NFL update, NFC north player performance partition (Part 1)
Only five games left in the season, people. Get your game on. The Super Bowl is right around the corner. With that in mind, it is a good idea to take a look at promising players for the Pro Bowl, as well as those that may have been Pro Bowl material, but
are now just bowl-cleaning material. We’ll start with those that are getting worse and worse in the NFC North.
First on the list is Detroit Lions QB, fill-in-the-blank. Joking, even though it is true. The Lions have now gone through
four changes in the starting QB position in their twelve games this season, all of which are injury related. What’s wrong with them? Are they not drinking enough milk?
Anyways, back to the point. The Lions started their season with Matthew Stafford. He didn’t last very long, separating his shoulder halfway through that first game. Cue Shaun Hill. Hill started in the Lions’ next five games, but his playing was short lived
also, fracturing his left forearm in Game 5. Stafford made a guest appearance back again for two starts, before separating his shoulder again. By this time, Hill was back and started in three more games, before reports came in that he fractured a finger on
his right hand.
Whew, how exhausting just thinking about it.
The Lions will start their third-string QB Drew Stanton in their game on Sunday against the Chicago Bears. With Stafford’s and Hill’s luck, the Lions are wise to have rookie Zac Robinson as a backup. Just in case. Stafford, if things go well, will be back
in about three weeks. Until then, we can only hope that Stanton does not get any injuries.
Another thing that is falling in the NFC North is confidence in the running game of the Green Bay Packers. And why do I say this? Well, Packers coach Mike McCarthy decided to go with a five-receiver package that brought about decent success.
He abandoned the running game for long periods of time and, with the Falcons’ well-trained and their brawny run defense, will be interesting to see if coach McCarthy decides to go a bit more with running as we move to winter football. The biggest problem
with the Packers’ running game? They can’t be trusted to get even a single yard when they need it the most.
Lastly on the list of the fallen in the NFC North are… grains of road salt in Minnesota. Why do I say that? I have no idea, but it is cold and snowy in Minnesota, so road salt is certainly falling. But so is the Minnesota Vikings’ game. Sure, with new coach
Leslie Frazier leading the Vike’s to their first victory in ten games. Count ‘em
ten. And that’s with Brett Favre. What will the Vikings do next season without him?
Back to the point, optimists believe that losing nine games away and then finally winning one on the road does
not mean that you’re getting any better. Sure, they did defeat the Washington Redskins, but that seems to be more because of the Redskins’ mistakes than the Vikings talent. Pessimists suggest that the Skins had plenty of chances to get ahead and win
aside from problems with a penalty that nullified a TD. For this week, I withhold the Vikings status, but it seems that they are indeed
going down.
Now that the falling players have been taken care of, it is time to look on the brighter side, at those players that are getting better and better and are bringing their team to be Super Bowl favorites or, themselves, Pro Bowl candidates. They will be discussed
in the next article. Take a look.
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