The 2019 NFC NORTH Title?

[Radagast]

You really sound like a closet Bears fan hahahaha. Their offense is even more mediocre than the Vikings, and their D will not be quite as good as last year. Hot shot pass rushers (not named Julius Peppers) tend to age and fade a lot like RBs. I don't expect Mack to be quite as good this year. In addition, they lost two very good DBs - one of them to us.

Actually, I don't harbor a prejudice against any team, with the possible exception of the Redskins. However they did forgo keeping Cousins and are now regretting it. As for the Bears, I see things as they are and not how I hope they will be. The addition of Khalil Mack elevated their D, while Trubisky has steadily shown improvement. Yes, their DB's will be questionable until we see them play, but with as much at stake, don't assume the Bears aren't aware as well. They will enter 2019 with a Chicago Team that will be building upon their 2018 progress.

I refuse to look at a yellow rose and call it red.

[Upnorth]

The 2019 NFC North Title, or could be a discussion about the division.

What do the Lions need to do to be competitive?

How dangerous will the Vikings offense be in 2019?

Can the Packers beat the Bears defense?

Will the Packers shut down the Bears offense?

Vikings vs Lions, who wins those games?

A stable steady D, if they have fixed the oline very (I hope they havent), yes if we can get the ball out quick and with the new hole in saftey, what bears offense?, unfortunatley the vikings.

[texaspackerbacker]

Radagast, the Bears got lucky last season. I don't say that out of hate, just based on the way their season went. The Vikings, yeah maybe I hate them a little bit because of some past events, but my low opinion of them in general and Cousins in particular is based on recent past performance. Did you see anything in Trubisky to make you think he is more than just ordinary? There are QBs who carry teams, and there are QBs who are just along for the ride. Trubisky strikes me as the latter.

I see you are from Virginia; Is that why you maybe hate the Redskins? I tend to not be a hater, especially based on close geography. The Cowboys have been my second favorite team since they were the NFL expansion rival in the war against the AFL. That's long before I ever lived in Texas. The Texans are probably my third favorite team, but that's maybe more because of J.J. Watt than anything else. I haven't actually hated teams since the pre-merger and early post-merger days with the AFL.

You seem to confuse reality with negativism. And negativism by any other name smells about the same - and it sure ain't roses.

I appreciate you, though, in these generally dull off-season days for bringing some threads and posts of interest - even if your conclusions are often misguided hahahaha.

[run pMc]

The 2019 NFC North Title, or could be a discussion about the division.

What do the Lions need to do to be competitive?

How dangerous will the Vikings offense be in 2019?

Can the Packers beat the Bears defense?

Will the Packers shut down the Bears offense?

Vikings vs Lions, who wins those games?

Well, the Lions skunked the Packers at Lambeau, and have won the last few matches...so if the Lions stink what's that say about the Packers? That said, I have no faith in Matt Patricia. They have a few good players, but they feel like a 5 win team to me. They need pass rush help, they need to sort out their OL, and they have to hope the secondary can play. That RB they drafted last year is pretty good, and they have Stafford and a few WRs (and drafted Hockenson) so they could be a tough out but I don't see playoffs for them.

People forget how dangerous the Vikings O can be, largely thanks to their QB. If Rodgers had Thelen, Diggs, and Rudolph to throw to with Dalvin Cook in the backfield? Not too shabby. Their OL has been a trainwreck, but they are drafting and adding talent there and could bounceback. They tend to have yo-yo seasons -- one good, one bad, one good, etc., so maybe this is their year. Their defense is aging, so I'm inclined to think they need a lot of luck to be more than a wild card team.

The Bears are the NFCN champs until dethroned, and have some very good defensive talent, thanks to Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, etc. Their secondary is ok; swapping Amos for HHCD is a loss for them, losing Bryce Callahan and Vic Fangio will hurt them a bit. Trading Jordan Howard seemed weird to me but I think they wanted someone better in the passing game. Tarik Cohen is dangerous, their WRs are good enough to get the job done. It all comes down to Trubisky - is he a game manager or is he the next elite QB? I'm not sold on him. The Packers beat the Bears by doing a lot of what they did in Game 1 last year -- keeping Kizer on the bench, using quick rhythm stuff to soften up the D and then hit them with a big play. Cobb was always a Bear-killer; someone else needs to step up. Pettine's new pass rush should put pressure on Trubisky and hopefully turn him into the erratic/inaccurate passer he can be at times. Shutting it down is a tall order. Nagy has proven me wrong -- I thought he was gonna be a Marc Trestman -- but they can probably contain the offense. I could see some 20-17 games decided in the 4Q.

Vikings should beat the Lions 4 out of 5 times. They have more talent, and I like Mike Zimmer more than Matt Patricia.

[pbmax]

he wasn't brought in to fine tune anything. he was brought in to completely change it. as he points out in the article, in the new O, there's no reason to change the play and personnel groupings could actually prohibit it. break-downs and 2-min offense are the wild cards and they'll work that out, but as a whole there shouldn't be much opportunity for improvisation...which is a good thing. as i said, if goff can do it rodgers should be all-world at it. he just needs to be disciplined enough to do it.

Its not the personnel groupings, that claim makes no sense to me. I think that is mistaking the case. Rodgers has drawn stuff up in the dirt before, so he doesn't care which group is out there.

