on Oct. 23rd.
The defense under Jim Bates continues to play well. CB Al Harris intercepted an Aaron Brooks pass and returned it 22 yards for a score. Later LB Nick Barnett picked off a Todd Bouman pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown. The Packer’s defense recorded 4 sacks, 3 INT’s, and forced 4 fumbles recovering 2 of them. The Saints only mustered 95 yards on the ground as a team. Green Bay’s defense is allowing an average of only 100.6 yards per game on the ground. With a win going into the bye week, the Packers will use it to rest and regroup, to make a run at the rest of the division, starting with the Vikings, on Oct. 23rd.
I feel Bear’s Safety Mike Brown echoes a lot of players feelings in the NFC North, not just Green Bay’s when he said “The only saving grace we have is that our division is horrible. That’s the only (reason) we still have a chance. Even though we have a horrible record, our division is horrible also, so we still have an outside chance of at least doing something, getting into the second season at least.�
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
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