Midwest Sports

Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers have both downplayed the "revenge game" narrative when the Packers travel to Pittsburgh for Sunday Night Football.  Jordan Love has thrown 10 touchdowns, only 2 interceptions, and completed 69% of his passes. The offense is averaging 26.3 points per game (7th best in the league). The Packers defense is only giving up just over 20 points per game, but they are giving up 13.7 points in the fourth quarter.  Green Bay needs to clean up the penalties (averaging 8.3 per game), lower their points against in the second half, and have better clock management. 

The Kansas City Chiefs are sitting third in the AFC West at 4-3. The Denver Broncos are 5-2 and the Los Angeles Chargers are 5-3. The Chargers already beat the Chiefs this year. Patrick Mahomes has thrown for 14 touchdowns and only two picks. The Kansas City defense is only allowing 17.7 points per game, but opponents have been able to run the ball on them. They give up an average of 105 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry.  If they want to catch the Broncos and Chargers and make a playoff push, they'll have to improve their run defense. Possibly make a trade for an interior defensive lineman.  Kansas City takes on the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football. 

The Denver Broncos made an improbable comeback when they scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Giants 33-32.  Bo Nix has solid numbers this year throwing for 11 touchdowns and rushing for another. He isn't losing games for Denver which is critical.  Did you know the Broncos defense has 34 sacks? Yes 34 sacks through 7 games! They are on pace to break the record for team sacks in a single season by 10! The current record is held by the 1984 Bears who had 72 sacks that season. The Broncos are on pace to have over 82 this year. Sacks are drive killers. Which is a big reason why the Broncos are 5-2. Denver is averaging 4.86 sacks per game. The defense also only gives up 18.1 points per game.

The Indianapolis Colts have the best record in football going into week 8. Daniel Jones has completed 71% of his passes, thrown for 10 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions, has thrown almost 1,800 yards, and he adds 4 rushing touchdowns to the mix.  Throw in Jonathan Taylor who has 697 rushing yards, a 5.32 average per rush, and 10 rushing touchdowns. Plus a defense that has 9 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries, and only gives up 19.3 points per game. That is a recipe for success. It goes to show you that yes players need to have talent, but put them in the right situation with playmakers and good coaching and they'll succeed. Looks like the Giants gave up on Jones too soon.  It is looking like Daniel Jones' one year deal for $14 million was the steal of the offseason for the Colts. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a close game to a division rival on the road on a short week. Aaron Rodgers threw 4 touchdowns, but had 2 picks. Jaylen Warren rushed for over 100 yards. Pat Freiermuth and DK Metcalf are catching machines. But the Steelers did let the Bengals beat them with a 40 year old Joe Flacco under center...and he's only been in Cincinnati 3 weeks. Did you know Head Coach, Mike Tomlin has a 2-10 record in Thursday night games? He is also a surprising 0-7 against AFC North teams on Thursday nights. Sunday Night Football should be a good game when the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers host Rodgers' former team, the Green Bay Packers. 

Did Joe Flacco put life into the Cincinnati offense? He was pretty good in the second half against the Packers and played well and beat the Steelers last Thursday. He threw for 3 touchdowns and had no picks against a good Pittsburgh defense. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins had 22 receptions for 257 yards combined and each had a touchdown catch. Chase Brown decided to finally show up and rushed for over 100 yards. And the Bengals only had 4 penalties.  They played a clean game and played well. Now they'll take on a bad Jets team that benched Justin Fields and is starting Tyrod Taylor at quarterback this Sunday. 

I felt bad for Carson Wentz on Thursday Night when he got manhandled by a Chargers defense that sacked him 3 times and was in his face hitting him often. He looked to be in pain and if the Vikings had anyone else to turn to besides an undrafted rookie quarterback in Max Brosmer, I think the Vikings would have started that someone else.  Wentz was working behind a patchwork offensive line that was missing right tackle, Brian O'Neill and lost left tackle, Christian Darrisaw during the game. You wonder why JJ McCarthy got hurt and Wentz is now hurt? The Vikings o-line is hurt and the backups are bad. There's a reason they're backups. Wentz is probably hoping McCarthy is healthy enough to play against the Lions a week from Sunday. Oh by the way, Detroit has a better defense then the Chargers.  On another note, wide out Justin Jefferson looked visibly frustrated. He's had 8 different quarterbacks throw him the ball in his 6 seasons in Minnesota. He has never won a playoff ga...

