Midwest Sports

Green Bay Head Coach, Matt LaFleur has a record of 69-34 since being hired by the Packers in 2019. Which is a good record. However, his record with Aaron Rodgers as his starting quarterback is 39-10 with two NFC Championship appearances. Without Rodgers his record is 30-24.  Has Matt LaFleur already reached his ceiling with the Packers as their head coach?

The Detroit Lions started the season off slow, losing to the Green Bay Packers in the season opening. The Lions only had 46 rushing yards in that game and the offense was sluggish.  Then week 2 came around and the Lions beat up on the Bears 52-21. And then in week 3 the Lions traveled to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. Jared Goff wasn't sacked at all and Detroit had 224 rushing yards. Runningbacks, Montgomery and Gibbs both also had 2 touchdowns apiece. Detroit then sacked Lamar Jackson 7 times and recovered a fumble beating one of the better AFC teams.  The Lions are 2-1 and are looking like the 15 win team they were last year.

The Minnesota Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals 48-10. Carson Wentz got the start for thr Minnesota Vikings as JJ McCarthy was out injured. Carson Wentz is the first quarterback to start at least one game for 6 different teams in 6 consecutive seasons. He came in and didn't screw it up. He was efficient going 14/20 for 173 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no turnovers. Jordan Mason got thr bulk of thr carries as Aaron Jones was hurt. Mason had 16 carries for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Vikings defense lead the way with 4 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 2 interceptions. Cornerback, Isaiah Rodgers had an 87 yard interception returned for a touchdown and a 66 yard fumble returned for a touchdown. The Bengals quarterback, Jake Browning threw 2 interceptions against his old team. Cincinnati was 3 of 11 on third down and didn't really get anything going offensively. 

The Green Bay Packers had a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter and they lost. The Packers gave up 13 points in the fourth quarter, had a go ahead field goal blocked, had a costly interception by Jordan Love, had 14 penalties, and lost as time expired by a 55 yard field goal.  Jordan Love was sacked 5 times. Oh and to pour salt on the wound,  offensive linemen Zach Tom and Aaron Banks left the game with injuries. Don't get me wrong, the Cleveland Browns defense played outstanding, but the Browns offense was basically nonexistent until they scored 10 points to tie the game in a span of 37 seconds.  Are there really no better option at quarterback for the Browns then 40 year old Joe Flacco? He is a statue in the pocket. The Browns' defense has played well enough to be 3-0, but their offense is terrible. Would Ryan Tannehill or Cam Newton be better options?

The Atlanta Falcons beat thr Minnesota Vikings in Sunday Night Football. The Falcons defense made life miserable for JJ McCarthy and the Vikings offensive line. McCarthy was sacked 6 times, was hit 11 times, and was pressured on over half of his dropbacks. Minnesota's offense was 4 of 11 on third downs and had less than 200 total yards.  Minnesota's defense played very well. They held the Falcons to field goals on 4 of their 5 redzone appearances, had 3 sacks, and had pressure on about a third of Penix's dropbacks.  Minnesota is a team that is built similar to the Falcons and the Broncos. They have a good defense, some weapons on offense, and young quarterbacks.  Bad news for Minnesota is that JJ McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain and Aaron Jones suffered a hamstring injury. Both are unlikely to play next week. Minnesota will turn to the recently signed Carson Wentz in week 3.

The Atlanta Falcons are traveling to Minnesota to take on the Vikings for Sunday Night Football.  Last week Atlanta had more yards, more first downs, and more time of possession than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Falcons still lost. The Minnesota Vikings looked awful through three quarters of football, but then the offense came alive and scored 21 points in the fourth to steal the game from the Chicago Bears.  Let's see how 2024 first round picks Michael Penix Jr and JJ McCarthy do in the bright lights of SNF.

The Denver Broncos beat the Tennessee Titans last week because their defense played so well. The Broncos held the Titans to 133 total yards, only 7 first downs, and got off the field on third down (Titans were 2 of 14 on 3rd downs). Denver's defense also had 6 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. If Bo Nix and the offense can contribute at all, this team is going to be good. Colts quarterback, Daniel Jones turned some heads with his performance against the Dolphins. Jones led the Colts to a win with a passing touchdown and running for two more. Does the Broncos defense slow Daniel Jones down or does Jones produce three touchdowns again with another victory?

Ben Johnson returns to Detroit after taking the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears.  Chicago gave up three touchdowns to JJ McCarthy in their fourth quarter collapse on Monday Night Football.  The Lions didn't look anything like the Lions of the past few seasons when they got beat by the Packers in week one. Which team will fall to the dreaded 0-2 record?

