Around the NFC North: Preseason Week 3
Let's cram in some more Sione Vaki talk.
By Mike Price

It's cutdown day and that's exciting/depressing but I'm writing this on Monday night so I'll stick to the moves that have been made by now and mostly focus on the games.
Lions
- The Lions sold out this game (even the standing only seats) and we're super excited about that. Hendon Hooker played most of it and Nate Sudfeld didn't take a snap. The Lions are one of those classic NFL teams that just values experience more than being good.
- Hooker was fine throwing the ball but the real excitement came on the ground where he had 10 carries for 93 yards. Speaking of the run game, I promised to cram more Sione Vaki in this week but he played so well that the Lions didn't even play him in this game and cut Zonovan Knight early on Monday. Vaki did make news earlier in the week by singing in a press conference.
- Donovan Peoples-Jones had a rough 0 catches on 3 targets outing and was quickly cut. Not a good go around for DPJ after the Lions traded for him last season. Don't be shocked if the Lions make a move for a WR 3. Maybe Tim Patrick?
- Not much newsworthy happened on defense during the game outside of a strong day by former Packer Ty Summers. Summers had a good couple of preseason games for the Lions, who added him late in the process, but he did end up getting cut. The big news for the team's defense this week, was activating DJ Reader. Just wait for that top run defense to be even topper now.
- Other interesting cuts that the Lions have made at the time of writing include former Badger Rachad Wildgoose and tight end Shane Zylstra.
Vikings
- This game was all Jaren Hall all the time. The former BYU QB was 17/25 for 189 yards and two scores. It was good enough for the Vikings to cut Matt Corral.
- Myles Gaskin won the fourth-string RB spot over Mo Ibrahim and DeWayne McBride, who were both cut. Our guy Kene Nwangwu wasn't even active for the preseason game.
- Lewis Cine played the most snaps again but this time ended up with only two tackles. Vikings fans were not happy with what looked like a good performance on the stat sheet last week.
- The rumor/random report one crappy aggregator tweeted tonight is that Jordan Addison is going to be suspended six games tomorrow. I don't buy it (you can threaten a female reporter for asking about your domestic violence history and not get suspended) but I wouldn't be taking him in fantasy.
- The only other notable cut so far is AJ Green, a veteran corner who signed with the team recently.
Bears
- Tyson Bageant had probably already won this back-up QB job so not much happening at QB in this game.
- The Bears traded for Darrell Taylor this week who is an NFL player. Taylor did not suit up for this game as the team is likely satisfied with the 50.0 PFF grade he had last year. If he ends up being good none of this bullet point can be used against me - I had/have no idea who he is and am resorting to sarcasm in lieu of analysis.
- The breakout candidate who we talked about a few weeks ago, Cincy receiver Tyler Scott who played for Luke Fickell for a few years, had 6 catches for 99 yards. It's gonna be hard for him to make a huge impact with the WR corps on this team but he's certainly shown that he has talent.
- In other wide receiver news, Velus Jones, who Bears fans once bragged was better than any Packers receiver even though he was drafted in his 30s, had the same number of tackles as catches in this one. He did have 111 yards on and a tud (are we still saying that?) on 13 carries. Sheesh! Turns out he converted to running back this off-season and might be the Bears' best back. Why sign a career disappointment minutes after free agency starts when you can convert the geriatric wide receiver/kick returner who you picked based on analytics to running back three years in???
- Former Packer Jonathan Owens led the team in tackles. You don't see veteran free agents play a lot of snaps in preseason week 3 very often. Were the Bears disappointed in the Packers jacket that Simone Biles wore?
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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Comments (5)
Leatherhead
August 27, 2024 at 03:19 pm
Bears: Having a beautiful Olympic Champion wearing Packer gear on the sidelines is a wonderful moment. I mean, if that's not a burn, what is? Karma, baby.