The Chicago Bears ran the ball well and played good defense?  The Bears has 222 rushing yards against the Saints on Sunday. Yes the Saints are bad, but that is win number 4 in a row for Chicago. The defense had 3 picks as well. I still think Caleb Williams will be the first 4,000 yard passer for the Bears. Does any other franchise not have a 4,000 yard passer in a single season?

The Detroit Lions beat a very good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team on Monday. Baker Mayfield was playing well and in the MVP conversation.  The Lions held the Bucs to 9 points. They sacked Mayfield 4 times and had 11 quarterback hits. And can you name any of their starting cornerbacks or safeties from Monday night? Their entire starting secondary was out for that game and it didn't matter. Detroit's defense was still dominant.  I really look forward to the Thanksgiving day game rematch against the Packers. The Lipns are a much different team then the first week at Lambeau Field.

The Vikings lost to the Eagles 28-22.  Minnesota had more first downs then Philadelphia. Minnesota converted 7 of 15 third downs, were 1 for 1 on fourth down, and held the Eagles to 45 yards rushing. Yes Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts were still playing.  The Vikings defense had too many times where they had 8 men in the box. Why would you do that when Hurts has DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown to throw to.  The biggest difference in this game was quarterback play. Carson Wentz threw 2 bad interceptions and took costly sacks. Hurts bought his wide outs time and extended plays.  Minnesota may be kicking themselves for not resigning Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones, both of whom are in the MVP conversation. They could of also signed Aaron Rodgers. 

The Indianapolis Colts are averaging 257 passing yards per game, 130 rushing yards per game, and 33 points per game. This team was 8-9 last year. Now with Daniel Jones they are 6-1. Jones has 10 passing touchdowns and 4 rushing touchdowns.  It seems he learned a lot from Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota last year who seems to be the next quarterback whisperer (see how Sam Darnold is doing in Seattle). Think the Vikings are regretting not resigning Jones or Darnold this year?

The Green Bay Packers went into Arizona and barely beat a bad Cardinals team. They had 10 penalties, were 3 of 10 on third downs, and needed 14 points in the fourth quarter to come back and win. Right now I strongly believe this Packers team is good, but Head Coach, Matt LaFleur will cost them games against good teams or in a playoff game with his mismanagement.  He sends the field goal unit out on the field to tie the game, then realizes there is too much time on the clock left for Arizona so he blows a time out to change his mind and go for it. Don't get me wrong, it worked out this time, but against good teams in the playoffs you can't waste time outs like that (time outs are like gold) and he won't be able to score 14 in the fourth quarter against playoff teams. LaFleur should be on the hot seat. He almost cost them the game against Dallas (wasting too much time) and then this mishap against Arizona. 

If I told you at the end of this season Aaron Rodgers throws for 3,471 yards, 34 passing touchdowns, and has 10 interceptions, would you think the Steelers had a good season? Of course you would think that!? Those are the numbers Rodgers is on pace for. He is playing well and the Steelers are 4-1. The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals are both hit with the injury bug and the Cleveland Browns will be going threw growing pains with a rookie quarterback. So the Steelers are going to win the division by default, but they are a team with a good defense and a smart quarterback that won't lose them games.  That Sunday Night Football game the Steelers take on the Packers should be a good game in a couple weeks. Rodgers takes on his former team.

The NFC North is very interesting with the every team having a winning record.  Packers lead the way with a 3-1-1 record, followed by Lions at 4-2, Bears at 3-2, and Vikings at 3-2.  Green Bay's defense is giving up 12 points...in the fourth quarter! The Packers are also averaging 7.5 penalties per game. The Vikings are giving up 132.2 rushing yards per game. JJ McCarthy's completion percentage needs to improve (if he takes back the starting QB1 job from Carson Wentz). The Lions defense is letting their opponents convert 40% of their third downs. The Detroit defense also gives up a touchdown once their opponent gets in the red zone 66.7% of the time. Bears are averaging 1 turnover per game. Chicago's defense is giving up about 30 points per game as well. Things these teams need to clean up to separate the pretenders from the contenders. 

