Episode 14: The SKOL Slide, Lions' 7 Touchdown Day & more...

What if the fate of the NFC North hinges on a single game ? Join us as we dissect the Minnesota Vikings' recent clash with the Rams, where defensive woes and short-week challenges tested their mettle. We spotlight the need for offensive breakthrough from rising stars like Jordan Addison while looking ahead to their critical face-off against the Colts. It's a battle of comeback quarterbacks, each fighting for playoff glory, and we argue that dominance on the ground might just be the secret weapon in this high-stakes encounter.

Meanwhile, over in Chicago, the Bears' quest for redemption hits a roadblock against the Commanders. We unravel the pivotal plays and strategies that spelled defeat, with quarterback Caleb's struggles taking center stage. Then... The Lions and Packers line up for a major battle in the North. With betting tips and strategies up our sleeve for upcoming match-ups, especially focusing on Chicago and Indianapolis, we aim to arm you with insights that could turn the odds in your favor. Engage with us as we tease a thrilling topic for next week, promising more NFC North action.

Table of Contents
0:00-1:03 Intro
1:04-1:21 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
1:22-6:20 The SKOL Slide has begun...
6:21-9:45 Pack played Jags close
9:46-11:18 Lions handled business
11:19-15:17 Handing Out L’s In London 
15:18-20:42 Spreading The Field
20:43-21:14 Closing Thoughts

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Chapters

• 0:00 NFC North Podcast Intro
• 1:04 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
• 1:22 The SKOL Slide has begun...
• 6:21 Pack played Jags close
• 9:46 Lions handled business
• 11:19 Dont’ do this Chicago!
• 15:18 Spreading The Field
• 20:43 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Yo, before the show, I'd like to just say if you could like and share the podcast. I am a one man show and I really do appreciate both the feedback and the support that you give. As a matter of fact, down in the comments you can actually reach me directly if you ever want to share a message or get featured on the show. All right, let's get into the episode. Are you still talking about football? Yeah, football, nfc North, the list of football. Yeah, football, nfc North, the list of football. Welcome back everybody.

Speaker 1: 0:27

This is Headed North, the NFC North podcast, and I'm your host, d-tron. Chicago lost last week in a heartbreaking but kind of satisfying way. The Vikings dropped two in a row, the Lions did exactly what we knew they would do against the Titans, and Green Bay squeaked out another win. Another huge divisional showdown in the NFC North is happening this week and we're going to talk about all that and more on today's episode. But before we do any of that, I want to shout out our longtime sponsor, offrackshopcom. Offrackshopcom is an online thrift store who specialize in men and women's thrifted clothing, shoes, accessories and more. So, if you haven't already, visit the link down in our description and you can find a discount code for your next purchase at OffRackShopcom.

Speaker 1: 1:22

All right, this week's show I'm going to give it to you just a little different. I'm going to give you three things from the game that was and three things to pay attention to in this upcoming game. And I'm going to do that for all four teams out of the North and we're going to start with the Minnesota Vikings. So Minnesota Vikings played on a short week, thursday, against the Rams. So three things from that game. One short weeks are tough. It's tough to play on that Sunday and then come back and play on that Thursday. You know what it has to happen because that's the way the schedule is laid out. You could see it played a role in the defense's ability to be successful for the Vikings. They only got one pick and zero sacks on the Rams, a team that's been struggling with their offensive line because of injuries. It was tough on the Minnesota Vikings defense, but it rolls into the second point for that game, which is when the Rams have weapons they are dangerous. Matthew Stafford threw for four touchdowns. Puka Nakua came back and pretended like he was never hurt. Seven catches for 106 yards. They got 23 rushes on the ground for 97 yards from Williams and Cooper Cup tapped in an extra five receptions for 51 yards. The Rams are not a bad team. They were just experiencing some injuries, so that was another thing to take away from that Vikings and Rams game.