The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Philadelphia Eagles today. The Eagles beat the Chiefs in the Superbowl last year.  The problem for Kansas City is they have a number of wide receivers out for this game and the Chiefs defense is getting older. Kansas City has not started the season 0-2 under Andy Reid since his second season as the Chiefs head coach in 2014. That is also the last time the Chiefs missed the playoffs.  Will Kansas City start the season 0-2? 

Joe Flacco is playing his old team the Baltimore Ravens. Flacco has played one game against his old team and that was in 2022. He lost.  The Baltimore Ravens only gave up 108 rushing yards in week one. They did give up 389 passing yards, 29 first downs, and 22 fourth quarter points in their loss to Josh Allen and the Bills last week.  The Cleveland Browns out played the Cincinnati Bengals in almost every category last week. The one category they lost in was turnovers (and missed FG and PAT). This could be an interesting AFC North game. Apparently Baltimore was going to draft Shedeur Sanders, but Sanders didn't want to sit behind Lamar Jackson. Sanders wanted a chance to play this season. How did that work out for him? Oh yeah, he's the emergency third string quarterback for the Browns.

The Cincinnati Bengals host the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Under Zac Taylor, the Bengals have never won week 2. This year may be different since they play the Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be the next Peyton Manning for all the hype he got being drafted number one overall. I would say he is an over paid bust.  The key for Cincinnati is to stop runningback, Travis Etienne. Crowd the line of scrimmage and make Lawrence beat you. Jacksonville has a good couple wide outs in Brian Thomas Jr and rookie Travis Hunter, but I don't think that will be enough.  I'm predicting the Bengals start the season 2-0.

The time of possession was about even and there were no turnovers, but the Packers were just the better team. Packers had more total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, almost double the yards per play, and were more efficient on third down than the Commanders.  The Packers took advantage of playing two playoff teams from a year ago and winning at home early in the season. Having two early wins in the conference will help down the stretch. The Packers defense looked great and made the Commanders quarterback, Jayden Daniel's look lost. Let's see if the Packers can keep up the good play on the road next week in Cleveland.  Green Bay wide out, Jayden Reed broke his collar bone and will be out for 6-8 weeks. Jordan Love has plenty of wide receivers to throw to though. 

The Green Bay Packers host the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football.  Both teams are 1-0. The Commanders beat up on the Giants week one. The Giants are rebuilding and I don't think many were surprised Washington won. The Packers beat the Lions who most people had as a top 2 team in the NFC. It wasn't even close. Green Bay dominated Detroit.  Let's see if the Packers can keep it rolling or if Washington shows they are still a team to contend for another NFC Championship run.

The Green Bay Packers crushed the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The Packers offense was explosive and Jordan Love looked great throwing to 10 different receivers. The Detroit Lions defense wasn't very good and did Adian Hutchinson even play?  Detroit had 46 rushing yards for the game. Last year that would of been Detroit's total rushing yards after the first quarter. The Packers held David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in check leaving very little running room. The defense looked great with Micah Parsons.  The Packers have a short week since they play the Washington Commanders Thursday. The Lions have the week to figure out how to get their offense going.

Not since Cam Newton did it in 2011, had a quarterback making his NFL debut thrown for multiple touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown.  JJ McCarthy did that in 13 minutes. A quarterback hasn't brought his team back to win from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter on the road since Steve Young did it in 1985. JJ McCarthy did that too.

I know it is a shocker, but thr Cincinnati Bengals did not lose week 1. 4 out of the first 5 seasons before this one under Head Coach, Zac Taylor, the Bengals have started the season 0-2. The only season they didn't start 0-2 was in 2021 when they started 1-1. Ironically that was the season they went and lost in the Superbowl against the Rams.  The Bengals had no business winning this game. Joe Burrow threw for only 113 yards, there wasn't really a run game, and the offense didn't have an explosive play. The Browns had more yards then the Bengals (327 vs 141), more first downs (22 vs 11), and the Bengals had 6 punts to the Browns 2.  The Bengals defense bailed the team out. Trey Hendrickson had a win rate of 41.7% and rookie Shemar Stewart had some pressures too. The defense had 3 takeaways. It also helped the Bengals that the Browns missed an extra point and field goal. The field goal was a 36 yarder too.  Maybe the Bengals offense will show up week 2?

The Chicago Bears were the better team for the first three quarters, but someone forgot to tell them in the NFL you play four quarters.  The Bears were beating the Vikings 17-6 and Minnesota's offense was nonexistent.  Then the fourth quarter rolls around and JJ McCarthy throws two touchdown passes and rushes for another leading the Vikings to a 27-24 victory against his fellow draftee Caleb Williams in Chicago. 

