LogFAQs > #978721230

NFC North

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Chicago Bears
4. Detroit Lions

The Vikings have lost to retirement, trade, or free agency: HB Dion Lewis, G Caleb Benenoch, DE Adrian Clayborn, MLB Alvin Williams, and CB Xavien Howard. They will not be easily replaced and certainly not right off the bat. While they probably won't cruise to an 11-0 or whatever record they started with last season, they should still be the favorites in the NFC North even though the rest of the division is intriguing. They still have an excellent secondary, OL, and passing game. The front seven is in a bit of flux, but it should be serviceable enough. The running game is a big unknown as they hand it off to first rounder Jeff Wilson Jr., but as exhibited last season, the passing game is more than enough to overcome an injured or inconsistent running game.

The Packers lost QB Tyrod Taylor (and others) to retirement, which means the last starting true scrambling QB is no more. As such, I have no idea what to expect from the offense, but HB Austin Ekeler is coming off of a 1100 yard, 4.3 YPC season, and the OL having reaped the benefits of a scrambling QB is highly rated. QB Tavian Carter has a decent slate of people to throw to in Harry Dougles and Seth DeValve. I think that they can be sneaky good on offense. If that's the case, they will be one of the playoff favorites as this defense looks good and has been playing great. They have a great injury situation, and they play four of their first five games at home. They include some quality defenses in the Vikings, Orcas, and Eagles, so we will have a better idea of what this new-look offense will be like soon enough.

The Bears spent significant resources on the defense bringing in CB Quincy Wilson, DE Carl Nassib, and backup MLB Kurt Paulding. It's not a finished product, but the defense looks pretty good right now. Offense is another issue. HB Dexter McCluster is out for the season with Giovanni Bernard coming in. Injuries plagued his 49ers tenure, and he's been merely serviceable as an injury signing in subsequent years. QB Teddy Bridgewater has alternated between great and okay years in Chicago, and given his crop of pass-catchers this season, the trend might unfortunately continue for the Bears. The OL might not provide a ton of blocks, but they seem to have good ratios, especially along the interior. I'm more intrigued than optimistic about this team, but the schedule seems fair enough that they could string some wins together to be in the playoff hunt.

The Lions spent some much-needed effort on retooling this team. While I think that they are another quality offseason away from being a playoff team, they should be more competitive and avoid a third straight #1 overall pick. That being said, no team was as screwed over by preseason injuries as the Lions. The lone bright spots on offense have been the WR duo of Torrey Smith and Josh Doctson. Doctson is out for the season, and Smith is currently out for half the season and could be placed on IR. Their best defender is MLB Bryan Vinson and while isn't too long, being gone at least four weeks is a big blow for a rebuilding defense that could use his weekly presence. I hope that they don't get too discouraged by a schedule that is very road heavy to start before ending seven of their final nine games in Detroit.