Vikings-Bears: You have to try to be happy for somebody in this game, and with me, it's never the Bears. So I'll go with McCarthy, who flipped the switch on in the fourth quarter and got the job done in his first career start. The Bears helped him do it by melting down in all three phases when it mattered. It was funny to watch the direct communication between the kick returner and O'Connell in the waning seconds.

Jeez, I can't imagine how much it must suck to be a Bears fan. They start off with so much optimism every year with new personnel or coaches, but as usual, the boo birds were out when the clock struck zero.

The Vikings won because of two x packers. Jones and Wilson.
Wilson blocked punt and Aaron jones on the wheel route

He did a wheel route the last year he played for the Packers in the first game of the year vs the bears but pulled his hamstring inChicago.

Aaron Jones should have stayed and played behind Jacob’s .
He had his most carry’s ever last year . Now he the 2nd back with the Vikings.

I would really like to see Lloyd get on the field and see what he can do to get that part of the running game going again.
May be

Brooks need to get that going or Amar Johnson

Prognosticators said that the Lions would take the division - but none of them (except me) thought that losing their OC and DC would matter because they had anointed Dan Campbell as their savior and all would be fine. They were wrong.

These same prognosticators also said that the Vikings would place second - but none of them (except me) thought that their 2nd-year rookie QB would play like a rookie QB. They all were still praising J.J. for his collegiate career. The Vikes O-Line struggled in the first half but finally got it's footing in the second half when the Bears wore out. And the juggernaut offense was less jug and more not. The running game was weak, and the passing game was not much better. Yet they prevailed.

Then there's the Bears, who, after all the hype and hyperbole, showed that they were still Da Bears - a plethora of players with no soul. The O-Line struggled to open running lanes or keep Caleb Williams intact (6 pressures). Their Defense wore out and then just died in the fourth quarter. The "good football coach" Ben Johnson (yes, he called himself that) may have been an offensive guru, but his staff is still a work in progress. Just because you inherited a collection of able bodies looking for a leader, doesn't mean that you will automatically win games because you took over - especially when you are the Bears. I think Ben is realizing that today.

And finally, our Green Bay Packers. Slow start - not on Sunday. Weak run defense - not on Sunday. WR dropsies - not on Sunday. Special Teams miscues - not on Sunday. Only 4 penalties for 40 yards. Packers Defense didn't allow much traction for the Lions Offense, forcing them into long punts which resulted in shorter fields for the Packers Offense. The Parsons effect was evident, the crowd fed off that and truly became the 12th man.

Heck of a first week.

The Bears and Vikings looked as expected: inconsistent, poor execution, and far from contenders.

Bears' fans saw enough to continue their delusions about their offense, but when they looked good it was because of guys making plays not because of a good offensive unit. Two or three 50-50 plays went their way on the opening drive and next to nothing the rest of the way-- three points in about 50 minutes.

Viking fans are living with a rookie QB. He gave a little excitement now and then but overall it was sloppy. And he didn't impress with his arm; it was fast ball after fast ball.

Leatherhead and I…among others, often suggested that the Lions would tumble. I have several times called Campbell a big dufus. His knee caps were the ones bitten on Sunday. 1-TD with a minute remaining—so much for the highest scoring team. And good luck this season Campbell attempting 4th down conversions.
After watching the Vikings and Bears -they had better improve fast if they believe they can compete for a division title. They’ve already put McCarthy in the HOF after one game…he was awful for 3 quarters…good luck with that.
O’Connell’s smug/smarta$$ facial expressions bug me—bad.
Go Packers!!!

"Perhaps the Packers have one of the league's best defenses, and Goff will rebound."

I'll go with that, it's one game against what will probably be the toughest defense he plays this year. I'd be shocked if the Lions aren't in the running for who wins the North. IN addition to Goff, they have a ton of talent.

What few have mentioned is that all these teams have improved defenses at least till they get gassed. I think this will be a fun season in the NFC North. Buckle up and get ready to be tested while the Packers win the division.

Ben Johnson can still look forward to beating Matt LaFleur twice a year but until then THE BEARS STILL SUCK.!

Goff has never handled pressure well. He immediately goes to his check down when he sees defenders coming toward him. Lots of completions for minimal gain.

What impressed me most about the Bears-Vikings game was the calm deneanor and cool leadership of HC Kevin O' Connell. Especially when the Bears were having their way with McCarthy and the rest of the Vikings for 2+ quarters. So no volcanic eruptions, or wild gesticulating or broodiness from him. Certainly some HCs should take note.

I tried to watch most of that Monday night game. I wanted to see what the NFC North looked like after seeing what the Packers did to Detroit. For a good while, that game was tough to watch. Neither team looked all that good. I'll give it McCarthy for not letting the early pick six define him and have him crawl in a shell. The kid rebounded very well. The Vikings are a well coached team, I'll give em that.

Oh the Bears. Biggest winners of the off season for how many years running? Laid a pretty big home opening turd. Bears....just being Bears.

That game made me feel all the more optimistic about this year's Packer team.

I'm not a huge Watson fan- yes, he's an athletic freak but I think the Packers have other WRs who are more skilled in the craft than Watson- but I have to say, I think it was not only a class move by the Packers to extend Watson through 2026 for a fair market price even while he's rehabbing, and it will be fun to see Watson and Golden both on the perimeter with Doubs, Reed, Wicks, Heath, Williams.. hell, anyone working with all that open space underneath.

RE the Lions: HAHAHAHAAH. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of guys and fans.
RE the Bears: Yep. They are the Bears. Still. Time is a flat circle.
RE the Vikings: They are not going to keep this one score win streak alive for long. It can’t happen. JJ, even if good (and he was NOT on MNF) is going to have lots of growing pains.

It’s our division. The world is as it should be.

I wanted to watch the MN - CHI game but had to settle for the highlights, which makes me reluctant to make any pronouncements on the two teams. It did not seem as though either team had a good offensive line. Chicago traded for Thuney and Jonah Jackson, sending modest picks and picking up a couple of sizable contracts, and then outbid everyone for Center Drew Dalman. Caleb can really run but most of the time on the highlights anyway, he had to. No idea how Ryan Kelly and Will Fries did for MN. The stats did not sound great. I don't subscribe to PFF.

A lot of good teams are up against the salary cap in 2026. Detroit is $32M over the cap that year but they ought to roll over $20M or so. They only have 38 players under contract so that means $10M to get to 51. They have lots of players making huge amounts of cash, so converting salary to signing bonuses to generate cap savings should be easy. The thing that is hard is deciding which players are keeper (acceptable to put large dead money amounts on their deals) and which a team should retain flexibility with.

That said, Goff has a $69M cap number in 2026, with $55M in cash (all guaranteed), and a $14.6M proration. Translated, he has $98M dead but $70M of the dead money comes off the books in 2026. Detroit should try to bite that bullet as much as possible. I think I would wait to see if Goff, age 31, can perform with an average OL and a coach not named Johnson or McShay. Remember, it is not easy to find and keep high quality QBs. GB did it, but at the cost of eschewing playing the QB on a cheap QB contract.

Hutchinson has a $19M cap number in 2026 since he is on his 5th year option. I think I'd wait until December to decide whether to extend him and for how much. Jameson Williams has a $16M cap number for 2026 since that is his 5th year option, but no one has reported the details of his $27M per year new deal. I imagine his 2026 cap number will be less than $16M.