The NFC North Round-Up: The Lone Week 12 Win Came in Purple
Josh Frey
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The Week 12 slate, also known as the Thanksgiving slate, saw NFC North teams playing in a wide spectrum of times. The Detroit Lions kicked off on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, the Packers wouldn’t play until Sunday Night Football.
Because of this, it may have been easy to get caught up in the action, so here’s a nice, easy synopsis of each NFC North game this past weekend, including the Vikings Week 12 win.
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No Fields, No Success for Bears
Justin Fields didn’t play this game, paving the way for a Trevor Siemian start. It was his first start since Week 12 of the 2021 season with the New Orleans Saints. Siemian also went into this game looking for his first victory 2017, having lost his previous five starts.
After Week 13 of 2022, he is still looking for that elusive victory. The Bears offense looked the clunkiest that it has since the Week 1 monsoon against the 49ers, and they mustered just 10 points against the stout New York Jets defense.
The Lions Pull the Short End of the Wishbone
Thanksgiving Day football kicked off with the Detroit Lions hosting the Buffalo Bills. If you remember, Buffalo used Ford Field as their home stadium in Week 11, and then they returned in Week 12 as the road team.
Apparently, they got pretty comfortable in this field because Buffalo managed to leave Detroit with its second straight victory in the stadium and ended Detroit’s three-game winning streak. The Lions didn’t play bad football, but they simply couldn’t stop Buffalo’s rushing attack.
Packers Get Plucked on Sunday Night
The Green Bay Packers entered Sunday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles essentially in “do or die” territory. At 4-7, the Packers needed to pull a 2016 and “run the table” if they had any real hope of making the playoffs, especially after the Commanders won another game earlier on Sunday.
Instead, Green Bay’s defense couldn’t find a way to stop the Eagles offense. Philadelphia rushed for 363 yards en route to 500 yards of total offense. Making matters worse, Aaron Rodgers left the game with an oblique injury.
The Pupil Beats the Master
14 years ago in the spring of 2008, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots drafted a young QB by the name of Kevin O’Connell in the third round of the Draft. Fast forward to this past weekend, and O’Connell was coaching his Minnesota Vikings against Belichick’s Patriots.
In that game, the pupil got the better of the master, and O’Connell’s Vikings now sit at 9-2 in his first season as a head coach. Against arguably the best pass defense in the NFL, Kirk Cousins was fantastic as well. The Vikings QB passed for 299 yards and 3 TDs in the primetime Thanksgiving victory. Minnesota can now clinch the NFC North in Week 13 with a win over the Jets and a Lions loss.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.