The Packers go into Week 9 with a half-game lead over the Bears in the NFC North, and with the Lions and Vikings wallowing at the bottom. Quite a difference from last season at this time (a la Don Banks):
Last year through eight games, the Packers were 4-4, trailed Minnesota by three games plus the head-to-head tiebreaker in the NFC North, and couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers longer than two Mississippi's per pass play. Green Bay then proceeded to go 7-1 in the second half and make the NFC playoff field. By comparison, the Packers, for all their injuries, are on easy street at midseason this year. They're a half-game better than the Bears, comfortably ahead of the Vikings, and have the closest thing to a double bye coming up -- home against Dallas, then off in Week 10. (Yeah, I said it, Cowboys. Like you don't deserve that one?)
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/11/03/nfl-power-rankings-week-9-2/index.html#ixzz14Kq5DlEx
All the rest of the Division will have played their games by the time we kickoff against the Cowboys at Lambeau.
The dysfunctional Vikings will be hosting the troubled Cardinals. Both these teams have fallen unimaginably far from their 2009 playoff form. The Cardinals can’t decide which quarterback is the lesser of several evils. And the Vikings -- wow! Where to begin? Suffice it to say that Minnesota has to win this home game, otherwise I have to think that everything is going to come crumbling down around them.
The Bears, meanwhile, head to Toronto to play the winless Buffalo Bills. By all rights, this should be a “W” for Chicago, but if I were a Bears fan, I’d be very afraid of this one. The Bills are better than their record, and the Bears are not as good as theirs. If Buffalo (and newly acquired Shawn Merriman) can get any pressure on Cutler, I can imagine this one going the Bills’ way.
The Lions, fresh off their big win against the Redskins -- a game which has evidently spurred many troubles in Redskin-land -- get the toughest draw of the week in the NFC North: they have to host the angry New York Jets. I would be willing to say that the Lions are the least troubled team in our Division right now (not the most talented, but the least troubled). Still, I don’t think they have enough of what it takes to beat the Jets.
Finally, the culmination of a Sunday of football will be the Cowboys’ trip to Lambeau Field. Dallas and Minnesota are neck-and-neck in the race for most disappointing team in 2010, though I think Dallas holds a slight edge in that race. First, they lost to the Vikings head-to-head. And, second, the conventional wisdom is that the players have quit.
If I thought that there was cohesion and pride in that locker room, I’d be afraid of this game. As it is, I feel pretty confident that, if we just do our job, we’ll win this game.
Bottom line…?
I’m looking for victories by everyone in the Division except the Lions.
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