Headed North: An NFC North Podcast
Headed North Podcast is a show that focuses on all of the top stories and headlines from the NFL's NFC North Division. Hosting By an avid Detroit Football fan, this podcast will explore one fan's thoughts regarding the NFC North Division.
Headed North: An NFC North Podcast
Episode 19: Bears New Leadership, Packers vs. Lions Showdown & NFC North Insights
What if a mid-season coaching change could alter the trajectory of an entire football franchise? Tune in as we uncover the Chicago Bears' bold move to part ways with Matt Eberflus and welcome interim head coach Thomas Brown. Can Brown's fresh perspective be the catalyst the Bears need as they prepare to tackle the San Francisco 49ers? Meanwhile, the stage is set for a thrilling Thursday night clash between the Packers and Lions. Discover why Green Bay's victory over Miami fuels their momentum, while Detroit faces an uphill battle with mounting injuries. The NFC North is a rollercoaster ride of unpredictability, and we’re here to guide you through every twist and turn.
Our predictions could be game-changers for your betting strategy this week. With a promising overall success rate of 53.8 percent, we share our insights on the Lions' potential to cover a three-point spread against the Packers and why the Bears might just upset the 49ers. And don't overlook the Falcons, who may surprise against the Vikings' struggling defense. As we journey through the NFC North, we invite you to engage with us—your insights might just feature in our next episode. Get ready for football analysis that keeps you ahead of the game.
Table of Contents
0:00-0:57 Intro
0:58-1:18 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
1:19-4:23 The Wrong Kind Of History
4:24-7:38 GB & DET Prepare To Clash
7:39-10:36 Minnesota Keeps Winning
10:37-14:37 Spreading The Field
14:38-15:10 Closing Thoughts
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Are you still talking about football? Yeah, football, nfc North, the list of football. Welcome back everybody. This is Headed North, an NFC North podcast, and I'm your host, detron, and oh, what a change a week can make. It's probably Thursday when you're hearing this. Hopefully you're listening on Thursday and if you are, it's been exactly a week since Thanksgiving and just ahead of one of the biggest late season games that we're going to have in this division. There have been some shakeups in the last seven days, from key injuries on the lion's side to a very public disaster that led to the Bears making history, minnesota pressing their luck against Arizona and Green Bay rolling Miami in the cold. That was all last week. We're also going to dig into this week's slate on Headed North right after I send you over to my sponsor so they can tell you about their stuff. This episode of Headed North Podcast is sponsored by OffRackShopcom. Offrackshopcom is an online thrift retailer that specialize 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.
Speaker 1:All right, so last week, three of the four NFC North teams played on Thanksgiving, and it was one to remember, and I'm not really going to talk about the numbers so much as I am going to talk about these storylines that have come out of the NFC North. So the Lions took on Chicago, and you know by now the fallout from that late game coaching shenanigans going on with Ibraflus in Chicago. They are mismanaging late game scenarios and I mean, as a head coach, that's. That's pretty indefensible, like you can't really say anything when you mismanage the clock at the end of the game because you are the head coach. But the cherry on top was his postgame double down where he claimed that they handled it the right way. Everyone with a TV in America watching football knew you did not handle that the right way, and he seemed to be the only one who believed so. And so he kind of forced Chicago's hand and led the organization of part ways with him. The first time that they have parted ways with a head coach during the season in their history. This is an organization that's like 104 years old old. So out goes Ibra Floos, that experiment is done and in comes Thomas Brown.
Speaker 1:Who's Thomas Brown? Well, he's a guy that's been promoted twice in like three weeks. He got the offensive coordinator gig after they let go of their offensive coordinator and now he's the head coach. And if he wins a few games, ryan Poles better be careful because he might sneeze. And Thomas Brown is going to have his job in a few weeks. That's just how quickly he's moving up the ladder.
