Episode 15: Bears' Struggle, Lions' in Lambeau & More NFC North Thrills

What if you could pinpoint the factors that are shaking up the NFC North this season? Join me, your host Detrone, as we navigate through the high-stakes drama of the latest football matchups in the NFC North. From the Chicago Bears' disappointing 9-29 game against the Arizona Cardinals, where Caleb's pocket dynamics and offensive shortfalls were painfully evident, to the Detroit Lions' triumphant 24-14 win against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, this episode promises insights that will keep you on the edge of your seat. We also set the stage for the Bears' next challenge against the New England Patriots and discuss how the Minnesota Vikings' latest victory adds an exhilarating twist to the division race.

But the excitement doesn't stop there! As we look forward to NFL Week 10, I share my predictions, including the highly anticipated Minnesota Vikings' game against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars. With a nod to my 50% success rate in betting, I'll offer strategic advice that might just tip the scales in your favor. Plus, explore the financial opportunities within the NFC North and how you can capitalize on this knowledge. Share your thoughts and experiences, and don't miss out on the chance to be a part of our thriving community. Whether you're here for the love of the game or the lure of financial success, this episode is your ticket to an unforgettable journey through the current season's thrilling developments.

Table of Contents
0:00-1:15 Intro
1:16-1:36 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
1:37-6:02 Sun Burned Bears
6:03-11:51 Lions in Lambeau
11:52-14:44 Vikings Roll The Colts
14:45-17:31 Spreading The Field
17:32-18:10 Closing Thoughts

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:16 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
• 1:37 Sun Burned Bears
• 6:03 Lions in Lambeau
• 11:52 Vikings Roll The Colts
• 14:45 Spreading The Field
• 17:32 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 talent. Nfc North, the list of football. Welcome. Yeah, football. Nfc North, the list of football. Welcome back everybody.

Speaker 1: 0:27

This is Headed North, an NFC North podcast, and I'm your host, d-tron. This week we're talking. The Lions go into Lambeau in the rain and get a significant win for the division and for them. The Chicago Bears go to the desert and they pick up a second straight loss, which doesn't bode well for confidence in the head coach. Green Bay goes into a bye taking an L because the Lions came to town and Minnesota went back and forth on Sunday night with the Colts, but in the end Minnesota was victorious. On Sunday night with the Colts, but in the end Minnesota was victorious. All of that and a look ahead on today's show of Headed North Podcast. But before we get into those topics. I'm going to send it over to our sponsor so they can tell you about their stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:17

This episode of Headed North Podcast is sponsored by OffRackShopcom. Offrackshopcom is an online thrift retailer that specializes in men and women's clothing, shoes, accessories and more. So, if you haven't already, head to our description. You can find a discount code for your next purchase at OffRackShopcom. All right, we're getting it kicked off with the Chicago Bears and their unfortunate loss 9-29, versus the Arizona Cardinals, who, by the way, have surprisingly moved into first place in the NFC West, ahead of, you know, the 49ers, which clearly they've got their own struggles. But Chicago Bears went in and I thought Chicago was going into the desert to get a win.

Speaker 1: 2:04

But the offense seemed to struggle again, got zero rushing touchdowns, zero passing touchdowns and a bunch of field goals. Caleb went 22 for 41 for 217. Again, no passing touchdowns. He threw no picks. That's a plus, but he did get sacked six times and on the day he was getting pressured. Something's happened with that offensive line and I don't know what it is, but they are not providing Caleb with the kind of protection that they've shown flashes of in the games that they've won. Swift gave a minimal contribution 16 rushes for 51 yards. But he did tack on another six catches for 31 yards. It was finally a breakout game for Romo Dunze Five catches, 106 yards, with one big 44-yard catch. He was probably surprised that he was that open and Caleb underthrew him. If he would have thrown it further, romo would have still been running right now. But a big day for him and it's really good to see that they were able to connect multiple times throughout the game and that's got to bode well for them heading further into the season.

