Nick's Sports Sprint: September 28 2020 NFC North Update


The NFL was the main attraction on Sunday, and let's be honest. There's only one division worth talking about. The Black and Blue Division. The best division. The pride of the Midwest. The all-worldly NFC North. So forget the rest of the NFL, let's talk NFC North and only the NFC North on this Sports Sprint. And honestly, since I love Twitter, we may just let it do most of the talking for me.


LIONS TWEETS TO MAKE YOU SMILE

Matt Prater is a great boot. Not quite Jason Hanson legendary, but he is getting there. Pretty crazy to consider the Lions have had three main kickers since 1980. Here's to you Eddie Murray. 


This is pretty impressive stuff. I know Larry is old, but I can't believe that we held him without a catch! Even more impressive is that he has had at least one catch in every game for the past sixteen years....second best of his time behind only Megatron.


I love Twitter.

 

LIONS MUSINGS

Yes, I know, the Lions won this week! This is great news, but horrible news. I want Matt Patricia gone. I think he is a dumpster fire of a head coach, and this win prevents the 0-4 start that could have led to his dismissal. It's only delaying the inevitable people...but I suppose he now has to suffer through it with us instead of an early buyout. 336 days after our last win, we finally won one! So celebrate it up! Until you see this humbling headline from the Detroit Free Press...

Matt Patricia is 3-0 in Week 3. 3-0! He has beaten the Patriots, Eagles and Cardinals now, and the other two teams went to the playoffs (Good omen for Arizona?) Do you know what his record is in the other 16 weeks? 7-24-1...

Week by Week breakdown:

Week 1: 0-2-1 (tie @AZ)                   Week 10: 0-2

Week 2: 1-2  (def LAC)                     Week 11: 1-1 (CAR)

Week 3: 3-0 (NE, @PHI, @AZ)       Week 12: 0-2

Week 4: 0-2                                       Week 13: 0-2

Week 5: 1-0 (GB)                              Week 14: 1-1 (@AZ)

Week 6: 0-1                                       Week 15: 0-2

Week 7: 1-1 (@MIA)                        Week 16: 0-2

Week 8: 1-1 (NYG)                           Week 17: 1-1 (@GB)

Week 9: 0-2


When you look at his weekly record, one thing is abundantly clear. He OWNS the Arizona Cardinals. Patricia is 2-0-1 vs the Cardinals, all on the road! He is 8-24 vs the rest of the league. So while this was exciting today, he clearly has some voodoo magic against the Cardinals in Glendale. So don't expect this to carry over to the home game against Drew Brees and New Orleans next week...

Also, sidebar. The NFL scheduling formula is cool and all, but can we play someone other than Arizona once in a while? They have become our fourth biggest rival because we literally play them every season. As much as I appreciate the rivalry with the Cardinals, variety would be cool. Dating back to 2012, the Lions and Cardinals have played in eight of those nine campaigns (2016 was our off year). Perhaps even more absurd...we have been on the road SIX times in those eight games, including the past three!!! So to the NFL Schedule makers, thanks for building a natural rival. To Arizona, it's on. We despise your franchise. You are our rival now. (By the way, NFL schedule rotation has us playing again in 2021, but it is in Detroit, so the streak continues).


DAAAAAA BEARS
Forget the Comeback Cats. The real late-game heroes in this league are the Chicago Bears. Yes the first one came against the cursed Detroit Lions, and the second one was against the newly cursed Atlanta Falcons (though I'd take cursed and still in the Super Bowl), the fact that they have two HUGE fourth quarter comebacks is impressive. In fact, it's historic.


It's pretty remarkable how Nick Foles has built his career. A journeyman that began in a QB room at Michigan State many moons ago, he has proven to this league that he can succeed every time he gets the chance! But he doesn't get his fair chance to be THE guy anywhere...I'd be shocked to see anyone but him start next week, but then again, it is the Bears...here's the game winner one more time:
One bad piece of news for the Bears. It appears Tarik Cohen may have torn his ACL. A real weapon in their offense, that could be a big loss for them going forward.

OH VIKES....

It's baaaaaack! LOVE this clip. And the Lions aren't in last place anymore. Is Captain Kirk in trouble of losing his job to Trevor Lawrence next fall? Stay tuned....

I love Kirk Cousins. As a Holland Christian grad and Michigan State grad, he instantly has to be one of my favorites. You've all seen the B1G speech right? If you haven't, click here. But the man has struggled this year! I mean, the SKOR North has the Kirk Cousins Blame-O-Meter...

He has only completed 59% of his passes, and he has five touchdowns and six interceptions. This team isn't solely 0-3 because of him, but he is playing quite horribly right now. 

There were some highlights today:

Justin Jefferson appears to be on his way to become an absolute BEAST in this league.


Ol' Reliable still hauling in touchdowns with great catches like these.


They just have to avoid the turnovers and give up a few less points (34 per game right now?!). The offensive weapons are there (25 PPG) but just need to capitalize. Dalvin Cook had 181 on 22 carries, while Jefferson had 175 on only 7 catches.


WOAH PACK WOAH

Yes Rob, it is. This defense is atrocious. They just have not performed for a full 60 minute game yet, or even close in my opinion. However, they seem to make the plays when they need to (see the big fumble tonight). 

Since moving to Milwaukee, my hatred for this team has grown exponentially. I truly would only root for these guys against maybe New England, and that's even a maybe without Brady... However, my Twitter feed is also gifted(?) with more Packers presence than ever before, so I have some great tweets to share. 

Another happy camper with the Packers defense.


Aaron Rodgers may be the only person who is better at utilizing the hard count than Caledonia's Tom Burrill. This dude LIVES off free plays, and everyone knows it's coming.



Hey look, I said I hate Green Bay. They do get all the calls. Aaron Rodgers is one of those elites that could convince a ref that water was dry, or that the Pope was Buddhist. The NFL loves its stars and Green Bay gets calls. Don't believe me?

 

I rest my case, with more evidence in my bag.



FINAL THOUGHT
Not entirely NFC North related, but Orlovsky is a legendary NFC North meme...


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