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Around the NFC North: Preseason Week 2 Who needs starters? By Mike Price Let's talk about how the best QB performance in the inferior NFC North team games might have been from Sean Clifford. Lions - The Lions QBs looked better this week in a win against the Commanders. Still pretty bad. Josh Dobbs was 7/12 for 74 yards, and a pick, and Luke Altmeyer was 9/16 for 86 yards. Have to wonder if they would be in the Kyle McCord market next week. - You may remember last year when the Lions had about 5 running backs vying for the RB3 spot, and none of them did anything notable in the preseason. We were rooting for Sione Vaki because he's actually a safety. Anyway, same thing this year. The best back in this game averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Dobbs did have a 50-yard run; maybe he can be the RB 3. At 6'3" 220, he might be a good fullback tbh. - None of the Lions' key starters played in this one again. Super aggressive and football-tough-guy coach Dan Campbell seems to be moving in the opposite direction from what MLF has done this offseason in playing starters during the preseason. - Interestingly, the few defensive starters who did get in, including last year's prized free agency acquisition DJ Reed, Rock Ya-Sin, and Ennis Rakestraw, are all cornerbacks. Vikings - The Vikings only managed 3 points against the Ravens, and JJ McCarthy played like JJ McCarthy. We can only guess that he is trying to kill his trade value. Carson Wentz had another game with a QB rating over 100; have to guess he's the backup, right? I don't know what you do with McCarthy here; I doubt he can play fullback. - The team didn't make much hay on the ground, putting up just 58 yards on 22 carries. Gross. They also didn't play any starters. Word is the CIA has requested the film from this game for enhanced interrogations. - Everyone's pre-draft favorite, Big Citrus, has had 24 and 22 snaps the past two weeks and has recorded one total tackle. In related news, Chris McClellan has six tackles and a hurry for the Packers so far this season in just about the same number of snaps. - Whispers suggest that 2023 UDFA darling Ivan Pace Jr. could be a cut candidate. Pace came onto the scene fast with some good blitzing and special teams play but has been edged out by several guys this training camp. Bears - The Bears got murdered by the Bengals, 27-9. Imagine getting killed in a Week 2 preseason game; couldn't be us. - Caleb Williams played one drive and didn't help by missing Colston Loveland on a possible TD. Williams was 2/5 for 28 yards. I'm not saying Bears fans should start to panic. - The Bears gave Roschon Johnson an extended look in the game, and he turned into 42 yards on 12 carries. Johnson was Bijan Robinson's backup at Texas, and many people thought he might be a secret start when the Bears drafted him three years ago. He has not played well in the NFL, has been hurt often, and may have run his way off the team with this performance. Not a good sign for the Seahawks, who drafted Jadarian Price in the first round this year after he started zero games at Notre Dame behind Jeremiah Love. - Sean Clifford had an alright performance for the Bengals that was soured by one pick. He had 126 passing yards and 11 on the ground. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE. __________________________ Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice. __________________________