NFC North Recap- week 7

Houston 28, Detroit 21- The Houston Texans (2-4) continued to climb out of the cellar with a hard-fought win at home against Detroit. Matt Schaub was solid at QB for the Texans going 26-of-31 for 267 yards and 2 TDs. Houston built up a 28-10 lead into the fourth, but Detroit rallied for 10 points in the final quarter and had the ball at the end of the game, but being stuck at their own 2-yard line proved to be too big a hole to climb out of for the winless Lions.
Next game: Washington (5-2) at Detroit (0-6)

Green Bay 34, Indianapolis 14- The Green Bay Packers pulled off a minor surprise last Sunday, whipping up on the struggling Indianapolis Colts (3-3) despite injuries at key positions. Peyton Manning was picked off twice and kept out of the end zone through the air, while Aaron Rodgers was effecient enough in the passing game to open things up for Ryan Grant (31 carries 105 yards, TD) and the Packer running attack. Both Manning interceptions were returned for touchdowns, one from 62 yards out and the other from 99. The Colts find themselves in a bad spot now with three of their next five games on the road against solid teams. Their next task will be to tackle an undefeated Tennessee Titan squad on Monday Night Football. Meanwhile, the Packers move into a first place tie in the NFC North division with Chicago after the Bears knocked off the Vikings earlier in the day.
Next Game: BYE; week 9- Green Bay (4-3) at Tennessee (6-0)

What does it mean for Minnesota- The Vikings lost a 48-41 shootout to the Bears in a battle for top spot in the North division, so that means they'll have to bide their time until the opportunity to reclaim first presents itself again. With the way the teams in this division are playing it could come at almost any point in the season. Three of the four teams in the division, including the Vikings, have a bye this coming Sunday so they'll definitely use that time to get rested up and figure out how to correct the mistakes that were made. Minnesota is going to need to find out how to bottle that 41-point offensive output they had against Chicago and use it more often. It's sad to say, but Minnesota could have done a LOT better offensively (Frerotte's four interceptions didn't help much), and putting up 41 points in the NFL is a pretty tough thing to do so that is saying something. Of course that's what has left Vikings fans scratching their heads. Score 41 but look ugly doing it. That's hard to do, but I guess that's what the Vikings are good for.
The other side of things is that 48-point showing the Bears had. Despite two of those touchdowns being mental miscues by Minnesota, its still gotta leave a bad taste in the defense's mouth that they even allowed 34 points to a football team. The defense knows they are much better than what they showed against Chicago last Sunday, even though they held the Bears to 53 yards rushing. But they are gonna have to make those corrections in a hurry, because they face a surging Houston Texans team that is hungry to make a name for themselves this season. Also Minnesota doesn't want to lose back-to-back games. That would not be good for the playoff hopes.