Detroit Lions aren’t the only NFC North team struggling

As the frustrated Detroit Lions watch their season slip away, a quick look around the division is a reminder that their rivals are having a hard time too.

A few months ago, I tried to make a little sense of what at the time was a pretty weird NFC North division. Since then, while it’s gotten a lot less weird for all involved, it’s becoming more and more frustrating for the majority of them.

The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers find themselves coming up far short of their lofty preseason aspirations as we move into the final month of 2018.

Disappointment is the theme in the NFC North

I get it that every team’s stated “expectation” at the start of the year is to win the division (and then win the Super Bowl, and everyone gets ice cream sandwiches, and so on). Even so, the amount of underachieving happening within the division compared to legitimate preseason expectations has been notable.

It’s easy to get tunnel vision about the Lions’ woes. After getting used to at least being competitive in nearly game with Jim Caldwell, it’s gotten to the point that some are now even  giving partial credit to the team for only losing to the Rams by two touchdowns. A quick look around the division though, reveals that the Honolulu Blues aren’t alone in failing to thrive. They might not even be in the worst shape compared to their rivals.

What’s going on with the Vikings? They were legit Super Bowl contenders, returning most key pieces from last year’s 13-3 squad, adding perhaps the league’s two biggest free agent signees, and getting Dalvin Cook back from injury. Instead of bulldozing through the regular season as expected, Minnesota looks like they’ll be fighting just for a playoff spot right up to the last week of the regular season.

At 6-5-1, the Vikes still have a road game at Seattle (oh yeah, and one in Ford Field FWIW), and end the season against Chicago. Missing out on the playoffs would be considered a massive bust considering where they sat a year ago.

Then there’s Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers was healthy again. That’s pretty much the only thing that has mattered in the past, so you can forgive Packers brass for thinking that would be enough once again…that has not been the case. Mike McCarthy didn’t even make it to the end of the season, and Green Bay’s playoff hopes are effectively as dead as Detroit’s with a month still remaining.

I’ll even include the Bears on this to some extent, even though their rebuilding project has gone far ahead of schedule. Chicago is 8-4, but literally three plays away from being 11-1 and competing for home field advantage in the NFC.

Arizona Cardinals: coach killers?

Up next for the Lions on this season’s Regression Tour is the 3-9 Arizona Cardinals.

How bad are the Cardinals this year? I can start by pointing out the obvious. Statistically, they have the worst offense in the NFL, with the fewest total yards and fewest points in the league. What happened on Sunday is a much better illustration of the type of team they have: they’re so bad that opposing coaches get fired for losing to team.

Arizona may only have three wins, but that shouldn’t make Matt Patricia any more comfortable about the matchup. By shocking the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, they became the first team in the league this year to get another head coach fired. Could they pull an ultra-rare double and do it in back-to-back weeks*?

With offensive weapons dropping like flies and Matthew Stafford‘s accuracy gone walkabout along with his ball security instincts, it might require an offensive lineman playing wideout for the Lions to get to 16 points for a third time in a row. Luckily, the Cardinals average only 14.6 for the season, so that should be enough to get a W this time around.

*Just to be clear, my personal opinion is that even if the Lions keep losing, Matt Patricia’s job security won’t be under any real fire until at least the midway point of next season. 

How are things looking on the Playoff Machine?

It’s going to be another week or two before the Lions are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. As it stands, there are still plenty of ways to still make it in at 8-8 (I even found one way to sneak them in at 7-9. Such are my priorities in life). This of course involves a chaos of mediocrity throughout the NFC, but that’s sort of been par for the course in the conference this year.

Every time a mid-level team starts to get hot, they can be counted on for a decent multigame slide right back to the middle (case in point, the Panthers). The most frustrating part about this is that the Lions have such a week schedule to finish up, if (a) the offense had a pulse or (b) Stafford would protect the ball, three more wins shouldn’t be too much to ask (unless they go full tank).

Final thought: As I write this, Golden Tate just scored a touchdown for the Eagles on Monday Night Football…