Speaker 1: 3:14

And then there were modest contributions this week from Keenan Allen and DJ Moore. It was really the defense's inability to stop Arizona's rushing attack that was the main issue. On the other side of the ball, conner ran 18 for 107 yards, although he didn't score. There was a big, big, huge run by DiMarcato. He had 59 yards on the ground but he had one 4.5 where he didn't get touched. Huge touchdown for him. And Benson contributed with 37 yards and a touchdown as well. Kyler Murray was quietly awful in this game 13 for 20 for 154 yards. He also had zero passing touchdowns, zero interceptions and he was sacked three times.

Speaker 1: 4:01

The the running game was really the story for Arizona and they made Chicago's defensive front look really bad. Check this out For Arizona Cardinals no receiver scored. They didn't have more than three catches, no one receiver had more than three catches or scored a touchdown, and no receiver had more than 35 yards in this game. And so you're kind of mind-blown to know how Chicago was able to pull off a loss in this game when really all the Arizona Cardinals had was the running game. But apparently that was enough. First downs, third down, conversions, time of possession were all fairly even in the game. It's just that the Cards put up 213 yards on the ground versus Chicago's 69. And again made that front look bad.

Speaker 1: 4:49

Caleb, I mentioned it earlier. He just didn't look all that comfortable in the pocket and I can understand six acts. Another five or six pressures would have me moving around in the pocket too. You know, getting antsy feet. They've got to do something to better protect him, whether that's leaving another person in on blocking schemes, moving the pocket, rolling that pocket out and getting him outside of the pocket to buy him some more time to make accurate throws. But you can see he's scrambling for his life and it doesn't look good.

Speaker 1: 5:18

And then, after two back-to-back games on the road. Chicago gets to go back home and they're going to take on the New England Patriots the 2-7 New England Patriots and this I actually don't have this as a clear-cut win for them. Chicago is playing a team that has managed to beat only two other teams, but those teams were the Jets and an early Bengals team. They were able to beat Joe Burrow and Aaron Rodgers. So what's to say that the Patriots can't come into Chicago and beat the Bears? Well, we'll talk about what my picks are later on and spread in the field, but Chicago at least gets to come back home after two games on the road. All right, we're going to kick into the game that I know you were probably most excited to hear about, and that's the Detroit Lions beating the Green Bay Packers 24-14 and moving to 7-1 for the first time in like 68 years. It's been a really, really long time Since the Lions have been 7-1 to start a season.

Speaker 1: 6:29

This was a huge showdown, not just for the NFC North, but a huge showdown in the NFL. This was America's Game of the Week In Lambeau and everyone thought that, with the weather that was coming into Green Bay, this was supposed to be a problem game for Detroit. That just wasn't the case. If you look at the performances on paper, you would think that Green Bay Packers absolutely won this game. Green Bay had more first downs, more rushing yards, more passing yards than the Lions. Love completed 23 of 29 for 273, but zero touchdowns, while Goff completed 18 of 22 for 145 yards only 145 yards in the air, but he did throw for a touchdown, and again it was raining out. Josh Jacobs rushed for 95 yards, while the Lions top rusher, david Montgomery, only 73 yards. Jaden Reed he went five for 113 yards, while Amon Ra caught seven for only 56. I ran down all of that.

Speaker 1: 7:35

Brian Branch got ejected for targeting with about six minutes left in the second quarter and it felt like a real shift. Like up until this point, green Bay is being painted as if they won this game, except they didn't. Hey, because of that penalty and subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct, it was looking like Green Bay had flipped the momentum of this game and they were getting ready to go down and score, but the Lions were able to hold. The Green Bay Packers are one of only a few teams that actually receive the ball first when they win the kickoff, and I bring that up because just before the half, jordan Love throws this inexplicable interception which turns into a pick six for Kirby Joseph, and then the Lions get the ball right back after the half and they're able to go down and score again. So that's a huge mistake Jordan Love makes with only 42 seconds left.