Vikings: If you're a guy who likes to see the Vikings lose, you're going to enjoy this season. They've already lost the guy they wanted at QB, they have a career never- was at starter. If the Vikings are competitive this year, their coach deserves Coach Of The Year. As we speak, they're making room on their roster to pick up some guys who aren't good enough for the Packers. The Vikings win more games in September/October than they do in November/December. Somebody could run that through a computer and it would be true, especially over the last 30 years.
The Lions: So they cut a guy they traded for last season? That sounds about par for the course in Detroit. I'm also wondering about the Detroit defense. Last season, it was a good run defense and had good DVOA. But it gave up a lot of points, it couldn't stop squat in the second half of the NFCCG. So, is it the "good" defense that DVOA and the run defense numbers show? Or is it the bad defense that gives up a lot of points? They had 8 games last year where they gave up 28 or more points 7 times, and IMO,that's not particularly good. The Packers only gave up 28 points 4 times (2-2). Color me dubious about the Lions.
ImaPayne2
August 28, 2024 at 11:15 am
IMO its going to be the most competitive division in football. I would not be surprised to see splits all over the place win one lose one. The real problem, by being so competitive and beating on each other, they accrue a record that wont give them home field advantage over most other teams in the playoffs. But thats life. Should be a fun season.
I see no easy victories out of this group. I thought possibly the Vikes but they have been surprisingly good. Its got to be that defense that keeps them in games but they may have the best receiving core in football too. No pushovers here.
WorseWisconsin
August 28, 2024 at 12:21 pm
Detroit: the history of the Lions being bad is doing a LOT of heavy lifting for Packer fans. THIS version is good and Detroit earned winning the division last year. They seemed to improve their biggest weakness (secondary)...time will tell. But if they lose St Brown to injury their passing game is probably toast: you can only do so many screens to LaPorta before opponents adjust.
Vikings: barring injuries to critical players on other teams, it's hard to see them finishing anything other than 4th. And no, they do not have the best WR core in football (though I do agree Jefferson is the best WR in football).
Packers: 9-8 or 10-7 depending on injuries. Out in the 1st round of the playoffs, unless you play your twin the Dallas Packers (good in the regular season, fall short post-season). If you play your nemesis the 49ers, you lose by 3 touchdowns since at this point they clearly own you.
Bears:
* Taylor's a depth piece. Lots of teams trade late picks to improve depth. Nobody expects him to be Parsons-2.0. The Bears are certain to draft d-line early in the '25 draft; d-line is easily their worst starting position group, though optimistically Booker and Dexter could prove that wrong. Why they kept Robinson is a mystery.
* V.Jones converting to RB is very Packers-like: in 2016 the Packers did the same with Ty Mongomery, who was also a 3rd-round WR.
FITZCORE1252
August 28, 2024 at 03:14 pm
LOL
WorseWisconsin
August 28, 2024 at 06:30 pm
L : 0-1 @eagles
W : 1-1 colts
W : 2-1 @titans
W : 3-1 vikings
L : 3-2 @rams
W : 4-2 cardinals
L : 4-3 texans
T : 5-3 @jaguars (tossup, but I'll give GB this one)
W : 6-3 lions (cheeseheads start buying airline tix to New Orleans)
L : 6-4 @bears
L : 6-5 49ers (since they own you)
T : 6-6 dolphins (tossup, but I'll give this one to the other team)
L : 6-7 @lions (1-1 vs lions. cheeseheads request airline refunds)
W : 7-7 @seahawks
W : 8-7 saints
W : 9-7 @vikings (2-0 vs vikings)
W : 10-7 bears (1-1 vs bears)
You go 4-2 in the division, 4-4 on the road, 6-3 at home.
I stand by my 9-8 or 10-7 record, though if you win both tossup games (and avoid any serious injuries) you could luck into 11-6.
You squeak into the playoffs (barring injuries) and get knocked out in the 1st round (unless you play Dallas again). Congrats.
That, ladies, is your 2024 Green Bay Cowboys-of-the-north.
So. Much. Winning.