The Vikings hung on against the Browns, and the Lions plastered the Bengals. The football gods/script writers are going the lazy route this year. At least the Bears didn't win.
Lions
The Lions beat the Bengals, 37-24.
Game Notes
Bengals back-up Jake Browning has been just about the worst QB in the league during his short tenure replacing starter Joe Burrow. This week, against the Lions, he managed to throw three TDs and complete 65% of his passes on the way to 251 yards. Unfortunately, he also threw three picks, took a safety, and only managed the three tuds in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach. Jared Goff, on the other hand, got to the 250-yard mark with just 23 passes and threw three touchdowns without any interceptions. He did get sacked four times, so, that's interesting.
The Lions run game didn't have a lot going for it; they totaled 118 yards but it took 33 carries. As always, the Sun God led the way, receiving with 100 yards on eight catches.
Jack Campbell continues to come into his own on defense, totaling 11 tackles, one for loss, and forcing a fumble. Alex Anzalone, Amik Robertson and Kerby Joseph had the three picks.
This will be the next test for the Packers. The Lions took control of this game early and dominated a bad Bengals team. Maybe the Bengals will turn to Brett Rypien this week because Browning has been so bad but that would just mean it's more necessary for the Packers to come out of the bye week and throttle the Bengals. They are 14.5 point favorites at home and it's time to look like they should be.
Vikings
Vikings beat the Browns 21-17.
Game Notes
This was a classic Vikings game. They played from behind for much of the game against a lesser opponent with their backup QB and then won on a dramatic fourth-quarter play where the semi-star wide receiver, who was suspended for the first quarter, caught the deciding touchdown. There was also some luck and bad coaching decisions on the other side.
Speaking of the backup QB and semi-star receiver, Carson Wentz had a pretty good game. 236 yards and a TD; 102.1 QB rating. Doesn't blow you away, but it's substantially better than anything JJ McCarthy has put together for four quarters in a row. Wentz even played hurt through the second half. The receiver is Jordan Addison, who missed the first three games of the season from an NFL suspension and the first quarter of this one. He's doing just enough next to Justin Jefferson since his return. Just enough to show how insane it was to trade a fourth-round pick for 57-year-old Adam Thielen before week one. Now that Addison is back, Thielen had zero catches on zero targets in this game. Last week, he had two catches for an unexciting 11 yards. Not great!
The Vikings' defense took on rookie Dillon Gabriel and gave up just 182 yards through the air but 140 yards on the ground. This was the game where you'd think the defense would focus on shutting down the run, but the Browns' 34 rushes took a toll.
The defense did get plenty of pressure on Gabriel and ended up with two sacks and two forced fumbles.
There was an interesting tweet today that the Vikings would likely be the only undefeated team in the NFL if they had kept Sam Darnold. Darnold looked like a Pro Bowl-level QB last year before falling apart when it mattered in the final week of the season and the playoffs. He's back to looking like a pro-bowler, now in Seattle, and the Vikings are making do with Carson Wentz while JJ McCarthy sits with a suspicious injury. I'm not certain that the Vikings could pull off a win against the Falcons, who beat them by double digits, just by making Darnold the QB, but it's fun to think about hypotheticals. Just think about how if special teams had never been invented, the Packers would be undefeated this year and probably have two more super bowls. #banspecialteams
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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