Speaker 1: 8:33

In the second quarter. Right, it was 10 to 7. At that point the game was still really close and that is what swung it into Detroit's um. It just swung the momentum in Detroit's way, that pick six. And then, you know, jordan Love looked hampered as the game went on by the groin injury that he came in with. And I'm fairly certain that if this wasn't the Detroit Lions that Green Bay Packers were facing, and this wasn't a big divisional matchup or the Lions had a losing record, there's no way that Love played this game because they're going into a bye week. They would have given him this week off, gave him the bye week off and gave him time to rest up into their next game. But that's not what happened. They had to play or he felt like he had to play because they needed this win. They definitely needed this win because they were at home and they weren't able to get it. So, like I mentioned, green Bay is now going on a bye week and next week the Lions get a prime time matchup on Sunday night football against an injured Houston Texans team.

Speaker 1: 9:34

The Lions also just picked up Z'Darrius Smith, which, for all you that don't watch the Cleveland Browns, first, I can't fault you, but secondly, 23 tackles so far this year, solo tackles and five sacks. That makes him the second highest sack total on his team, because he does have Miles Garrett on the Browns. But then you put him on the Lions and he would be the second most sacks on the Lions team, behind Aiden Hutchison, who is no longer there. So he comes to the Lions and he's instantly the sack leader for the active players. Z'darrius Smith is going to be a quality addition, someone who just balls. He goes out there, he does his job, he does it well. He is exactly what you would expect Dan Campbell would go after. So big up to Brad Holmes and Dan.

Speaker 1: 10:28

I think this is a great pickup and certainly one that they need. They saw a need with Aiden going down and they went and captured someone. So they'll have Z'Darrius for this upcoming week's game against the Houston Texans, where the Lions are a minus three and a half. You better stop it. There is no way that the Lions don't come in and beat the Houston Texans by at least seven. This is the most. It feels like a trap the way the line is set up. It's not a trap. Take this and if you've got, you know, an extra mortgage payment or so, boom, I got a sure thing for you. Wait, that's not financial advice. Let me explain. Not financial advice. This is just too good to be true. Minus three and a half against a Houston Texans team that looked like this over the last three games CJ Stroud, that is, has thrown one touchdown in the last three games and he's been sacked 14 times in that same stretch. And you're telling me the Lions getting Z'Darrius Smith and being the dominant team that they've been over. Their last few games aren't On the Texans. You've got to be kidding me, guys. Minus three and a half run to wherever you place bets and get that in right now, because the Lions are certainly going to win this game by more than three and a half. All right, and last but certainly not least, we've got the Minnesota Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 1: 11:59

I was wrong about this game. I was very wrong about this game. I was wrong about this game. I was very wrong about this game. I said Flacco was going to come out and look like last year's Cleveland Browns Joe Flacco and instead he came out and looked like a 40-year-old quarterback, which is about what he is. He wasn't awful, but he also wasn't the spark that they thought he was going to be off the bench and that I thought he would be after they benched Anthony Richardson. Look, I don't think they're going back to AR because he was completing passes at like 44 percent, which is the lowest in the NFL by a wide margin. But not Joe Flacco just wasn't good in this game. There were some flashes where he was okay, but the Minnesota Vikings they played a pretty good game All around. Joe Flacco was 16 for 27 for 179, no passing touchdowns, so they kept him from completing a touchdown pass.

Speaker 1: 13:00

I spent a lot of time on Joe Flacco because I mean, he was the reason why this thing wasn't competitive. But let me give it up to the Minnesota Vikings offense as well. Sam Darnold 28 for 34, 290, three passing touchdowns, two picks and four sacks. Jj caught seven for 137, and Addison finally showed up and it wasn't like an amazing performance, but he showed up and it wasn't like a amazing performance, but he showed up five receptions, 42 yards and a TD, and welcome back Hockinson, who caught a couple passes in the game as well. Despite this game feeling like it was going to go back and forth while I was watching it in real time, the Vikings outperformed them in just about every statistical category, so it wasn't close.

