NFC North recap: Packers, Vikings make early Week 1 statements

Each week, we’ll be taking you around the division to see how the Detroit Lions’ main competitors performed. This week the Packers and Vikings came out victorious, while the high hopes for the Chicago Bears were deflated after an underwhelming opener. Let’s get into the specifics.

Bears lose season opener to Packers, 10-3

Packers

There were some early signs of rust with the Packers offense, as they were unable to put a single point on the board during the entire first quarter. They punted three times in their first three drives for a total of -12 yards, but they came out swinging in the second quarter with a four-play, 74-yard touchdown drive.

Those seven precious points were all that the Packers really needed to hold off the Bears’ brutal offense, but give Green Bay’s defense some credit, because their secondary looks very legit. The Packers had a total of nine pass deflections and the biggest one of them all being a huge interception from Adrian Amos, who had a fantastic revenge game.

The Packers will head back home to Lambeau for their home opener and will face off against another division rival, the Minnesota Vikings.

Next game: vs. Vikings (1-0)

Bears

Seeing the Packers win is never fun, but seeing the Packers utterly humiliate the Bears on national television is a much easier pill to swallow. Mitchell Trubisky was a trainwreck against a suffocating Packers defense. He threw one interception on Thursday night, but it could have been three or four had he not gotten a couple lucky drops or bounces from the defense.

For some reason, Trubisky is still unable to throw the football to the left side of the field.

I would call him the NFL’s Derek Zoolander, but that would be a bit unfair, because he’s not particularly good at throwing the football in any direction.

Chicago’s defense had a much better performance than the offense, and they actually held the Packers to fewer total yards than Chicago. Their run defense was as scary as ever, holding Green Bay to 47 rushing yards on 22 attempts.

If the offense can’t get the kinks worked out, then it may end up being another wasted year for an elite defense.

Next game: @ Broncos (0-1)

Vikings cruise to victory at home over Falcons, 28-12

Minnesota got out to an early lead and never looked back. It was a very dominating performance for the Vikings’ defense, showing no signs of rust.

Here are the results of the Falcons’ first seven drives:

Drive 1: Blocked Punt
Drive 2: Interception
Drive 3: Punt
Drive 4: Fumble
Drive 5: Punt
Drive 6: Interception
Drive 7: Punt

Not ideal.

For the Vikings offense, it was a much different story. After the blocked punt and interception, the Vikings were able to punch it in both times with a short field and that was all they needed to outscore Atlanta.

Dalvin Cook and the rushing offense had a monster game for the Vikings. As a team, they rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns on 38 attempts (4.5 yards per carry). Cook had 111 of those yards and two touchdowns. The passing offense was efficient, but only needed to throw the ball 10 times all game. There was essentially no resistance at all from the Falcons D.

Next game: @ Packers (1-0)

NFC North Week 1 Standings

1. Green Bay Packers (1-0)
2. Minnesota Vikings (1-0)
3. Detroit Lions (0-0-1)
4. Chicago Bears (0-1)

Tough matchups loom for all four teams in the North. With the Packers and Vikings facing off against each other next week, the Lions have a chance to move up a spot in the division with a win over the Chargers at home.