northern intelligence
Upon eight seasons of further review, it does appear the Packers will be OK with the Vikings signing Brad Childress before he had a chance to interview for the Green Bay job in 2006. Mike McCarthy stepped in, won a Lombardi Trophy and is on pace to have a street named after him. He is also 33-10 against NFC North opponents. That's a .767 winning percentage that's second only to Patriots coach Bill Belichick's .800 mark (36-9) against AFC East teams.
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For the fourth consecutive season, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will not play an entire 16-game season. A torn groin muscle suffered last week has sidelined him indefinitely. Normally, that would be a bad thing for a player in his contract year. But the effect of Cutler's absence on the Bears has been well documented since a 7-3 start in 2011 became an 8-8 finish after Cutler broke his thumb. With a 64.9 completion percentage and a 91.7 passer rating in seven games under new coach Marc Trestman, Cutler likely isn't going anywhere.
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The records keep piling up for Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who is only 28 years old. With 155 yards and two touchdowns, he broke one of Herman Moore's team records and moved within one touchdown of matching another. Johnson moved past Moore with his 35th 100-yard game. And he now has 61 career touchdown catches, one shy of Moore. Johnson also extended his NFL mark of consecutive games with at least two touchdown catches to 11.
