NFC North Recap

Tampa Bay 27, Chicago 24 OT- One word comes to mind when you see the highlights of the Buccaneers' overtime win at Soldier Field...Irony. Brain Griese is just a year removed from standing on the opposite side of the field donning the purple and orange as one of the infamous quarterbacks of the Chicago Bears. But Griese left after 2007 leaving just Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman to share the limelight and catch all the flack for the Bears' struggles. Bears quarterbacks have never been known to light it up on the scoreboard or stat sheet, so that's what makes Sunday's score ironic. It is ironic in the sense that Brian Griese, who has also made trips to Denver and Miami along with his stops in Chicago and Tampa Bay, torched the Bears' secondary for 407 yards passing and two touchdowns on 38-for a franchise record setting-67, just three attempts shy of the all-time NFL mark. Griese also threw three picks, but the fact that he orchestrated a late 4th quarter comeback and led his team to a road victory over his former team certainly makes up for it. Tampa Bay is now 2-1 on the year.
Next Game: Philadelphia (2-1) at Chicago (1-2)

San Francisco 31, Detroit 13- The San Francisco 49ers offense proved to be too much for the Lions' defense in what has become a recurring theme over the past several years. Basically insert almost any team where the "San Francisco 49ers" were and you've got your headline. Detroit's defense has not improved at all from last year and their offense is much worse than last year at this time when they were 6-2 after week 9 and talking playoffs. They resemble more of the second-half-of-the-season Lions that went 1-7.
Frank Gore rushed for 130 yards and a score and J.T. O'Sullivan threw for 189 yards and a touchdown to pace the 49ers who improve to 2-1.
Next Game: BYE, Week 5 vs. Chicago

Dallas 27, Green Bay 16- The rivalry renewed. This used to be one of the marquee match-ups in the '90s when Green Bay and Dallas were powerhouses in the NFC. This was back when Favre and Aikman were at their finest. This time around it was Romo versus Rodgers, and Romo won. Marion Barber rushed for a career-high 142 yards and a touchdown and Tony Romo passed for 260 yards with a touchdown and an interception to pace the Cowboys, who put up 453 yards of offense on Green Bay in Lambeau Field. Aaron Rodgers suffered his first defeat as the starter for the Packers going 22-of-39 for 290 yards and a rushing touchdown (the only TD for the Packers). Dallas moves to 3-0 now and looks to be the team to beat in the NFL afer week three.
Next Game: Green Bay (2-1) at Tampa Bay (2-1)

What does it mean for the Vikings?- Minnesota's 20-10 win over Carolina should give new life to this team. Couple that with the fact that every other NFC North team lost and the Vikings aren't in as bad a shape as people once thought. Granted it's still early in the season, but Minnesota can still keep pace with Green Bay as they're only a game back. Right now Minnesota is tied with Chicago in the division and can move into a tie for first with a loss by the Bears and Packers this week (Detroit is off). Neither team has a gimme. Of course nor do the Vikings, who travel to face the Tennessee Titans, but the opportunity is there and Minnesota must seize these kinds of opportunities early if they want to get back to the playoffs.