Speaker 1:And Thomas Brown was quoted saying he cares about a couple abilities coachability, accountability and dependability. Well, how about win ability? You could earn yourself a shot at a head coaching job if you outperform expectations over the next five weeks, thomas, and if not, well, nobody's gonna fault you, because chicago's failures are on eberflus and the team that he had there. So no one's really thinking that thomas brown is gonna do a whole lot, but he could do quite a bit for his own head coaching stock, which I'm sure he probably didn't see happening just four weeks ago. So it's a win-win for him. And over the next five games they've got three of them that are on the road. But the next up is against a very winnable opponent, which you wouldn't have said at the beginning of the year a sliding 49ers team. They're vulnerable right now and they present the perfect opportunity for Thomas Brown to get a boost of morale right. So, looking forward to Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. I can't wait to see what he's able to do with a short turnaround with this team. That had honestly been over Ibraflux probably for the last three weeks, but this last week it was just too much and the team began to speak out about it. But before we can get to that Sunday afternoon in San Francisco we've got to get through Thursday night where Green Bay and Detroit are going to square off in the Motor City.
Speaker 1:Green Bay is coming off of a game in week 13 where they absolutely rolled the Miami Dolphins at night in Lambeau and, as a side note, miami in cold weather. I thought it was a bit of a gimmick, Everyone always talking about that. Nah, it's legit. They did not look good in cold weather but Green Bay clearly looked like the superior team in that game. And the Lions are coming off of the aforementioned Detroit-Chicago game where they snuck out of there with a win much closer than anybody anticipated. But the division has been playing each other closer in the last few years because the teams are getting much better. So Detroit finally got over that Thanksgiving Day hump that's been plaguing them for, like the last seven straight Thanksgivings, and as a Lions fan it brings me. So much joy to watch my team actually win on Thanksgiving. So much joy. But the Lions just went to Lambeau and beat Green Bay on November the 3rd beat them 24 to 14.
Speaker 1:But Detroit is missing some key players for this matchup that they weren't missing then. And I'm going to run down a list of folks, because Detroit's list of injured individuals is starting to really grow. You've got early losses of Aiden and Kaminsky and Marcus Davenport, jalen Reeves, maben, taylor Decker is out, josh Pascal, derek Barnes, makai Wingo, and then we also lost Alec Anzalone to an injured forearm, malcolm Rodriguez, melafon Wu in his rake shawl to hamstring, dj Reader. The list is going on and on. Dj Reader's got a shoulder injury, khalif Raymond's got a foot injury. Most of these guys are on IR. It's not looking good. Injuries right.
Speaker 1:If there's anything to be worried about with the Lions team moving forward, if you're a Lions fan or just a fan of seeing good football in the nfc north, you should be worried about all of the injuries from the lions this season and how they're going to try to figure out, to to get past this everlasting gobstopper of an injury list, like it's just so much, and it's coming all at a time where they are still absolutely rolling and, largely because of their core offensive weapons, they're still strong, including a very impressive offensive line minus Taylor Decker because he's out the Lions still score points with the best of them. As a matter of fact, they are the best of them. I mean they're number one in point score coming into Thursday's game and, even with all of the injuries, the defense is still number two in the league in points, allowing just over 16 points per game. So I say all that to say the injuries are going to make this a much tougher task for the Lions against Green Bay, and it also means that there's going to be the potential to shake up the NFC North and the NFC at large when it comes to the playoff picture. Speaking of the playoff picture, did someone forget to tell Minnesota that they're supposed to be losing? Did they possibly forget to tell Sam Darnold that he's not supposed to look so clutch as he leads them down on a final drive against Green Bay? Granted, it's Arizona, but against Arizona last week they were supposed to be coming into week 14 on a five-game winning streak. No one saw that coming.
Speaker 1:Right now, minnesota is defying all of the nonbelievers, including myself, because if I could label any team a fraud, I would tell you that it would be Minnesota, but they have proven myself wrong. I don't know about you, though. It's getting ready to set up a really wild end of year stretch. This is going to be some really good football in the NFC North, and it just means that all of the games that they play from here on out are going to mean just a little bit more. Right now, vikings fans are cheering for Green Bay. They want them to win. They want detroit to lose, spice up that division a little bit more, but there is a task ahead of minnesota that is more about emotion than skill, because this week they're gonna be managing all of what happens when you play against the person who used to be your leader.