Speaker 1: 2:50

And then, lastly, the Vikings need more production from their other weapons, like, namely, jordan Addison. Where has he been? I feel like he's been sleep through most of these games. Sam Darnold and JJ cannot carry this team alone, and Aaron Jones has been giving all that he can give in most of the games this week. He came up a little short from his production, but he's been giving it his all. So those three weapons for the Vikings are not going to be enough on offense. They need some of these other players to step up, and I think that step up should come from Jordan Addison. So those were the three things from the game that was on Thursday.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Now we're going to talk about the game on this upcoming Sunday. Those were the three things from the game that was. Now we're going to talk about three things that need to happen in this upcoming Sunday night game with the Vikings and the Colts. So first, what's better than a one QB resurgence story? Two resurging QBs Hello, joe Flacco. Goodbye Anthony Richardson, at least for now, and let the midseason fall of the Minnesota Vikings begin. Let the slide happen, because there's just something magical about unretired Joe Flacco going out there and playing like a Super Bowl champion. He just does this and it looks effortless, and he also is leading a team that have some question marks about their franchise QB. That's what I see in this, this game for.

Speaker 1: 4:33

A second point, by the way, is the smell of desperation. You got the Colts, who are in second place in the AFC, but they just benched their franchise QB because he decided he wanted to tap out of the game because he was tired. Now, certainly I talk about this. Like you know, you shouldn't get tired. If you're a quarterback, I understand they're getting hit, they're having to play, but you've got to know you're the head of that team, you're motivating everybody else. If you're tapping out because you're tired, you need to suck it up. Or, like Micah Parsons said on his podcast, you need to suck it up. Or, like mark up. Or, like micah parson said on his podcast, you need to lie to the media and just don't tell them that that's the actual reason. Whatever it is, this feels like a desperate spot for a team who's trying to hold on to their potential to get into the playoffs in the afc south, and for the vikings, they're slipping. They slipped from first to third in the matter of two weeks and they're in the most competitive division in the whole nfl, so they need this win. So again, I smell desperation.

Speaker 1: 5:34

With two resurging qbs, this is going to be a really good sunday night game. And the last point for this upcoming sunday night game is I think the group that has the best running back is gonna win. So, whether it's Taylor or Jones, whoever produces the best day is going to give their team the best opportunity to win, and that should probably not be a surprise. But it's going to play as really important, or it's going to play a really important part in this week's game, because I think that the offenses in the passing game is going to struggle. So the rushing game is going to be the thing that gets the win for either one of these teams and I'll tell you about who I believe is going to win a little bit later and spread in the field. So let's jump into the Green Bay Packers and the Jaguars the. The game that was. So our three things from that game. We knew it would be close, which is why I told you to take the Jags plus four on my previous show.

Speaker 1: 6:34

Green Bay has on occasion played down to their opponents to get games started. The second point in this sort of continues, three of their four games on the road they didn't play exceptionally well. You've got a loss to the Eagles, which was in Sao Paulo. They played an injured Rams team and they played them close and they played a spiraling Jags team close. The other game was the Titans. That doesn't really count. They beat them by 16. They should have beat them by more, but still they play close games and they generally play down to their competition, or at least at the start of the game. That's what it appears. So I think those things are going to play a role here into their next week.

Speaker 1: 7:18

The last point for last week's game Jordan Love left the game with a groin injury. Malik Willis came right in and didn't miss a beat. Now that's going to have ramifications potentially for this upcoming week where they take on the Detroit Lions in Lambeau. So my first question or my first point for this game is will love be limited with his movement again a groin injury that can manifest itself in a lot of different ways. I don't know that the Green Bay offense survives with having to bring in Malik Willis or starting or playing Malik Willis against this Lions team, although the Lions are missing their best player on that defensive line Without Aiden, even against a bad Titans team. They only picked up one sack In a game where they beat them like 52-14,. They picked up one sack in a game where they beat them like 52 to 14. They picked up one sack. So definitely missing his presence on that offense, on that defensive line, and that could play a role. If Jordan Love has full range of motion or movement, he could get out of the pocket and make it a little more difficult on that defensive front for the Lions.

Speaker 1: 8:30

The second thing for this upcoming Green Bay and Lions game, the Lions offensive weapon should still feel fresh, other than Gibbs. I mean Gibbs had a pretty big day. Everyone else had a pretty chill week going against the Titans and I know they still run into each other. This is still football, it's a physical game. But looking at the production that they had and who caught the ball in the short field they were working with, and how effortlessly they won that game. They should still feel good going into Lambeau and feeling fresh in this upcoming game. And the last point for this upcoming game is Jared Goff took four sacks against the Titans. That's not good. In a 52-14 game it's okay. It's sort of masked by the fact that you guys ran up the score. But if you're playing the Packers close defensive plays like that getting four sacks, throwing an interception in the game those can be significant plays that determine whether or not you win or lose. So in a game that I believe will be a bit closer, jared Goff has to play a clean game and that offensive line has to snap back to what they were doing in the first three or four games where they were just looking unstoppable.