Speaker 1: 13:44

I'd love to to go on and on about the minnesota vikings, but this colts team's got some issues and so big win for minnesota. To keep the race in the nfc north tight, they're now six and two after nine games and only a game behind or, yeah, a game behind. Uh, the detroit lions, who are seven and one, and now Green Bay Packers also have six wins. So it's still really tight in the NFC North, uh, and next week Minnesota gets to go take on Jacksonville, a struggling Jacksonville, a two and seven Jacksonville Jaguar team that are really desperate for a win after another loss against the Eagles this past week. I think this was the game where Saquon jumped over somebody backwards. That, by the way, absolutely ridiculous and I've never seen anything like that. He had his momentum pushing him backwards. If you haven't seen it, get on the internet Saquon jumping over somebody backwards. It's outrageous. All right, that is it for this week.

Speaker 1: 14:47

I am now going to take you over to spread in the field so I could tell you all about my picks the good well, the good and the bad. All right, so let me recap. Right now, I'm 50% somehow on my picks I don't know that's coin toss like 100% of coin toss. I've picked 14 right out of 28 picks. Last week I ended up being 33% because I told you to take Indy, minus five. That didn't work. They lost by eight. And I told you to take Chicago Bears, plus one and a half. That also didn't work, because they got beat up by the Arizona Cardinals, but the Lions I was certain about that when I told you to take Detroit and they got the job done in Green Bay. So this week, week 10, here's what I got for you the Vikings are taking on the Jaguars and the Vikings are minus four. Take Minnesota After feeling like they were going to have a letdown week this week against the Colts, I think Minnesota is back moving the way they had been, as they won that first set of games.

Speaker 1: 15:54

I just think that they have got some of their confidence back after picking up a win instead of dropping three back to back, and I think that momentum and that confidence will continue as they get ready to take on Jacksonville, who, again, is truly slumping right now. Chicago is taking on the Patriots. They're at home. They're a minus six. Six is a lot of points for a team that just lost back to back games, and the last game wasn't close. I don't know why they're giving so much confidence to the Chicago Bears in this week. I know it has largely to do with the fact that they're playing the Patriots, but I would say take the Patriots minus six, take the Patriots excuse me, plus six. The Patriots beat the Jets and they beat the Bengals. I know it was a completely different Bengals team at the beginning of the year and a different Patriots beat the Jets and they beat the Bengals. I know it was a completely different Bengals team at the beginning of the year and a different Patriots team at the beginning of the year.

Speaker 1: 16:49

But Drake May has potential. He's coming into his own. It's taken him a while, but I think six is a lot of points for a Chicago offense that can sometimes not put the ball in the end zone offense and, last but not least, it's a no-brainer. The lock in the end zone on offense and, last but not least, it's a no-brainer the lock of the week Detroit Lions minus three and a half. Just take it. Take it now. Take it minus five. You can take it minus six and a half if you want to make that line just a little sweeter. The Lions are going to beat the Houston Texans in Houston by at least seven points. So if you haven't already, go and get those picks in. Again, that is Vikings minus four, taking the Patriots plus six and the Lions minus three and a half. Those are my picks for spread in the field.

Speaker 1: 17:35

I hope you make some money and if you do, just come back and leave me a comment. You can find it right down in the description. There's probably a button that says says send me a text. Do that. Just let me know. If I helped you out this week and if I didn't let me know anyway, all right, that is our show for the day. I appreciate you coming along and if you come back next week, which I hope you do, make sure you've got your bags packed because we are heading north. I'm Detron Peace. Are you still talking about football? Yeah, football talent, nfc North. The list of football.