Week 1 Round Up

The first weekend of football for NFC north division has come and gone, and with all due respect to my Chicago Bears, this division is going to be good if not great. The Bears came out and dominated the Atlanta Falcon, who if you remember was the number one seed in the NFC last year. The Bears simply outplayed them in all three phases. On offense, Jay Cutler came out with the poise, confidence and skill that should scare many throughout the league. Matt Forte came out and did what he does best in being the best overall offensive threat the Bears had. He look amazing on the screen pass where he scored the touchdown. The defense for the Bears was everything that people expect out of them. They were fast, physical and just dominated the Falcon's o-line into submission. Julius Pepper and gang are going to be a tough bunch to hand if they can play as well as they did Sunday. And as usual, the special teams unit came out and played a very consistent game. They shut down a pro bowl returner in Eric Weems and Devin Hester looked very impressive. The Green Bay Packer did manage to beat the New Orleans Saints; however it took a shoot out between the two for that to happen. As good as Green Bay’s offense is, I think there defense is what makes them so good. If they are required to rely on scoring 30-40 point a week to win games, they may not do as well as many predict. Defense is what wins championships in the NFL and the Packers need to find theirs quickly or it will be a long season. The Minnesota Vikings looked pretty good against the Chargers and I thought the NFC north was going to start the season undefeated as a conference. However, I do think the Viking do have some glaring weaknesses. Is Donovan McNabb going to be able to play consistently enough to help them win games? Will Adrian Peterson be able to live up to being the highest paid running back in the league? Do the Vikings have enough weapons on offense and defense to compete? I think time will only tell for those answers. I think one of the biggest surprises of Week 1 was the Detroit Lions. They came out and just beat up on a very good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. The tandem of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson looks to be very dangerous and could put up a lot of points this year. Top that off with arguably one of the league’s best defensive lines and you have the potential for the NFC north to boast three 10 win teams in the Bears, Lions and Packers. This season is going to be very competitive and exciting so until next time, Bear Down Chicago.