The Dline has huge question marks. The secondary and specifically Safety is a huge question mark.
The Corners should be solid and the LB crew should be OK. And we have a young DC
I think Kyler Murray should be a significant upgrade for Minny. Will be interesting to see how he fits in with them as he’s very different than Sam Darnold.
The Bears don’t have a very good defense. And making something of Caleb is still a challenge for Ben.
I often say Vikings, Packers, and Bears are phony, but somehow they get enough wins. Well, I’m sticking with my opinion. All 3 fall below .500 and get exposed.
oh sure. They have to gel quickly if we want to be competitive this year. I’m hoping we take the preseason a little more seriously unless the goal is just make the playoffs, don’t need the division.
And I’m more in that camp. I don’t think ford field is the home field advantage we think it is.
I’ve learned over the years that I’m biased about the Lions. I judge them in a vacuum and don’t account for other teams’ improvements. Unusual injuries or health are a crapshoot every season. The ball bounces funny and some teams/seasons have horseshoes up their *sses.
If the Lions are playing poker, they’re starting with AK suited against the mystery hands of Da Bears, the CheezWhiz, and Purple Drank. The Lions have a good chance of winning the NFCN this year for a host of reasons that mean nothing once the bullets start flying.
I definitely believe the Bears get exposed this season. They had a cakewalk schedule and mother luck on their side on 2025 IMO. The Vikings and Packers are much harder to predict for me.
I’d start with the scheduling difference based on our Division standings in 2025
Detroit vs Chicago schedule
Giants - Eagles. Advantage Lions
Cardinals - Seahawks. Advantage Lions
Titans - Jaguars. Advantage Lions
+3 wins for Lions
Overall mindset
The Lions swept the Bears last season and I still think we hold the upper hand on them this season. Another sweep is not an unreasonable expectation. Our offense will be just too much for them to keep up with. In the end I think we could be at least 4 games better than them in the Divisional Standings.
Detroit vs Vikings schedule
Giants - Commanders. Advantage Even
Cardinals - 49ers. Advantage Lions
Titans - Colts. Advantage Even
+1 win for Lions
Overall Mindset
I do think we have the better roster/team than the Vikings, but they swept us last season in huge part because they decimated our Oline to the tune of 10 sacks total across both games and stifled our run game. Our run game averaged 2.8 ypc and 66.5 yards per game against them in 2025. We’ve (hopefully) upgraded our Oline enough to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I think worst case we split the games we have against them. In the end I think we end up 2 or 3 games better than them in the Division.
Detroit vs Packers schedule
Giants - Cowboys. Advantage Even
Cardinals - Rams. Advantage Lions
Titans - Texans. Advantage Lions
+2 wins for Lions
Overall mindset
The Packers also swept us in 2025. That first game, the first game of the season, was the Lions coming out and looking completely unprepared for the season. The Packers simply punched us in the mouth, took us behind the woodshed, and wore our asses out. Completely unacceptable. But then we went on and lost the second matchup as well in a much closer matchup. But between the 2 games the Lions simply lost the trenches on both sides of the ball. 6 total sacks on Goff and the Lions had “0” sacks on Love. Hopefully an improved Oline and an improved Dline help remedy that disparity. In the end I think the Packers may be our closest competition for winning the Division. My mind tells me we can grab the Division over them by 1 or 2 games.
NFC North
Detroit Lions 11-6
Green Bay Packer 10-7
Minnesota Vikings 9-8
Chicago Bears 7-10
