Absolute Zero

You can measure the NFC North on the Kelvin scale, following perhaps the worst weekend of football that the division has ever had. A few observations:

• The locals were horrible in Cincinnati and it's too bad, because I suspect it's going to cost Leslie Frazier his job. The game revealed why Matt Cassel hasn't been a consistent starter in the NFL and why he was eventually run out of Kansas City. The Vikings have multiple problems to address in the offseason, especially on defense, but they will need to find a better quarterback than the ones they currently have. Essentially they've given up on Josh Freeman as a possibility and the other two guys are Gus Frerotte, so that means they don't have a quarterback.
• Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Lions are a punk, gutless team. After demolishing the Packers on Thanksgiving, they've been coughing up hairballs ever since and are now out of it. The Giants came into Detroit with nothing to gain and playing a lot of subs, but still beat the Lions, who couldn't get out of their own way. Jim Schwartz is going to be fired, too, and on merit. The Lions were the only team in the division that didn't get destroyed with injuries and they still couldn't win. It's worth remembering that the last time the Lions won anything they were featuring the quarterback duo of Bobby Layne and Tobin Rote. We're approaching 60 years of futility with this crew.
• Meanwhile, the Bears got smoked in Philly, with everything in front of them. They can't stop the run and Matt Forte had perhaps his worst game as a pro. Cris Collinsworth was calling him out all night long. I'm not convinced that Jay Cutler is healthy, either. You have to assume the Bears will be favored in their showdown with my Packers on Sunday, but it's difficult to see why.
• For what it's worth, the Packers were the only team in the division who weren't shameful yesterday, but that's not worth much. The flaws in the team remain obvious; they couldn't stop the run and Matt Flynn, while plucky, would have to improve significantly to be as good as Gus Frerotte. There's a pretty decent chance that the Packers will go into Chicago without the services of Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Eddie Lacy; merely their three best players. Good luck with that.