Speaker 1:Minnesota is taking on Kirk, and I think they're going to Kirk around and find out that he still has a fire in his belly, and he is going to show them that Atlanta hasn't been on fire. They haven't actually been all that good. They're like six and six, but it's not because of Kirk. I think. He's slinging the ball as he always has, and he's coming into Minnesota, a place where he's thrown a lot of touchdowns, and he's going to have to try to lead Atlanta to a win against a Minnesota team. That's gonna have some motivation. Based on what happens on Thursday. They're either going to be searching for a way to creep towards first or they're going to be trying to keep up with the Detroit Lions so that they don't fall behind for a chance at a late game push at the number one overall seed. That also has something to do with. Philadelphia Eagles keep winning, but that's a different division. We're not going to talk about them too much. Philadelphia Eagles keep winning, but that's a different division. We're not going to talk about them too much. So as it stands right now, minnesota would be the fifth seed no-transcript In the playoffs. This could very well be a preview of a future matchup. Just depends on what happened on Thursday and if an open window happens to break for Minnesota where they can sneak into that first place in the North, it could completely change the playoff picture. But this week's game with Minnesota and Atlanta could be a preview of what you'll see again in the playoffs. So, speaking of Thursday and the Lions and Packers, let's talk about spreading the field and what you can expect this week.
Speaker 1:So last week we had a condensed show because of the holidays. I gave you my picks and blah, I went 33 percent last week. So, recappingpping, I'll just give you the the headline numbers currently through 12 weeks, because I didn't give you anything in week one. I am 53.8 percent still better than a coin flip. I've gotten 21 right of 39 picks.
Speaker 1:Last week I told you to take the Lions, minus 10, over the Bears. Well, saw how that worked out. They almost lost Green Bay. I told you to take them over Miami. Take the minus three and a half. Perfect, they gave Miami all that they wanted and some, and so they won that one easy. And then I told you to take the Vikings over the Cardinals, minus three and a half, and they won by one point. And it was actually a pretty exciting win watching Minnesota drive down on that final drive to get the game winner, but it didn't really help. You make money now, did it? So hopefully this week is gonna be different, but I'll tell you these picks. Some of it I'm working on emotion, some of it is just a feeling.
Speaker 1:So, first and foremost, thursday night's game you've got the Lions and the Packers Lions are a minus three. Take the Lions, minus three, and I'm going to tell you, take them mainly because they're at home. The Bears played them close, they know it. Minus three, and I'm gonna tell you, take them mainly because they're at home. The bears played them close, they know it. They also know they're gonna have to bring their a game because leflore is a really good coach and he's gonna game plan well against the lions. I think the lions come in and show off some of their offensive prowess. They're gonna get the win. I believe it's gonna be by more than three. So I would take the lions minus three against the packers this thursday.
Speaker 1:Minnesota is a six point favorite against atlanta disrespectful. I know they're on a three game skid and minnesota is on a five game winning streak. But minnesota's defense is near the bottom of the league in passing yards given up per game. They're like ranked 28th. And kirko, he gets slagged in the rock. So give me atlanta plus six, but just in case, I would move the line to like plus seven and a half. If you have the ability to change the line, I'd take them plus six, but I like it a whole lot better at plus seven and a half.
Speaker 1:And here is my upset alert I am primed for the Bears to take on the 49ers because the Niners are four point favorite in this game and it feels like a trap because everyone assumes that the Niners should be a much bigger favorite against a Chicago Bears team that seems to be in shambles. But you know how I told you, I got that feeling. Here's the feeling the Bears are happy to be rid of Eberflus and I think they come and they play strong for Thomas Brown and I don't know that he's going to have the impact that is going to be the change maker in this game. I think the players are just going to feel differently about going out there and playing a bit freer, without this dark cloud sort of lingering over them with the whole head coaching situation. So I think the Bears have been this close for the last three weeks in their games and I think this week is the week that if they don't get a win, it's gonna be pretty close. So give me chicago plus four, and if I were able to move that line I'd move it up to six and a half. But I don't think if the 49ers win that it'll be much more than two field goals that they win by. So give me Chicago plus four. All right, that's it for today's show.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you coming along listening to our show each week. If you haven't already, there should be a link down wherever you listen to the show. It says send us a text. I'd love to put your message on next week's show. And, as always, 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 detron. Hey, are you still talking about football? Yeah, nfc north. The list of football.