Over the next couple of days, The Crishad Experience will go over all 8 divisions PLUS make predictions for the upcoming 2010 NFL Season which kicks off September 9th when the New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings. Today, I decided why should I make most of my readers wait? It's the NFC North.
The NFC North is one of the most underrated divisions in football in my opinion. There have been great teams to come out of the division in the past decade as the Vikings and Packers have always been competitive, and the Bears went to a Super Bowl in 2006.
However, most of the publicity goes to the NFC East and the AFC South as the toughest division in football. While the AFC South is deserving, the NFC East...well I'll get to that when we talk about the NFC East.
The North usually provides down-to-the-wire action as the season ends. Like when the Packers won the division on a last second touchdown by Arizona in 2003. While Detroit usually gets beat around like a rag doll, even they are improving as they have obtained, arguably, the best talents in the past two drafts.
This year should be another entertaining year...
(Teams in order of division finish)
1. Minnesota Vikings (2009 Record: 12-4 1st NFC North; 2010 Projection: 12-4)
No, I'm not just going off of last year's records. The season's opening stretch will be brutal for the Vikings as they'll go to New Orleans, face Miami and Dallas at home, and face the New York Jets at the new Meadowlands.
However, the Vikings have a weak schedule towards the end of the year, and that's when they start to get most of their pieces back. Sidney Rice is recovering from ill-timed surgery and should be expected back October 31st at New England at the earliest. Cedric Griffin is also recovering from knee surgery and might be back sooner than that, perhaps the Week 4 game at the Jets. Getting those two guys healthy will be key for the Vikings.
Speaking of healthy, is Brett Favre healthy? His ankle required a shot of WD-40 last weekend and it's logical to question whether or not he'll be able to play all 16 games. On one hand, it's Brett Favre, who has started 309 consecutive games in his career. But, he's also going to be 41 years old in October. Any Favre injury would be devastating to the Vikings Super Bowl aspirations.
2. Green Bay Packers (2009 Record: 11-5 2nd NFC North; 2010 Projection: 11-5)
The Packers are one the best teams in the division simply because of their offense. They are LOADED at receiver with Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and they have one of the best quarterbacks in the league with Aaron Rodgers.
Their defense is a bit of a question mark. Yeah, they were one of the best defenses in the league, but remember, the entire division had the same weak schedule that the Vikings were blasted for having last season. This year, the Packers should face some improved offenses which means they'll give up more yards through the air with their leaky pass defense that cost them several games, most notably the playoff game against the Cardinals. The injuries to CB Al Harris and S Atari Bigby, who will both miss the first six games of the season, doesn't help matters.
Remember the Vikings teams of the early part of the decade. They had a very powerful offense, but couldn't stop anybody. Could the Packers be looking at the same fate?
3. Chicago Bears (2009 Record: 7-9 3rd NFC North; 2010 Projection: 5-11)
Wow, that's a steep fall. The Bears were the Super Bowl runners up in 2006, but have free falled to the bottom of the division. Why is this?
Well, first of all, their running game is now officially non-existent. They had Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson that year, and now both of them are gone. Matt Forte looked really good in his rookie year, but had a really bad sophomore slump. Mix in the fact the Bears got Chester Taylor to compete with Forte and it's a mess in the Bears backfield.
Oh yeah, their new offensive coordinator loves guys who can run...after they catch the ball. Mike Martz takes over and he loves to launch the ball down field. You can see this as a good thing for Jay Cutler because he loves to do that too. But it's a bad thing because usually those down field strikes are right into the numbers of the opposing defense. Cutler came very close to joining the 30 touchdown, 30 interception club last season. More attempts could mean more turnovers and without a true #1 receiver, I can't see this offense working in the Windy City.
The defense is a bit suspect as well. Their secondary has gotten old and although they added DE Julius Peppers, the defense still lacks playmakers. They'll get Brian Urlacher back, but will he be able to play a full season? And the secondary is very depleted to say the least.
4. Detroit Lions (2009 Record: 2-14, 4th NFC North; 2010 Projection: 5-11)
RESTORE THE ROAR IS ON!!! For a two win team, I'm very high on Detroit. Don't say that I've lost my mind but think of this. Detroit has gotten the two top talents in the past two drafts in QB Matthew Stafford and DT Ndumukong Suh. They've also upgraded in many areas. The Lions had to overpay for WR Nate Burleson, but he's a solid #2 to go with WR Calvin Johnson. There's still plenty of work to be done in the Motor City, such as the offensive line and secondary, but if they go 5-11, they'll get another top 10 pick which could provide huge divedends down the road. This team has the potential to surprise, and going from 2 to 5 wins would be just that.
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