Green Bay Packers Face Lengthy and Tough Road Trip & More NFC North News

The Packers are about to embark upon a three-week road trip which, while some of the teams they play aren't scary on paper, they've played very tough thus far.

The Press-Gazette's Rob Demovsky says the lengthy road trip stood out to head coach Mike McCarthy when he first saw the schedule. As he told Demovsky and other reporters Monday:

“The one that really stood out to me was three (straight) road games.“I don’t think in my time in the league that I’ve experienced that.”

While the games against the Indianapolis Colts and St Louis Rams should be wins, playing on the road is always chancy and the Rams especially have been tough opponents for teams so far this season, showing a tenacious defense and a sporadic, but often productive, offense.

Andrew Luck has been up and down for the Colts so far, but he has had some very strong showings and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Of course, there's the currently undefeated Houston Texans. While the Packers might get away with a mistake or two against the Rams and Colts, there is no margin for error against the Texans.

It's a trip that shouldn't be a huge indicator of where the team stands but any long road trip in the NFL season tends to be, so the Packers will have to be very focused the next few weeks.

Now, let's focus on the rest of the NFC North.

Chicago Bears

ESPN Chicago's Micheal Wright grades last night's victory as a complete success.

Despite a sideline blow off of offensive coordinator Mike Tice, Dan Pompei of the Tribune says when it counted, Jay Cutler was the leader the Bears needed.

The Sun-Times Mark Potash says there are a lot more positives for the Bears to take away from Monday's beating of the Cowboys than just the win.

Detroit Lions

Milive.com's Justin Rogers says Jim Schwartz believes it's too early to declare the Lions didn't do enough to upgrade in the offseason.

The Free Press' Dave Birkett asks if the Lions are slow starters, or just overrated?

Josh Katzenstein of The Detroit News says the team knows it needs to find a way to tap back into that energy that propelled them to the playoffs in 2011.

Green Bay Packers

ESPN Wisconsin's Jason Wilde discusses the continued poor officiating that seems to be following the Packers around even with the 'real' referees back.

The Journal-Sentinel's Tom Silverstein says defensive coordinator Dom Capers is less worried about the yards his team has given up and more concerned by the low amount of turnovers.

Over at AllGreenBayPackers.com, Adam Czech talks about whether or not Sunday's win indeed saved the Packers' season as some feel.

Minnesota Vikings

Bleacher Reports' Arif Hasan gives you the lowdown on the good and bad from the first four weeks of the season.

Ben Goessling writes at the Pioneer-Press that Percy Harvin's issues this summer weren't about money.

Tom Pelissero breaks down the film from Sunday over at 1500ESPN.com.

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