Impressions of the NFC North

I’ve watched each NFC North team play at least twice now and I’ve formed some opinions about each squad. Here they are.

Vikings (4-0):
The good: Brett Favre’s play the past two games gives me hope we have a passing game. His stats against the Packers aside, Adrian Peterson has been great. So has Jared Allen. Percy Harvin’s looked pretty good and the special teams’ play has improved (and it needs to improve more – the coverage units are still giving up too many long returns).

The bad: Not much, although I feel the defence has yet to play up to its potential. Maybe they’re getting lazy with all the points the Vikings offence is scoring. Other than that, I guess the recent play of safeties Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson has me a bit concerned.

However, this team hasn’t played its best football yet and it’s still 4-0. There are some big tests coming up that will determine how good this team really is. But I think they are pretty good – as long as Favre stays healthy.

Bears (3-1)
Jay Cutler’s play has been so-so in his first four games with Chicago. But when Cutler’s been on, you can see what he brings to the Bears. I don’t believe Chicago’s receivers have gotten a whole lot better since last year. But they are more productive. And that’s thanks to Cutler. His arm strength, his fearlessness and his ability to make fantastic throws under duress makes the Earl Bennett’s and Devin Hester’s look better than they actually are. (Note: rookie Johnny Knox does look like a player though.) Cutler can make throws Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman couldn’t make in year’s past.

Also noteworthy: the Bears defence has looked like its 2006 self at times. So the Bears are dangerous. My prediction of a 9-7 season for them might have been off by a couple of games.

Packers (2-2)
My prediction of an 11-5 record and a divisional title for Green Bay looks a little off as well. I like Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offensive capabilities. But after watching that offensive line in action Monday night, I don’t think they can win consistently with that going on. I also don’t think they can keep Rodgers out of the ER with that going on. The new 3-4 defence giving up 30 points against the Vikings can’t be encouraging for Packers fans, either.

Lions (1-3)
Assuming Matt Stafford’s kneecap problem doesn’t cost him too many games, the Lions could be a fun team to watch. Stafford looks legit. He’s missing on too many makeable throws right now, but the Stafford-to-Calvin Johnson combination looked lethal against the Bears last Sunday. Rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew is also a talent. The Lions will score points, but because the defence is still pretty bad, they’ll give them up, too. Detroit will be in a lot of shootouts. Fun times.

Familiar faces in new places
The Pro Football Reference site talks about the great start Darren Sharper is having with the New Orleans Saints.

I guess this is where I’m supposed to rant about the terrible mistake the Vikings made letting Sharper go this offseason. But I’m not going to do it.

If Sharper were still a Viking, I’m confident he wouldn’t be doing what he’s done with the Saints. Sharper was a weak link (along with linebacker Napoleon Harris) on an otherwise excellent defence in 2008. Here were the debits on his ledger: He wasn’t much for tackling anybody, he looked like he’d lost two (maybe even three) steps and his playmaking ability (read: making interceptions) had pretty much disappeared since the Vikings switched to the Cover Two scheme in 2006.

So I find no fault in what the Vikings didn’t do with Sharper – namely re-signing him. Perhaps the mistake they did make was thinking Tyrell Johnson was ready to replace him, because what, exactly, has Johnson done so far this season?

MIA Viking bloggers
Most regular Viking blog readers already know this, but Joe Fischer, the mastermind behind the Pacifist Viking site, has taken a leave of absence from writing because his little boy broke his leg recently. I wish the little fella' all the best in his recovery. I also wish PV a speedy return to blogging. Holy Hitter is doing a nice job in relief, but I miss Fischer’s level-headed analysis on the Vikings.

Another long-time Viking blogger on hiatus is The Ragnarok’s T-Bird. He went three months without posting in the spring before coming back to us. But the return was brief. He's now gone another month without posting.

I don’t mean to call out T-Bird here – none of us are getting paid for this and he can post as much as he pleases. But I always enjoy his previews during the season and his takes on some of the overlooked aspects of the Vikings, like this post about their 2008 return game.

Where have you gone T-Bird? Has the sight of Favre wearing purple sucked out your enthusiasm for all things Vikings-related?

Don’t know if you care, but here goes ....
It snowed in Yellowknife today, making it the perfect time to take a vacation to Australia.

Which is what I’m doing. As I mentioned in a post last week, I’ll be in Sydney, Australia for the next two weeks competing in the World Masters Games in the sport of fastball. (Before you start thinking I’m some kind of “elite” athlete, full disclosure here – anybody can enter these games. You just need to pay your registration fee and be willing to spend 16 straight hours on an airplane.)

Anyway, while the stay in Oz will do wonders for my tan, it could make blogging hit and miss – most likely, miss – while I’m there. Between the 12-hour-or-so time difference between Sydney and the North American midwest and the fact there will likely be few sports bars showing the Vikings-Rams game this week, it’s going to be tough to post regularly. I still plan to, but if it doesn’t happen, just assume I’m either playing ball, drinking to excess, finishing off a Vegemite sandwich or I’ve been eaten by a great white shark.