Minnesota Vikings Lose Must-Win in Week 2, 4 for 4 Predicting NFC North Games

It's only Week 2 in the NFL season and the Vikings already find themselves looking up at every other team in the NFC North.

With Tampa Bay coming to town, the two teams face a much different situation. The Buccaneers, like every other team in the NFC South, lost their season opener. Another loss for the Buccaneers would leave them only one game behind the division leader.

For the Vikings, another loss could put them two games behind as many as three teams. The pressure of a must-win victory is greater for the Vikings than the Buccaneers—this could be a blessing or a curse.

After producing only 39 passing yards, in a week that set an all-time NFL record for passing yards, Donovan McNabb may have the most pressure to perform this week. Another dismal performance, and many will believe that his nightmare season of 2010 in D.C. was not an aberration—and fans will be looking for Christian Ponder to rescue the season. 

Looking at the four games this weekend for the NFC North, if the Vikings want anyone to believe they can turn around their last-place finish from 2010, then the turnaround must start this week.

Here's my prediction for the NFC North this week.       

Kansas City Chiefs Travel to Detroit Lions

Week 1 was full of surprises for both the Detroit Lions and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs, who finished 10-6 and won the AFC West last season, opened at home with a humiliating 41-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills, who finished with the worst record in the AFC.

While the Kansas City defense only allowed 208 passing yards, Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, a seven-year veteran with a career 12-23-1 record and a 73.0 passer rating, threw for four touchdowns.

Detroit is a team moving in the right direction. With a 5-35 road record over the past five seasons, they opened the season with a 27-20 win in Tampa Bay—one of two Florida teams the Lions defeated on the road for their only two road wins in 2010. 

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford may have found his favorite target in Calvin Johnson. Stafford threw for three touchdowns against the Buccaneers, connecting twice with Johnson, who led the team with six catches for 88 yards.

A concern for Detroit could be that the three top tacklers for the Lions were all from the defensive backfield.

Kansas City finds themselves in an almost must-win situation if they are to defend their division title.

The crowd will be a factor at Ford Field for the Lions home opener.

Stafford and Johnson will be a factor again in this game.

The Lions, who are eight-point favorites, will roll to another victory and, at least for another week, find themselves on top of the NFC North. 

Prediction:

Chiefs - 10

Lions - 31

Final: 

Chiefs - 3

Lions - 48

The Lions look like they are for real—Matthew Stafford with another four touchdown passes.

Chicago Bears Will Have Their Hands Full with a Desperate Saints Team

The bad news for the New Orleans Saints is that after losing 34-28 in a shootout to the Green Bay Packers, they face the other participant in the NFC Championship Game—the Chicago Bears.

The good news for the Saints is that they are tied with every other team in the NFC South at 0-1.

For Chicago, after dismantling the Atlanta Falcons (another NFC South opponent), 30-12, Jay Cutler and the Bears are out to prove that last season, when they finished 11-5, was not a fluke.

The Bears travel to New Orleans as six-and-a-half-point underdogs.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees will be looking to continue putting up huge passing numbers. In the loss at Green Bay, Brees passed for 419 yards and three touchdowns. This does not bode well for the Bears. Last season the Packers pass defense was the fifth best in the NFL, while Chicago's finished 20th.  

The Bears will make this one close and cover the spread, but another Cutler interception will tip the scales to the Saints' favor.

Prediction:

Bears - 23

Saints - 28

Final:

Bears - 13

Saints - 30

I gave the Bears a little too much credit.

Green Bay Faces Another 400-Yard Quarterback at Carolina

The Green Bay offense looks ready to lead the Packers to another championship season. The defense has the excuse that it faced a quarterback in Drew Brees who's averaged 290.1 yards per game since joining the Saints in 2006.

The Packers, who barely made the playoffs last season as the No. 6 seed with a 10-6 record, find themselves 10-point favorites on the road against rookie quarterback Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Newton had a historic debut in a 28-21 loss to Arizona in Kevin Kolb's Cardinal debut.

Newton finished with 422 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

While Newton's passer rating is an impressive 110.4, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers has a 132.1 rating after defeating the Saints in the Thursday night season opener.

The Green Bay defense, that finished fifth in the league last season against the pass, will be looking to prove the 419 yards they gave up to Brees was an aberration. The defense will show the league two things: (1) that the they have a top defense and (2) that Newton is a rookie. 

Rodgers will continue to roll as the Packers rout the Panthers.

Prediction:

Packers - 42

Panthers - 13 

Final:

Packers - 30

Panthers - 23

Packers win in a game a little closer than I expected.

The Donovan McNabb Era Makes Its Metrodome Debut Against the Buccanneers

The hopes of an entire fanbase are squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

With a disappointing 24-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers, where McNabb finished with only 39 yards—a mere seven more than he had in three rushes—he needs to prove that he can still lead an offense.

For the Vikings, the good news is that Adrian Peterson finished with 98 yards on only 16 carries. The news gets a little better in that they face a Tampa Bay defense that allowed 131.7 yards per game last season—the fifth worst in the league.

The defense allowed 335 yards to Philip Rivers, a quarterback whose passer rating has averaged 103.8 over the past three seasons. They will not face the same caliber in Josh Freeman, who only has 26 starts in his career. 

The Vikings need to win this game. Peterson and Percy Harvin will continue to have solid games for the Vikings.

Look for McNabb to use his tight ends more in this game as the Vikings establish the running game early. 

The question will be can the defense, possibly without middle linebacker E.J. Henderson, limit the drive of the Buccaneers and give the ball back to the offense? The Chargers had three drives that exceeded 10 plays and dominated the time of possession, holding on to the ball for 37:17.

McNabb's play will be improved and Peterson and Harvin will shine, but the defense will struggle again to stop the Bucs.

Prediction:

Buccaneers - 23

Vikings - 21 

Final:

Buccaneers - 24

Vikings - 20

NFC Standings After Week 2

As a life-long Vikings fan, it pains me to no end to see the success of the Green Bay Packers.

Living within 22 miles of the Wisconsin border, there are too many reminders of the Packers.

Standings after Week 2:

Team                        W     L   GB

Green Bay Packers    2     0     --

Detroit Lions              2     0     --

Chicago Bears           1     1     1

Minnesota Vikings     0     2     2