This season, we’ve decided to use one word (some real, some made up) to describe the mindset, outlook or position that each team is in heading into 2016.
The NFC North has been a highly touted two horse race ever since Aaron Rodgers ascended to the ranks of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, with the Bears or Vikings playing the foil. The Packers won four straight division titles until the Vikings took the crown late last season.
Drop your comments and your prediction for the NFC North below!
Chicago Bears- Acceptance
Remember when the Bears were the team to beat in the NFCN? No? Well it was right around the time the Packers walked into Soldier Field and whooped that ass in the NFC title game en route to their Super Bowl victory in 2010. While the Pack have been in contention ever since, the Bears have been over .500 just once (missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record in 2012). The Bears weren’t good last year and probably won’t be good this year, but the rebuilding process is showing signs.
In 2016 the Bears will once again slog through the season with the daunting task of having to root for the best and simultaneously most hated quarterback in franchise history in Jay Cutler. At this point Cutty, like the Bears franchise, is what he is; below average.
Cutler’s punchable face remains, but there are many familiar faces have moved on. The Bears front office decided to trade Martellus Bennett to the Patriots, because how else are the rich going to get richer? Matt Forte followed former Bear Brandon Marshall and Bulls cast offs Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah as pros looking for a new start in the Big Apple.
Things were looking up on defense as the Bears signed a couple of 100+ tacklers in the offseason in Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman, both of whom will go along with holdover Pernell McPhee in hopes to form a dominant linebacking corp. Well, McPhee is close to being shelved for at least the first six weeks via the PUP list, and that’s just the beginning of a lengthy injury list that is leaving several holes on this defense. But coach John Fox has some tools here.
The rebuild is slow in Chicago and there is a decent chance the Bears can be average this year, which is a step in the right direction, especially with the recent news of the extension for guard Kyle Long and the signing of All-Pro guard Josh Sitton who was released by the rival Packers.
But until then, there will be a whole lot of this.
Detroit Lions- Megatron-sition
Since 2008 the Detroit Lions were carried by all-time great wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who called it quits after last season, following in the footsteps of Barry Sanders as a player who’d rather hang ’em up than waste another year of their life playing for the Lions. When Johnson was right, it didn’t matter who was at QB because he was going to make electrifying catch after electrifying catch. He was just too damn good.
Sidebar: Seriously, Calvin Johnson made Shaun Hill (currently of the Vikings) look halfway decent in a 10-game stretch in 2012 in Stafford’s stead.
Now we’ll see who exactly Matthew “Fat Face” Stafford really is. On paper, Detroit’s franchise signal-caller has looked like a Great Value Drew Brees as he’d chuck the pigskin 40x per game all over the yard. Expect a different game plan this season as there are going to be tighter windows across the board— no more giant pass catching machine to dominate corners and safeties at the highpoint of the ball. The offense had been inching towards a balance for years but the ground game will now have to kick it up a notch, which means actually handing the ball to the talented yet still unproven Ameer Abdullah. Matt Stafford may be up for the challenge, but looking at Golden Tate, Anquan Boldin, TE Eric Ebron and a list of other wideouts not named Calvin has got to be a bit disheartening.
It hasn’t been pretty in the D on “D” since Ndamukong Suh took his talents to South Beach, but the defense did turn around a bit towards the end of last season. It’s nearly impossible to replace a man mountain of with combination of size, strength and ability but the Lions will keep on searching for how to improve on a defense that ranked in the bottom third in virtually every facet.
Green Bay Packers- Finish
Under the guidance of coach Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers have been in the Super Bowl mix for seven years now. The Packers have a .725 winning percentage against division opponents, a .744 winning percentage at historic Lambeau Field, have made the playoffs seven years in a row, and had won the division four straight times before losing the North to the Norsemen of Minnesota. Rodgers has two MVP awards to his name, a Super Bowl MVP, a Super Bowl championship and multiple Pro Bowls.
The Packers also have a former rookie of the year in Eddie Lacy, one of the better offensive lines in football (no, do NOT insert an Eddie Lacy fat joke here— he’s almost svelte), returning Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb and have added a big body receiving threat at tight end in Jared Cook. The defense features the Pro Bowl dynamic duo of outside linebackers who were recently exonerated in Clay Matthews III and Julius Peppers, Mike Daniels— a man quickly making a name for himself as one of the best d-ends in the league, one of the best stable of corners corners in the league Sam Shields, Ha Ha Clinton Dix, Morgan Burnett, Demarious Randall and Quentin Rollins.
The Green and Gold are looking at locking up the division and once again going into the playoffs as one of the favorites to represent the NFC at the Super Bowl. Anything less will be deemed another failure in a long list of disappointing finishes.
The Packers have found new and exciting ways to snatch defeat, with both hands, from the clutches of victory. The epic collapse in Seattle of 2015, letting the 49ers get away in 2014 after getting pasted by them in 2013, and losing to the G-Men after going 15-1 during the 2011 regular season immediately after winning the (expletive deleted) Super Bowl! Lest we forget last year— it was a botched zone defense that let Larry Fitzgerald scamper 50 some odd yards, all but ensuring the Cardinals victory.
Sidebar: The Packers were better than the Cardinals that day. The secondary dropped no less than 4 INTs and the pass rush was in Carson Palmer’s head from jump.
For a team that has knocked on the door of greatness this frequently, nothing other than getting over the hump and at least making another Super Bowl matters! It’s hard to bet against the Packers, but it’s increasingly hard to believe they can finish what they start.
Minnesota Vikings- Reclamation
I, along with most Minnesota fans, was prepared for the emerging Vikings to be a true force in the divisional race, as well as the conference. However injury reared its ugly head in Minneapolis when news broke that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a grotesque knee injury that included an ACL tear, costing him this season. Even as a Packers fan this legitimately makes me sad for Bridgewater, his family, the Vikings organization and their fans. I’ve been a high key Bridgewater supporter since he was drafted out of Louisville and somehow being “the most pro ready prospect at the QB position” was looked at as a negative when compared to Johnny Manziel, Blake Bortles, Derek Carr and the rest of the 2014 QB class. Godspeed, Teddy.
Now, coming off a season in which they won the NFC North and should’ve made the Divisional round of the playoffs, the Vikings (in a brand spanking new stadium no less) were attempting to build on that success. But the Bridgewater injury turned the 2016 season from Super Bowl push to salvage job overnight, despite the fact that Teddy never put up monster numbers in this offense.
It isn’t just Bridgewater or even the offense that has the Vikings faithful excited. Coach Mike Zimmer’s defense has improved every year and many were intrigued to see how they would improve this year But it all comes back to the QB and the Vikings are unlikely to go far with Shaun Hill or Sam Bradford but don’t tell that to Zimmer who said, “We’ll get back in here tomorrow and get back to work,” at the press conference on the injury. “We’re not going to stick our heads in the sand, we’re not going to go tuck our legs, we’re not looking for excuses.”
More power to you Mike, you’ll need it.
Anthony’s NFC North Champ: Green Bay Packers
Kenneth’s NFC North Champ: Green Bay Packers
Justin’s NFC North Champ: Green Bay Packers