First Look 2010… NFC North

There are no easy divisions to predict but the NFC North is one of the toughest. Last year neither Graham or I saw the Vikings being as good as they turned out to be. Neither of us saw the North sending two teams into the post-season either but it turned out to be the case. Although we all called the Lions to prop up, the Bears were a disappointment and again caused us to get it wrong.

Let’s take an early look ahead to the 2010 NFL season…

Minnesota Vikings

The season was over for the Vikes for approximately 14 second before the questions and pantomime around Brett Favre started again: Will he be back or not? As he’s opted for surgery on his ankle suggests that he wants to be back next year. By getting the surgery early he’s giving himself the best possible chance of being ready, should he decide that’s what he wants. To his credit Tavaris Jackson is being a real professional and simply carrying on regardless but I don’t think anyone would state that the Vikings wouldn’t miss Favre if he doesn’t return.
And that’s all I’ll talk about him until we get a “Yes” or “No” from the man. Sometime in late July, I guess.

To support the running game, they drafted Stanford star Toby Gerhart. Gerhart split coaches and scouting opinions right down the middle in the build-up to the draft but I like the look of him. Sitting behind Adrian Peterson is a good spot for him right now and a good fit for the team. The 6th ranked defense was also boosted with the drafting of Back Chris Cook as their first pick and End Everson Griffen as their third.

This team was so very close to the Superbowl last year and they should be real contenders again.

Green Bay Packers

Quarterback (and Mac favourite!) Aaron Rodgers had a great year despite being sacked freely by every team they faced. Bryan Bulaga was drafted to give depth at tackle to try and protect Rodgers. The Pack really got going the second half of last season and lost only twice from week 10 onwards: by 1 point to the Steelers and in overtime in a playoff shootout against the Cardinals in the Wildcard game.

They’ve held on to most of the free agents in the off-season and have supplemented the team a little across the board. This is a likeable team, and I want them to do well. If they can protect him, they have one of the league’s elite QBs and the 2nd ranked defense in the league. They should compete in a tight division. That they close out the season with successive games at Lambeau Field could well work in their favour.

Detroit Lions

The Lions were better last year than the 2008 variety, that’s not a surprise and would have been impossible. For a lot of games, they played well and though they were comprehensively beaten a number of times there were a lot of games where they were hanging in there or controller large portions of play. We all remember the win against the Redskins (*sigh*) that snapped a 19 game losing streak as well as the last second win against the Browns where Matthew Stafford completed an amazing passage of play that saw him sacked hard before coming back to complete a pass to rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew – setting up a PAT to take the game.

There has been a lot of free agency movement in both directions from the Lions and there are a lot of notable moves that improve the team (like Duante Culpepper out, Kyle Vanden Bosch in). They also took Ndamukong Suh with the second overall pick to up their defensive line even more. For a team that was ranked last in yards allowed – this is obviously an area that needed attention. Jahvid Best was also taken in the first round, and immediately improves the running game.

Head Coach Jim Schwartz goes into his second year in charger, and the large number of changes he made should bed in. But this remains a really tough division and it’s hard to see them making a real mark.

Chicago Bears

Jay Cutler was supposed to be the missing piece in a team that had flattered in recent seasons. Coming into a team with a sound defensive reputation, he was the man who was going to turn the offence into a unit capable of winning games. But it wasn’t to turn out that way. There were steps forward by key players – Devon Hester emerged as a valid starting receiver and Ryan Grant had another good year as did Greg Olsen, but overall it was a disappointing season.

Defensively, Brian Urlacher was lost for the season after the first game – he was placed on injured reserved after dislocating his wrist. He’d be missed, but Hunter Hillenmeyer was a great stand-in. Lance Briggs had another good year and was voted to the Pro-Bowl. Reputation aside, the defense was a mid-table unit in terms of stats but did improve from the previous year. But for the Bears, the season was over when they lost four games in a run in November. With Jay Cutler having a career high five interceptions in the loss to the 49ers.

They have a tough run in this season, facing the Patriots, Vikings, Jets and Packers in the final four weeks. There will be some crunch games there as long as the team is still in the playoff hunt. The entire squad needs to step up if that’s to be the case as right now I see the division as being a close two-horse race between the Vikes and the Pack.

Predictions (made 2nd June 2010)

Image Credit: topher208, with thanks.