In a rare inter-division trade, the Cleveland Browns are sending quarterback, Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.  I don't know if Joe Flacco is an upgrade over Jake Browning. Browning has thrown eight interceptions this year, but he is mobile. Flacco wasn't very mobile in his prime and he's ten years past his prime NFL days. We'll see if Flacco can help keep the Bengals afloat until Joe Burrow comes back. 

The Indianapolis Colts host the Las Vegas Raiders. Both teams are coming off a loss last week, but the Colts are 3-1 and the Raider are 1-3. The Raiders gave up the winning touchdown against the Bears (yes they Bears!) last week with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter. Kicker Daniel Carlson's field goal attempt was blocked and they lossed by 1. It didn't help Las Vegas turned the ball over 4 times. Indianapolis is only giving up just over 20 points per game. The defense has 4 interceptions and 10 sacks on the year. The Colts lost last week to the Rams. They gave up 462 yards, 24 first downs, and had 3 turnovers. Colts offense has been a surprise this year being 4th in passing, 8th in rushing, and 4th in scoring. They lost to a good Rams team last week by 7. Expect them to bounce back and add another to the win column. 

Third round rookie quarterback, Dillon Gabriel is making his first NFL start. He is the first quarterback to make his first start overseas.  I'm surprised it took this long for head coach Kevin Stefanski to make a change at quarterback. Even in his prime, Joe Flacco wasn't very mobile. Now at age 40 he has been a statue.  Cam Robinson was recently aquired from the Houston Texans this week and is expected to start at left tackle for the Browns. Cam Robinson played left tackle for the Vikings last year after Christian Darrisaw tore his knee.  Expect a very low scoring game with the Vikings pulling big men off the street to play on their offensive line and the Browns starting a rookie quarterback. 

The Detroit Lions are averaging over 34 points per game and the Cincinnati Bengals defense hasn't really stopped anyone. The Lions put up 52 points against the Bears, 38 points against the Ravens, and 34 points against the Browns. All of those teams have good defenses. The Bengals do not. I expect the Lions to get ahead early and keep the lead. The only chance the Bengals have is if their defense forces turnovers. Unfortunately, Cincinnati defense has only 2 turnovers and 6 sacks this season.

The Denver Broncos have been searching for their next franchise quarterback since Peyton Manning retired. They may have found it in Bo Nix. Nix had more passing touchdowns, more passing yards, and a high passer rating than John Elway did in his first season.  If this is the year someone dethrones Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, it just may be the Broncos. Nix is playing well and Denver has a great defense. We'll see how they play against a tough Eagles team this weekend. 

Remember last year's Detroit Lions defensive injury list? The Minnesota Vikings offensive injury list is looking similar. Their left tackle, Christian Darrisaw tore his knee last year and wasn't ready the first two weeks. He has played the last two weeks, but not up to par. Rookie left guard, Donovan Jackson had surgery on his wrist and is out. Center, Ryan Kelly got his second concussion in three weeks. He's out this week. Right tackle, Brian O'Neill sprained his MCL and is out this week as well.  People were criticizing JJ McCarthy's play (who is also injured, I wonder why?) and Carson Wentz's play. The Vikings haven't had the five starters on the offensive line play together and their backups are terrible (there is a reason they are backups). The offensive struggles are not on the quarterbacks.  Now this week the Vikings play the Browns who have one of the best defenses in the NFL. As long as Myles doesn't line up against Darrisaw, he'll have at l...

Which Green Bay team will show up the rest of the season? The team that held the Lions and Commanders to less than 100 total rushing yards or the team that allowed the Joe Flacco led Browns and CeeDee Lambless Cowboys to beat them? The Packers had a field goal blocked against the Browns and an extra point blocked and returned for 2 points against the Cowboys.  How does Rich Bisaccia still have a job? I think its safe to say Matt LaFleur is happy to have a bye week to hopefully straighten out the costly mistakes and penalties. LaFleur needs to look in the mirror as well because some of his play calls and game management has been questionable to put it nicely. Matt LaFleur's seat may be getting warm. Remember his win percentage without Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback is only 53%.