Speaker 1: 9:46

Next we're going to go into the Lions and the Titans and I won't spend a whole lot of time here. I know I told you I was going to give you three points from each of the games. I already gave you what their next week looks like. Or this week looks like playing Green Bay. I'll tell you that. Playing the Titans, I got one thing. You don't need three things Seven touchdowns. Jared Goff had less than 90 yards in the air. Yikes, for a second week in a row, the Lions team looks scary good. That's a touchdown for Montgomery and Gibbs and Brock Wright, aminra, st Brown, laporta, kalief Raymond scored twice, once on a punt return and a pass. Hey, jared Goff had less than 90 yards in the air and they scored seven touchdowns. This says a lot more about the Titans than it does the Lions, although the Lions played a very good game. The Titans team just wasn't that good. That's all I'm going to say about the Lions game. I really just look forward to them going into Lambeau and taking on Green Bay and what that's going to look like for the division, because it is tight right now. Both teams have six wins. Green Bay Packers have two losses, lions only have one loss. So right now the Lions are in the number one spot, but that could very easily change with the way that this game works out. So, looking forward to that divisional clash between the lions and the green bay packers in lambeau this week.

Speaker 1: 11:19

And last, but certainly, certainly not least, the chicago bears took on the Washington Commanders and, goodness gracious, this couldn't have worked out worse for them. Goalline drive. You're right there on the one-yard line. You hand it off to a lineman, he fumbles. You turn the ball over. You get out of that with an opportunity to win the game. You go down, you get the score that you need and you leave them very little time to work with. Then you lose on a Hail Mary on the last play while one of your best defenders is on the sidelines drawing with the crowd. Come on, chicago, don't start this. Don't go beating yourself up after you finally getting it rolling Felt like you were getting it together and then you go and do this. Is it a fluke? No, it's not a fluke. That was strategic where he placed himself and the Chicago Bears should have batted the ball down instead of tipping it and leaving it up for grabs. Alright, that's point number one. Number two about this game Swift is actually the cheat code for Chicago.

Speaker 1: 12:40

He is going to be the reason they can unlock some success on that offense because he has been performing at a very high level despite Caleb's inability to do some things along the way. Caleb has to compliment him and the rest of the offense, of course, but Caleb going 10 for 24 is not a compliment. I know he knows that. I know the offense knows that. I'm sure Chicago fans knows that. Look, swift is going if he continues to give you what he's giving you, like he did in this past game over 100 yards on the ground scoring a touchdown he's keeping you around. Caleb's got to complete a touchdown pass.

Speaker 1: 13:21

And my third point I told you, I told you guys. So if you go back to my draft episode and the episodes leading up to the draft, I told you that Jaden Daniels was going to be the best quarterback in this draft. It didn't matter what everybody said about Caleb Williams and USC and the talent and whatever Jaden Daniels was going to be and is the better QB. He showed it 21 for 36, 326 yards, passing a passing touchdown and, when it mattered, put one up in the air and gave his folks a chance to go get the ball. Caleb wasn't even able to throw a passing touchdown. They did still have an opportunity to win this game and probably should have, but he's got to play better and giving him an opportunity to play better is this week, chicago is taking on Arizona.

Speaker 1: 14:09

Here's three things you need to know. Arizona is favorited by one and a half points. This is a perfect spot for Chicago to go on the road and play spoiler in a game that it's really just giving the. They gave Arizona the favorite here because they're at home, not because they're the better team, and hopefully Chicago can come out and show that. This is a very winnable game for Chicago as a point number two. But they got to be able to convert on third down. Right now they're tied for 26th in the league. Converting third downs at 33%, that's not going to get you very much in the NFL. You've got to be able to keep your drives going. You've got to be able to keep your drives going. You've got to be able to convert on third downs and Chicago's defense needs to get back to what they were doing, which was playing at an elite level, like they did at the beginning part of this year, especially against a talented quarterback. You could say a lot of stuff about the Arizona Cardinals, but Kyler Murray can ball, he can run on you, he can complete the pass, he's got an arm, the kid's got talent. So this Chicago's defense is really going to have to step up if they want to pull the win out on the road.

