Rand: Observations from the weekend

Five thoughts from a fantastic weekend in sports:

The NFC North is still wide open: As bad as Thursday's 42-10 Vikings loss at Green Bay was — and it was an unmitigated dumpster fire in all phases of the game, even if Christian Ponder lit the match — it's far too early to give up on this season.

Everything that's been said about the NFC North being mediocre still holds true, especially so after Detroit lost in spectacularly Lions-esque fashion Sunday and the Bears couldn't hold a two-TD lead in a loss to Carolina. Everyone in the division is either 2-3 or 3-2. Every team has looked bad or brilliant at times. All it should take to win the division is nine, maybe 10 wins. Even if Teddy Bridgewater returns healthy, hitting that mark won't be easy — but it's hardly impossible.

Contenders in chaos: In a broader view of the NFL, two teams that have Super Bowl aspirations look to have serious long-term problems stemming from fractures between players and coaches.

In New England, there is tension between Tom Brady and coaches over the team's offensive woes, per an ESPN.com report. It could be enough for the seemingly inseparable entities to part ways. And in San Francisco, reports continue to surface that players don't trust head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh's 49ers teams were 36-11-1 in the past three seasons, all of which ended with playoff berths. Before he arrived, San Francisco hadn't had a winning season since 2002. The Patriots, of course, have been to five Super Bowls with Brady at QB, winning three.

It will be interesting to see just how big all the egos are in both situations.

They've been at the forefront of an off-the-charts great MLB postseason so far in which virtually every game has become compelling theater (unless, of course, you expect to see things like St. Louis rallying from 6-1 down to defeat the best pitcher in baseball).

New backup QB option emerges from Mankato training camp: The Vikings must have thought they had a good plan at quarterback going into the season, but anyone who watched Thursday knows otherwise. Maybe they should start scouting the arms out at training camp in Mankato — not their own camp, mind you, but the Timberwolves camp. Several Wolves players traded basketballs for footballs at a recent practice, and more than a few held their own.

A nice change of pace: The Wild's season opens Thursday, and it's just refreshing to be talking about a team trying to make it to the next level instead of a team merely trying to escape from the muck. We get enough of that from the Vikings, Twins and Wolves.