The motion and time off the clock perhaps make more sense here, but even that is at most 5-7 seconds of time including a read, the motion, and a re-read. How long does it take for a receiver or TE to reduce his split or for the RB to go out wide? It takes Rodgers less than a second to read the change to the coverage.

More likely might be the coach calling out the adjustment to the D alignment (which can be right up to the 15 second mark). That would put an audible under the gun.

But they do have audibles in this offense, its the 2 play call deal.

Goff is terrible, even in this offense. His weapons are pretty good.

[Radagast]

Tex,

First, I am a proud Virginian, yet I grew up a Packer fan. Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, and Ray Nitschke were my boyhood heroes. I understand that most of Va. is considered to be Redskin territory, so I have had to endure more than my fair share of fans/media coverage.

Second, I've never had a second or back up team. A fellow at work once stated that he had a back up team and was laughed at so hard that he nearly quit.

Last, discounting any NFL team, especially one in your own division, is a bad mistake. One may not like Detroit or Chicago or Minnesota, but their teams players and coaches come from as diverse schools/places as every other team. So dislike other teams fans, but not giving another team their due is foolish and stubborn. I am a Packer fan, but I refuse to not see the truth.

[gbgary]

Its not the personnel groupings, that claim makes no sense to me. I think that is mistaking the case. Rodgers has drawn stuff up in the dirt before, so he doesn't care which group is out there.

The motion and time off the clock perhaps make more sense here, but even that is at most 5-7 seconds of time including a read, the motion, and a re-read. How long does it take for a receiver or TE to reduce his split or for the RB to go out wide? It takes Rodgers less than a second to read the change to the coverage.

More likely might be the coach calling out the adjustment to the D alignment (which can be right up to the 15 second mark). That would put an audible under the gun.

But they do have audibles in this offense, its the 2 play call deal.

Goff is terrible, even in this offense. His weapons are pretty good.

he had a better year than rodgers did last year in almost every stat catagory. pro-football-reference.com/years/2018/passing.htm

[Fritz]

I think most logical people would call this a fight between Minnesota and Chicago for the NFC North, followed by a fight between Detroit and Green Bay for third place.

While I don't think Matt Patricia is the answer, as someone else pointed out, Detroit has beaten Green Bay like a red-headed step child the last couple of seasons.

[ThunderDan]

I think most logical people would call this a fight between Minnesota and Chicago for the NFC North, followed by a fight between Detroit and Green Bay for third place.

While I don't think Matt Patricia is the answer, as someone else pointed out, Detroit has beaten Green Bay like a red-headed step child the last couple of seasons.

Las Vegas has Minn, Chi and GB all with the same odds of winning the North. All have an over/under of 9 wins.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

^ There are always special brands of stupid. Everywhere you go.

Speaking of which, I would LOVE to know what was supposed to happen. Because a snap to one guy doesn't seem to make sense.

Next time, put an agile horse back there AND line him up in the shotgun. Have the center block the LE. Ball carrier should run left and juke the left corner. Easy 6. We all know corners can’t tackle, so the odds favor the carrier. However, if the D is in the Pistol Force, agile horse should lateral the rock to the punter for a punt.

[mraynrand]

Next time, put an agile horse back there AND line him up in the shotgun. Have the center block the LE. Ball carrier should run left and juke the left corner. Easy 6. We all know corners can’t tackle, so the odds favor the carrier. However, if the D is in the Pistol Force, agile horse should lateral the rock to the punter for a punt.

take the effing delay of game penalty and punt the ball

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Tex,

First, I am a proud Virginian, yet I grew up a Packer fan. Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, and Ray Nitschke were my boyhood heroes. I understand that most of Va. is considered to be Redskin territory, so I have had to endure more than my fair share of fans/media coverage.

Second, I've never had a second or back up team. A fellow at work once stated that he had a back up team and was laughed at so hard that he nearly quit.

Last, discounting any NFL team, especially one in your own division, is a bad mistake. One may not like Detroit or Chicago or Minnesota, but their teams players and coaches come from as diverse schools/places as every other team. So dislike other teams fans, but not giving another team their due is foolish and stubborn. I am a Packer fan, but I refuse to not see the truth.

Tex was actually a Racist, err Redskins, fan til some Roman Catholic paddy forced the Skins to mix, well, skins. In fact, if you check out the Sports Illustrated article about the “Redskins” ordeal, you’ll see a pic of Tex protesting and holding a sign that reads, ironically, “Keep the Redskins white!”

No I keed, I keed. Tex was a Packers fan til he moved to Texas. Dude hopped off the Packer bandwagon and become a Cowboys fan during their glorious debacles in the 90’s.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

take the effing delay of game penalty and punt the ball

But that’s what the D is expecting. Snap the rock out of the shotgun and do what i insisted above and it’s an easy 6.

Trust me, I know my football. I was a shutdown corner in high school after all. Even shut down Darren Charles in a game.

[mraynrand]

Trust me

not a chance

[Anti-Polar Bear]

not a chance

Yo, notice that Fritz is back from vacation? Wish I could afford a nice vacation. But alas, I flip burgers for the minimum-wage.

The fishmongers are giving me a week of paid time off in the middle of July, but they don’t pay me enough, so can’t visit some tropical island and score. Probably will just dance in the Matrix.