NFC North Week Eight: Bears at Vikings and Lions at Cowboys
Week seven of the NFL season saw the Green Bay Packers take over the top spot in the NFC North over the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears by a half game. The Packers beat the Cleveland Browns 31-13 while the Bears lost a tough one to the Washington Redskins 45-41 and the Lions lost a heart-breaker to the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24. This week the Packers will visit the Minnesota Vikings who have a lock on the bottom of the division at 1-5. they lost on Monday to the previously winless New York Giants 23-7 in Josh Freeman’s first start at quarterback.
The Packers were led by Aaron Rodgers who passed for 260 yards on 25 of 36 passing. He threw three touchdowns on the day, one to Jermichael Finley from 10 yards out to put the Pack up 7-0. As it turns out there is some doubt as to whether or not this might have been Finley’s last game. It appears he will need surgery to repair a spinal cord issue. That usually means the end of a career. At 26 years old, that would be a shame.
Green Bay has won three in a row and will take on the terrible Vikings this week. With the Bears off and the Lions going to take on the suddenly very tough Dallas Cowboys, they could open up a cushion this week. The Vikings are free falling with no end in sight. They are now starting Tampa Bay Buccaneers cast-off Freeman over Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel at quarterback. The results were less than stellar on Monday when the only Vikings score came on a special teams play.
The Lions lost their game a week ago on a last second 54-yard field goal by the the Bengals Mike Nugent as time expired. The win sent the Bengals to the top of the AFC North while knocking the Lions out of the top spot in the NFC North. the Bengals held Reggie Bush to 50 yards on the day on 20 carries. Now Detroit must face the leaders of the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys who have been really good on offense one week and really good on defense the next it seems. If they put both together the same week, look out.
Bookmaker has the odds on these two game on Sunday:
Green Bay at Minnesota– the Packers are -8 -110 and the Vikings are +8 -110 ATS. Moneyline is Green Bay -400 and Minnesota +320. Over/Under is 47 with both -110. We think this spread is too low with Freeman in there. Take the Packers -8 -110 and the over-110.
Dallas at Detroit– Dallas is +3 -105 and the Lions are -3 -115 ATS. Moneyline is Dallas +140 and Detroit -160 Over/Under is 50.5 with both -110. We like the Cowboys not only to cover but to win the game outright. So take the Cowboys +140. We also like the over -110 this this is the week for their offense to shine and the defense to play poorly.
