Everything is awful. Jared Goff and the Lions beat the Packers in Green Bay for the third year in a row and, even worse, now we have to hear about it for two weeks before the Packers play again. At least there's always money in the banana stand (the bears still suck and we can make fun of them). 

Bears

The Bears got smacked by the Cardinals 29-9. 

Game Notes

• The formerly bad Cardinals defense had Caleb Williams in the torture chamber on Sunday, pressuring him constantly. According to Ben Solak, the Cardinals average pressure rate this season had been 26% prior to this game. They pressured Williams on 46% of his drop backs and 16 different Cardinals had at least one pressure. I don't know if 16 different Packers even have a pressure on the season. Williams did not handle it well, finishing 22/41 for 217 yards and no TDs. Usually QBs either have a high average yards per attempt and low completion percentage (because they're throwing the ball further downfield) or the opposite. Williams had a low completion percentage and a low yards per attempt. Meh and double meh.  
• D'Andre's Swifts long on the day was a pedestrian 13 yards and, shockingly, he managed just 51 yards on 16 attempts. Last week we talked about how Swift commonly has a just OK game and then somehow hits a big run that makes up most of his stats so all defenses need to do is take away the big run. I'm not saying I could be an NFL defensive coordinator. 
• The Bears' defense did give up plenty of long plays, including three different players with a run of at least 15 yards (including the tight end???) and four different players with a catch of at least 15 yards. Not great! especially not great when your whole defensive scheme is supposed to make teams dink and dunk. 
• Ancient safety Kevin Byard led the team in tackles (never a good sign) and added a sack as well. The Bears had a couple other sacks but no other major defensive stats. They gave up 154 pass yards, which isn't bad, and 213 rush yards, which is. 
• It's a foregone conclusion that the Bears will be searching for their ideal Caleb Williams whisperer at head coach this offseason, we need to get the prayer circle started now that they won't end up with Ben Johnson. 

Vikings

The Vikings hung on for a 21-13 victory over the Colts. 

Game Notes

• Another game of Dr. Jekyl and Sam Darnold. When pressured, his PFF grade was 59.8 (and he threw one of two picks), when kept clean his grade was 81.5. A pretty stark contrast for the sixth-year quarterback. It's also worth noting that four of the 13 pressures were converted to sacks - a 30.8% rate. For comparison, Jordan Love with a strained groin was also pressured 13 times on Sunday and wasn't sacked once. To be fair, Love did throw one of the worst pick sixes ever on a play where he was pressured, but who doesn't have a Will Levis moment every now and then or even every single week for like 8 games in a row. Anyway, Darnold, again, looked like a premier QB when kept clean and amassed 290 yards and 3 TDs. If the Vikings can keep him clean consistently, he could be a good playoff QB. It's a big if. 
• It was the second week in a row that Aaron Jones didn't offer a ton of help in the run game - he had just 64 yards on 21 carries and another 18 yards on four catches. 25 touches is a lot for Jones and to only get 82 yards out of it is rough. 
• Justin Jefferson is what makes this offense go and he turned in a 137-yard performance. Josh Oliver, Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor had the TDs. 
• The defense rebounded a little from a few bad performances, but it's worth noting that they did it against a 40-year-old QB who couldn't run 20 years ago in the CAAFC. Jonathan Greenard had another two sack game and Andrew Van Ginkel was impactful as a mugging inside linebacker. Every week it's more annoying that the Vikings got these two guys in free agency and the Packers spent first-round picks on Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness who combine for diddly van squat in the pass rush category.  

Lions

The Lions beat the Packers, 24-14. 

Game Notes

• For the second week in a row, the Lions were massively out gained and still won comfortably. At least it wasn't by 30 plus this week. Jared Goff completed 18/22 for 145 yards and a TD. May not seem like much but it was enough. Jordan Love completed 23/39 passes for 273 yards and a pick. Love also had several bad drops from receivers. Those 39 passes could've easily turned into 325 yards or more but what ended up mattering was that both QBs throw a TD to the same team and it was the wrong one for Love. 
• The Lions did what they always do on the ground - pound the rock with David Montgomery in the first half and then break a few big ones with Jahmyr Gibbs in the second half. The Packers did surprisingly well against the Lions defense that is built to stop the run - totaling 138 yards on 23 carries (14 more yards than the Lions on nine fewer carries) but had to abandon the run in the second half because first-half screw ups put them down multiple scores. 
• Pressure wise, the Lions were the clear winner, pressuring Jordan Love 13 times against just seven pressures on Jared Goff. Goff had just 22 yards on those plays and got sacked once, but it wasn't close to enough. 
• I think right now the two big differences between these teams are discipline and pass rush. The Packers can do everything else the Lions do just as well or better. They proved it in this game. But they can't stop shooting themselves in the foot. The Packers had 10 penalties for 67 yards and the Lions had 5 for 51 - two of those and 30 of the yards came on one play for the Lions. The Packers' penalties killed drives. Likewise, the Packers had five drops on the day and the Lions only had four incompletions. The Lions are a more veteran team and they just aren't making the mistakes the Packers make every week. I don't know what the answer is. 
• As far as the pass rush goes, it's embarrassing for the Packers. Going into last season I ranked Rashan Gary as the best edge in the division. Now the Lions' premier edge rusher and DPOY candidate goes down and they have three players step up and get just as many pressures as Gary in this game. Alim McNeil, a nose tackle, had five more pressures than Gary. And it isn't just Gary, fellow first-round picks Devonte Wyatt, Kenny Clark and Lukas Van Ness combined for three total pressures. Big money free agent signing and third contract player Preston Smith had none. The Packers D somehow gave up just 17 points in this one against the best offense in the NFL. Imagine what they could do if a single soul on the defensive line was playing well.