Mike's NFL Preview: NFC North

Suntan Superman

WC's Resident Samoan

Here is my preview of the NFC North and how they will finish

1. Chicago Bears
Key Additions:
DT Anthony Adams(SF)
SS Adam Archuleta(WAS)
TE Greg Olsen(1st Round)
Key Losses:
DT Alfonso Boone(KC)
HB Thomas Jones(NYJ)
DT Tank Johnson(FA)

Head Coach Lovie Smith just signed a new long-term deal through 2011. The Bears took a huge step last year going from an 11-5 Playoff contender to a 13-3 Super Bowl participant. However this year, the Bears do not have all 22 starters coming back. Thomas Jones the leading rusher is gone, along with two guys from the DT rotation. Former first-round pick Cedric Benson finally gets his time to shine and will hopefully pan out than the last first round Bears HB Curtis Enis. The Defense always lead by stud MLB Brian Urlacher will be ever solid. The only real questions come across with the new single-backed backfield in Cedric Benson and if Rex Grossman can recover from one of the biggest Super Bowl lapses in memory. If those two can combine to be a formidable backfield then you can peg at least the NFC Championship game for them. If not they'll still probably win the division with how bad the other teams are.

2. Green Bay Packers
Key Additions:
DT Justin Harrell(1st Rnd)
Key Losses:
HB Ahman Green(HOU)
FB William Henderson(Cut)

Favre is back for another year in Green Bay. Always touted as the "Leader of the Pack" it will be sad to see him go. Unfortunately for him GM Tommy Tompson is intent on building towards the future instead of giving Favre a spectacular out. An Offense that lacked a true weapon last year gained nothing in the off-season. They actually lost their starting halfback in Ahman Green. That leaves the starter as Vernand Morency picked up in a trade last year for Samkon Gado or Brandon Jackson the 2nd round pick out of Nebraska. Either way things don't look good for Favre on what MIGHT his final year in the Green and Gold

3. Detroit Lions
Key Additions:
HB Tatum Bell(DEN)
OT George Foster(DEN)
OG Edwin Mulitalo(BAL)
WR Calvin Johnson(1st Rnd)
QB Drew Stanton(2nd Rnd)
Key Losses:
CB Dre' Bly(DEN)
DE James Hall(STL)
FS Terrence Holt(ARI)
FB Cory Schlesinger(MIA)
WR Mike Williams(OAK)

The Matt Millen era in Detroit has been a dismal one at best. You know the numbers, 24-72 since Millen took over. 3 Head Coaches, and a slew of 1st Round busts(Joey Harrington(2002), Charles Rogers(2003), Mike Williams(2005)) and 4 WR's taken in 5 years, 2 of which aren't with the team anymore. This is the year for Millen. Either he keeps his job or he doesn't. Luckily for him, he's got a slew of Offensive weapons to keep Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz daydreaming plays til Midnight. Jon Kitna has a plus arm with average accuracy and if Calvin Johnson is as good as advertised this Detroit Lion team might just outscore you. Because their defense sure as hell won't stop you. Losing corner Dre' Bly leaves them with 0 respect in the defensive backfield. Hopefully Boss Bailey and Ernie Sims two young LB's can carry this porous defense.


4. Minnesota Vikings
Key Additions:
SS Mike Doss(IND)
WR Bobby Wade(TEN)
TE Visanteh Shiancoe(NYG)
HB Adrian Peterson(1st Rnd)
Key Losses:
LB Napolean Harris(KC)
QB Brad Johnson(DAL)
WR Marcus Robinson(DET)
OT Mike Rosenthal(MIA)
CB Fred Smoot(WAS)
WR Travis Taylor(FA)
TE Jermaine Wiggins(JAX)

Long gone are the days of the Randy Ratio, Cris Carter, Daunte Culpepper and company. It's the new era of Vikings. This one might take some time. 2nd year QB Tarvaris Jackson will take the reigns of this Vikings team with vastly underachieving WR Troy Williamson perhaps on his final straw. HB Chester Taylor seemingly got tired towards the end of last year so Adrian Peterson from Oklahoma should help him make it to the end this year. The switch in schemes left a lot of Vikings out of place such as cut TE Jermaine Wiggins. More people with unknown names have been brought in to remedy this situation. The defense will be tremendous against the run and if they could play all four safeties pretty good at Pass defense to. However I don't see a whole lot of wins coming from the offensive side of this team.


If you want the rest of the division/teams please ask. Or have this one create good discussion I hope.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Thanks for doing this, I'll add my comments on the division in a bit..

Twist of Lemon

Do the AFC West <,<

Slimdust

I have a feeling the lions will either win the division or maybe the wild card.

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Jayman

Super Moderator

While I'm not sure about the Wild Card Slim, and I definitely don't agree about winning the division....I think the Lions will finish ahead of Green Bay this year, in second place.

My mighty Lions have disappointed me every year for a while. It's time for some forward progress!!!!

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Blitzkrieg

Administrator

The Lions should have a great offense but I don't see them getting a wild card, maybe 8-8..

The Bears will own this division hands down. Look at it. I don't care about Grossman, he'll be good enough for them to win 12 games easy.

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

I agree with Blade. Grossman, though pretty awful, does have big games from time to time, and may be able to carry to the offense enough in games where the defense might slip a little.

Barring injury, they have a fantastic defense/special teams. They are certainly the cream of a weak crop in this division. If I had to take a guess, I'd say they win 11 or 12 games this year.

I think the Vikings will struggle this year. Unless Jackson is better than people realize, I think the offense will struggle. Also, even though they had an awesome run defense last year, teams were able to throw on them all day. Looking at their key additions, it seems as though Mike Doss is the only addition to the secondary, and I could be mistaken, but isn't he a better run-stopping safety than a coverage safety? I could be wrong though...All in all, I'd say 5-11 or 6-10 at best for the Vikes this year.

Detroit and Green Bay? Who knows. They might suck, they might win 8 games. I'll admit that Favre did have more in the tank than I thought last year, but it seems as though the team around him has weakened. Maybe it will pan out an ok, but I think 7 to 9 wins is likely. As for the Lions...6 to 8 wins is my guess, with 6 more likely than 8.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I don't think an 8-8 should save Millen here.. he's a bum. Only way I keep him is if wins the division..

Freak

As a Packers fan, I'd be thrilled with a 9-win season. That said, I also don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility; the team came on very strong at the end of last season and was by far the youngest in the league. If a few of the young skill players can step up this year, they could certainly contend in what amounts to probably the weakest division in the league.

As for the Lions, it seems like every year they're a preseason darkhorse to finally explode -- and while the weapons they have on offense do scare me a little bit, I just don't see how they're ready to win football games as a team just yet. The same can be said for the Vikings, only their quarterback is a complete wild card.

The Bears defense will be terrific again, you can take that to the bank, but as much as you hear how Grossman and company could improve this year, it seems just as logical to me that his few good games last year were aberrations and the offense could be even worse. It doesn't help that they lost Thomas Jones.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I just think that's Grossman. I think he's very streaky bad and good. He was streaky at Florida but he had a lot of heart and I always respected him for it.

I think he'll play about the same and the Bears will win about the same.

It's hard for me to not like a Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson WR combo.. I think Kitna (he's still the guy, right?) is good enough to get them the ball and put some points up.. I would rather play a few other teams other then the Lions these days, they won't be bottom of th barrell again me thinks..