Speaker 1: 15:17

All right, so now that we've got through all of the teams last week and this week, let me take you in the spread in the field to see if I can help you win some money Now. If you listen to the show and you got your picks in late, you might have actually got some money if you didn't put the Vikings in on Thursday. But let me run you down first the rundown of how I've performed so far to date with Spread in the field. So, week two 50%. Week three 25%. Week four 33%. Week five 33%. Week six was the only week so far that I've went 100%. Week seven was 50% and week eight this past week went 75%, with the only game that I got wrong was the Vikings. I said with the only game that I got wrong was the Vikings. I said take the Vikings minus three. And I said that without knowing that Matthew Stafford was gonna have all of his weapons back. It did not look good for them and unfortunately the Vikings weren't able to get past the Rams here, so that one wasn't right.

Speaker 1: 16:26

But the rest of these if you chalked up a sunday only ticket for me, I took you three for three. The lions I said they were minus 11, take them. I can see this being a 28 to 10 affair. I said you couldout. I should have told you to take them minus 30. I don't know Either way. We knew the Lions would cover for sure. I mentioned taking the Jags plus four against the Packers because the Packers will play competition close and that's what happened On the road in Jacksonville. They played the Jags close and they won, but only 30-27, so the Jags did cover. And Chicago, who was off on a bye week the week before? I told you to take the Commanders if Jaden Daniels was playing playing, which would have been a plus three for the commanders if jayden daniels was playing. And I told you to take chicago if jayden daniels didn't play. Well, he played. And if you took the commanders at plus three, it worked out for you because they won on that Hail Mary and got the dub. So win three for four on last week. Hopefully we can get you a three for three on this week because we've got a divisional matchup.

Speaker 1: 17:58

So first up got Vikings versus Indy. I will tell you it's slide time. People Take Indy plus five. I think this is going to be a game all about motivation and running the ball. Joe Flacco is not afraid of big moments, as you can see last year and all of his time as a Raven. The Vikings are sliding and I think the Colts are going to rally behind veteran leadership and I think it's going to be assigned to Richardson, like how you can get people bought in if you really go out there and command the field as the leader of that team. I think that's what Joe Flacco is going to do Now. If Joe Flacco gets out there and start throwing some interceptions, this game could turn in the Vikings' favor.

Speaker 1: 18:44

But I do believe that Indy is going to get the win. It's not going to be by much, but if you take them plus five, it won't matter, because I think they come out as the victor in this game in the Lions and Packers oh, it's Lambeau, but I'm saying take the Lions. The Lions are going to look to assert dominance in the division and they can't do that without knocking off the Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay Packers are clearly got the same number of wins. They're right there behind them in the race for the Kings of the North. The Lions have to come out and be dominant in this game. I don't think they completely dominate the Green Bay Packers, but I do believe they win somewhere between 3-7, 3-10 points. So take Detroit Right now they're a minus 3.5. If you could lay them at minus 2.5,. I would say, take the minus 2.5, because there's a real chance that the Lions could win by 3 here.

Speaker 1: 19:45

And last but not least, you got Chicago and Arizonarizona in arizona. Take chicago on the road plus one and a half. I think they're gonna come in and play like a team that feels embarrassed. They got embarrassed last week at the way that that game ended, and I think the defense will respond this week. So take chicago plus one and a half. I actually think you can take this thing as far back as minus two and a half, because I think they win by a field goal or more. That's my opinion, though if you want to change that ticket around a little bit, take the lions minus six.

Speaker 1: 20:23

Take, uh, chicago minus two and a half, and then take indy minus three. That will get you a much better payout. Uh, sorry, indy plus three. That'll get you a much better payout on that three team ticket. But that's the way I see it laying out, and that's the show for the day. That's all I got for you guys. I hope you enjoyed today's show, as always. If you like today's show, leave me a comment. I'd love to hear back from you down in the description. You may even be able to send us a text message, depending on where you're listening to the show at. And if you come back next week, which I hope you do make sure you've got your bags packed, because we are headed north. I'm D-Tron Peace. Are you still talking about football? Yeah, the Battalion NFC North. The list of football.