NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

The Lions have taken full control of the NFC North and it looks like they’re in a class all their own in the division after a resounding 34-17 victory over the Packers. 

“Send us anywhere and we’ll be ready,” Lions QB Jared Goff said, via ESPN.com. “And that’s the way we’re built.”

“We have that confidence. Like I said, send us anywhere. Line us up against anyone, and we feel like we can go in there and beat them, and that’s a good feeling to have. Is it always gonna happen? I don’t know, but we feel like we can. We have that confidence in ourselves, in our coaches and each other. We’re working together really well right now.”

Packers

The Packers couldn’t do much right in the first half of Thursday’s game and while there were some signs of life in the second half, the Lions dominated Green Bay throughout the game.

Packers HC Matt LaFleur was asked about what he thinks caused the first-half issues. 

“We sucked,” LaFleur said of his team’s performance, via Pro Football Talk. “We got our ass kicked. If I knew, it wouldn’t have happened. That’s a BS question.”

“They whooped us. They manhandled us. Again, if I knew the answer to that, it wouldn’t have happened,” LaFleur added.

LaFleur said that it was “humiliating” going into halftime down 27-3.

“Give Detroit a lot of credit. They came in and whooped us pretty good,” LaFleur said. “They manhandled us, really, in every phase.”

Vikings

• When asked about the Vikings’ high blitz rate in Week 3, DC Brian Flores said they wanted to put pressure on Chargers QB Justin Herbert but things didn’t work out like they planned: “We were playing a good quarterback and wanted to speed up his process. We had some opportunities to make some plays, we didn’t make them,” per Andrew Krammer. 
• Flores said DE Marcus Davenport (ankle) was limited in Thursday’s practice but they are hopeful he can help their run defense “We’ll see how it goes.. He would bring an element that we need of pass rush and physicality in the run game and things of that nature. When we get him back, nobody will be happier than me.” (Krammer)
• Flores said people like Danielle Hunter, Ivan Pace, and Davenport can help improve their pass rush: “We’ve got to do it more consistently. As we continue to build and find out what everybody does best. We’ll try to put those guys in those positions and those matchups to win those as consistently as we can. There’s certainly a sense of urgency to win those 1-on-1s, but really, collectively to just play better team defense,” via Kevin Seifert.