In the other three NFC divisions, a 4-2 record would have a team at least tied for first place. In the NFC North, 4-2 is at the bottom of the division standings.
The NFC North teams – the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings – have a 16-4 record in non-division games this season and own the four largest scoring differentials in the NFL six weeks into the 2024 season.
Minnesota, with an average scoring margin of 12.6 points per game, and Detroit, with an average scoring margin of 12.0 points per game, hold the top two spots in points differential entering their Week 7 meeting.
The Vikings and Lions will square off at noon CDT Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
For the Detroit secondary, that means dealing with wide receiver Justin Jefferson, whose career average of 97.7 receiving yards per game is the best in NFL history for any player with more than four seasons in the league.
“He’s going to get the ball,” Lions safety Brian Branch said about Jefferson. “Great route runner, got some speed to him, and he’s a dog, so shoot, dog meet a dog.”
At 5-0, Minnesota owns one of the NFL’s two unbeaten records. Detroit has a 4-1 mark.
“It’s almost like the Rams offense, but just with better receivers,” Branch said about facing the Vikings. “(Quarterback) Sam Darnold, they’re playing great football right now. Can’t lie. They got a lot of weapons over there. Jordan Addison’s a great receiver, too. Sam Darnold actually has caught my eye. I didn’t know he was like that, but he’s playing good football.”
A second-round draft pick from Alabama, Branch made the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team last season as he helped spark the Lions to their first playoff berth since 2016 and their first appearance in the NFC Championship Game since 1991.
But that didn’t prevent Detroit from changing Branch’s position for his second NFL season. Primarily a nickel corner in 2023, Branch is a safety in 2024.
Branch has responded with 21 solo tackles, three interceptions, nine passes defensed and one forced fumble in four games.
“Shoot, in this scheme, (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) puts me in the right positions where I’m able to get more picks,” Branch said. “And I think that’s what I like about safety more than nickel. I got more eyes on the quarterback instead of just being playing in man. You know, it’s just more stuff I can do at safety.”
The Lions paired Branch at safety with Kerby Joseph, who has four interceptions in his third season in Detroit’s secondary.
Glenn said the safety positions play a key role in his defense’s success because of “the multitude of different coverages” that Detroit plays.
“That requires safeties that can communicate at a high level,” Glenn said. “That’s the first thing. The second thing is it requires safeties that can play man coverage, and that’s across the board in our defense. And thirdly, safeties that are highly instinctive and understand where the ball’s going and can go make plays on the ball.
“As you can see, our guys are doing a really good job of that. And that’s just how the system is built, and I love safeties that can play that way. I think it allows you to allow your corners to play with leverage, it allows your safeties to have a little freedom within the defense to go make plays, and we have one of the better ones in Brian Branch that’s highly instinctive, that can play down, that can play back. And then Kerby’s in the middle of the field, and he can do a lot. His range to be able to go find the ball is unbelievable.”
Of Branch’s 18 games last season, he played fewer than 75 percent of the defensive snaps in 10 of them. This season at safety, Branch has been on the field for 92 percent of the defensive snaps in his four games.
In Detroit’s 47-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Branch turned in an NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award-winning performance with six tackles, one quarterback hit, two interceptions and one forced fumble. Since 1999 (when forced fumbles became an official statistic), Branch is the fourth NFL player with at least six tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble and 47 interception-return yards in the same game. He’s the first since 2012 to do so.
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Branch made a leaping interception off Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in the end zone to preserve Detroit’s 7-3 lead in the first quarter. Branch intercepted Prescott again in the fourth quarter, and his 47-yard return set up a touchdown.
Branch said it wasn’t a perfect game because he missed a tackle and his 47-yard return came up 4 yards short of the goal line.
“The middle was wide open,” Branch said about his return. “It was a whole bunch of linemen. And, you know, they can’t catch me being a lineman. But I was almost there. I was mad at myself. And I kind of slowed up at the end because I thought it was green. And, you know, you had somebody trailing me. And I’m mad that I didn’t look back at him.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
