NFC North Predictions

NFC NORTH

Predictions:

Chicago (10-6)
Green Bay (8-8, maybe 9-7)
Minnesota (5-11)
Detroit (4-12)

CHICAGO
Last year’s NFC champions return to action with more questions than answers since the end of Super Bowl XLI. Will Rex Grossman become consistent (good or bad)? How will Cedric Benson do as a full-time running back? How much will they miss Thomas Jones? Is the defense as good as it was last year even without Tank Johnson and an unhappy Lance Briggs? Grossman is as interesting a story as there will be on the field this season after his up-and-down 2006, including his disappointing Super Bowl performance. What he has to do this year is be consistent, even if it is consistently bad, so that the Bears will have an idea as to what they will get with Grossman. If Grossman turns out to have a great season like he is capable of, then the Bears will have a stud QB to base their future around offensively. If he doesn’t fare well, though, then the Bears must know it’s time to move on, and possibly start Brian Griese instead. If Grossman is to become a better QB, he should go to the rookie tight-end Greg Olsen more than he went to the tight-end last year. Olsen has the potential to be like Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, who are the top two tight ends in football. Using him would allow Grossman to develop chemistry and give him more time, as defenses should then back off of blitzing him, which would give him more time to find his wide receivers down the field. Cedric Benson is benefiting greatly from the Grossman spotlight, as the departure of Thomas Jones to the Jets via trade makes him the #1 running back in Chicago. If the Bears want Grossman to get better, they may want to look to Benson to provide a consistent ground game to take pressure off of Rex. Until then, you can bet that defenses will be getting in Rex’s face and force bad decisions and throws. The defense should be fine with or without Briggs, as they have been for years. Expect them to be right around where they were last year, and expect Devin Hester to provide a spark through the return game again.

GREEN BAY
Keep the Favre train going!! I love Brett and watching him play is always fun. He takes those risks only a great player like him can. I like this team a little more than others do, based on the return of Donald Driver, who has been injured the past few years. While the loss of Ahman Green seems huge, he was slowing down in recent years and was not doing the same job he had previously. They don’t have a true solution to that yet, although they did get Brandon Jackson out of Nebraska in the second round. The defense may sneak up on you. They have A.J. Hawk anchoring the linebacker core, and he is an absolute beast. There is a reason he was picked #5 last year, and it has nothing to do with that hair he sports on Sundays. If they can cut down on the points given up, and the offense doesn’t give the other teams a short field, they could be a top-10 defense. The fact that they play in the North will no doubt help their chances to contend for a playoff spot. Anytime you get Minnesota and Detroit on your schedule for a total of 4 games, you should be elated. They should at least win 3 of those games, but strange things happen in the NFL. They may break into the NFC postseason, judging by the weakness of the conference, which could give Brett one final shot to conjure up some magic for America to enjoy one more time before riding off into the sunset and turning this team over to Aaron Rodgers. Speaking of Rodgers, does anyone feel as badly for this kid as I do? A star in college, he sits around in the green room on draft day until the 24^th pick, just to get taken by Green Bay who has the never-injured Favre starting. Then when Favre does get injured, HE gets injured. An absolute shame that we haven’t seen his talents on display yet.

MINNESOTA
Obviously, the first thing that everyone thinks of when thinking about this year’s Vikings is the rookie running back, Adrian Peterson out of Oklahoma, and for good reason. This kid is an absolute monster who should only exceed everyone’s expectations. I can’t believe he dropped to #7 for the Vikings. I’m not sure if everyone forgot what he did for his first 2-3 years in college or if they were scared off by the injury he sustained in the first game against TCU, but he is one of the best players to ever walk out of that program, which is saying a lot, knowing Oklahoma’s history of great players and great teams (like the ones who put together a 48 game winning streak, the national record). He should split carries with Chester Taylor, who had a surprising 2006, before assuming a larger chunk of the carries in 2008. Whether you know much about him or not, if you have followed football in recent weeks, you know the Vikings are starting a no-name QB. I introduce to you, Tarvaris Jackson. “Who is he?” you may ask. Well, he is a second year player out of Alabama State who was drafted in the second round (64^th overall) by the Vikings. Not a great one, but someone who has a lot of potential. He needs more help than Peterson though, in order to become an NFL-caliber QB. Maybe giving him some NFL-caliber wide receivers would be a start. Ever since losing Randy Moss and Chris Carter, the Vikings haven’t had a true #1 wide receiver for their QBs. Once they do that, and combine that with Peterson in the backfield, their offense could then be something to worry about.

DETROIT
As long as Matt Millen is the General Manager in Detroit, this team is going absolutely NOWHERE. It pains me to say that as a fellow Penn Stater (he was an All-American DT at Penn State in the late 1970s), but it’s true. In his six years at the helm, they have won no more than 6 games in a season, with an overall record of 24-72. Even the Texans have that many wins, and they didn’t have a team in 2001. That is just how bad this franchise has been. They are in constant disarray, and this season will be no different. John Kitna is a decent quarterback, but his stats are certainly helped by the fact he gets to throw to Roy Williams, who is becoming a star, even if his mouth sometimes makes you scratch your head. Mike Furrey (yeah, never heard of him have you?) is a quality #2 wide receiver. In case you haven’t heard of this guy, you should start learning. He had 98 catches for 1086 yards and 6 touchdowns, while Williams only caught 82 balls for 1310 yards, which is why he gets all of the attention, yet he only caught one more touchdown that Furrey. Calvin Johnson as the #2 overall pick was a no-brainer, even though Detroit already has a plethora of wideouts. Mike Martz, who was the offensive coordinator of the Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis back in 1999, should have a blast with these guys, as you can throw in Tatum Bell and Kevin Jones at running back and you have a great potential on offense. The defense however, will be a dream for opposing offenses and coaches. They ranked 28^th in defensive yards per game, 30^th in points against, and they lost Dre Bly via trade in the off-season and didn’t improve it at all. We can’t expect this team to compete until they improve this defense, and we can already hear the “Fire Millen” chants starting in Detroit.

Once again, this division will be the weakest in football, and it will be incredible if anyone other than the Bears make the playoffs, but the Packers have that chance with Brett leading the way. Don’t think one of these teams is going to make noise in the playoffs, like the Bears did last year, because none of them are very good.