Another NFC North show down where the Vikings visit the Bears. Kevin O'Connell vs Dennis Allen Ben Johnson vs Brian Flores  First round draft picks from a year quarterbacks Caleb Williams against JJ McCarthy.  This should be a good game.

The Detroit Lions head to Green Bay to take on the Packers. Lions swept the Packers last year and hope to win the NFC North Division for the third consecutive season. Detroit did lose both coordinators, but this team is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Green Bay beat the teams they should have last year, but were bounced from the playoffs early. They lost to the Lions, Vikings, and Eagles all twice (including the playoffs). Packers are hoping Jordan Love, now healthier than last year, picks up where he left off from 2023. They are hoping the new addition of pass rusher Micah Parsons helps put them over the top and retake the division. 

The Tennessee Titans travel to Denver to challenge the Broncos. Rookie Quarterback, Cam Ward is making his debut.  Broncos Quarterback, Bo Nix had a great rookie season last year. Will he regress with a sophomore slump or take the next step? The Broncos have a good team, weapons around Nix, a good defense, and Sean Payton calling the shots. Nix just needs to not screw it up.

The Indianapolis Colts are taking on the Miami Dolphins to open the season. Miami always seems to play really well in September. If Tua Tagovailoa stays healthy this team could be good. The Colts are a better team with Daniel Jones as the quarterback instead of Anthony Richardson, but is that saying much?

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the New York Jets today. Aaron Rodgers taking on his former team. Cam Heyward gets a reworked deal that includes an auditonal $3 million in incentives. The Steelers have a good defense and have weapons around the 41 year old Rodgers. Rodgers doesn't have to win the game, he just needs to not lose it. Aaron Glenn is the first year head coach coming from Detroit last year. We'll see if he can turn it around for the Jets.

The Browns are actually 6-4 against the Bengals the last 10 games, but Cincinnatihas won the last three. I just don't see the 40 year old Flacco led Browns beating the high powered offense of the Burrow led Bengals.  Shedeur Sanders is inactive. He is the emergency quarterback. 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, Xavier Worthy was injured in the loss last night to the Chargers. Will the Chiefs sign or trade for a wide out to help Patrick Mahomes and company? Diontae Johnson is a free agent who is an option. What about trading for former Chief, Tyreek Hill? That would be exciting. 

The Kansas City Chiefs are taking on the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil tonight.  The Chiefs beat the Chargers both games last year. In Kansas City they won by 2 and in LA they won by 7. Both close games, one score games. Anything can happen in close games. A bounce goes one way instead of the other.  This one is on neutral ground. Justin Herbert was a lot better last year with Jim Harbaugh as his coach (he obly threw 3 INTs in the season), but Patrick Mahomes will probably do what he always does in the last few minutes of the game, breaking the opposing team's heart. I expect the Chiefs to win. 

The Detroit Lions have a hard schedule.  They play at Green Bay, at Baltimore, at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, at Washington, and at Philadelphia through the first 11 weeks. They could realistically be 5-6 to start off the year. And then 3 of their last 4 games of the season are at LA Rams, at Minnesota, and at Chicago.  The NFC North is just too good. I think these teams will beat up on each other and don't get three teams making the playoffs again. And remember the Lions also lost both coordinators.

How many points will the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys by tonight? Jerry Jones is a fool for thinking that the Cowboys are a better team after trading Micah Parsons away. The Cowboys got a good player in Kenny Clark, but he's on the wrong side of 30. And yes they got two first round draft picks from the Packers, but that doesn't help them this year (plus those picks will be at best pick 20). 

Brett Favre was 27 years old and in his sixth year in the league when he led the Packers to a Superbowl victory.  Aaron Rodgers was 27 years old and in his sixth year in the league when he led the Packers to a Superbowl victory.  Jordan Love will be 27 in November of this year and he is in his sixth year in the league. Calm down Packer fans.

Did you know the Indianapolis Colts have not won a season opener since 2013? The Colts haven't won the AFC South Division since 2014, haven't won in Jacksonville since 2014, and haven't made the playoffs since 2020. Let's see if any of those things change this year starting with their week one match up against the Miami Dolphins. 

Will Cornerback,  Jaylon Johnson be ready for week one against the Vikings? Johnson apparently injured his groin and hasn't participated mich throughout training camp. Johnson is hopeful to play week one, but training staff and coach may say differently.  Head Coach, Ben Johnson looks to use wide outs, Rome Odunze and DJ Moore like he did when he was calling plays with Amon-Ra St Brown and Jameson Williams in Detroit last year. They may even be using Moore in the backfield.  Monday Night next week will be a tough match up against the Vikings and Defensive Coordinator, Brian Flores.