1 - Lions (11-6)
2 - Packers (9-8)
3 - Vikings (8-9)
4 - Bears (7-10)
I think the 2025 NFC North is going to be a closer division, and everyone is going to take a step back in terms of wins simply due to a much tougher schedule. Everyone in our division feasted on the fact we played both the AFC South, and a weaker than expected NFC West. I think 11 wins does take the division title.
I rewrote the standings 3 different times already because I think the bottom 3 teams will all be within 2 games of each other.
For Green Bay, I think their offense has a chance to take a step forward but their defense is still bad to awful. They had a worse pass rush than we did last year and didn’t do much to address it. They will win games by outscoring teams, but that will also lead to more Jordan Love picks. They also still have the Jaire Alexander problem. They should’ve traded him and gotten anything, but instead they opted to kiss his ass, and now he will immediately check out at the first opportunity with some injury that no one knows why it’s keeping him out all year.
The Vikings have a very good defense, but the Lions still have them by their achilles heel which is a smart quarterback and the ultimate pressure defense gamebreaker, Jahmyr Gibbs. These games are always tough battles, but there is a reason why the Lions have won the past 5 games and average over 30 points. Add in that you now have JJ starting for his first season. I see JJ as almost a Goff lite, at Michigan he was a great play action QB, made clutch big throws when needed and could scramble if everything else breaks down. Minnesota isn’t a good playaction team though. Their running game sucks, and you have to constantly feed Jefferson to keep him happy. That puts a lot of pressure on the QB, especially a young one. Vikings offense has a lot of mouths to feed and I wonder how JJ will handle it. At any rate, it’s tough for a first year QB to win and with a tough schedule, I think they are going to hit some struggles but also win enough games to give real hope for next year.
Chicago is still Chicago. I don’t think Chicago is building a good team at all, and I am thrilled to see it. I actually see the Bears as reminding me of the Bob Quinn Lions era. They are trying to make splashes, and ignoring the meat and potatoes side of football. They took a clown to be their franchise QB, because according to the draft experts, he looks like the guy they were supposed to draft originally. They signed a new Head Coach to try to make the QB look like an NFL player by copying what he did in Detroit. They passed on a better TE to get a guy to be their next LaPorta. How many times did we see bad Lions teams try to mimic successful teams, and watch it blow up in our faces?
Their offensive line should be somewhat better than last year, but that line also got a terrible rap due to their QB constantly breaking the pocket to run around and play Caleb ball. Nothing has changed there. Their running game is still weak, they’ve spent a ton of cap space, and with only 5 picks they aren’t going to get much in the way of depth. I think the Bears will be some better due to better talent, but the high cost of that talent is going to cap their growth potential. The fact this team drafted Luther Burden, who apparently was terrible with his attitude last season and in team interviews, adds another primadonna to the mix. So add in a mental midget at quarterback who can do no wrong, another headache WR to pair with DJ Moore who checked out of last year and all of this being led by a first time head coach who will be expected to bring immediate results, and who by many accounts has his own ego and attitude, and I see a recipe for disaster.
The only Bears player I truly feel bad for is Rome Odunze. I think he is a great player stuck in a horrible place. The rest, I will gladly put my feet up and watch the show.
