NFC North Predictions

[rmontro]

I've been seeing some NFL predictions for the upcoming season start to pop up. Everyone seems to agree the Lions will win the division and the Vikings will finish last. As for the Packers and the Bears, two of them had the Bears second and the Packers third. And two had the Packers second and the Bears third.

So people seem to think the Bears are now on the Packers level basically. Not sure if that's because they think the Bears are improved, or if they're just not that impressed with the Packers.

 

[gopkrs]

I think it's because they think the bears have improved. And I've seen vikes in 2nd. Tough race. I'm certainly not sold on the lions either. I believe we live or die on offense. The defense should be solid. aimho

 

[rmontro]

I'm certainly not sold on the lions either. I believe we live or die on offense.

You think losing Ben Johnson is going to hurt the Lions that much?
I think we'll be better offensively this year, if we stay healthy.

Oh, if you saw the Vikings in second place, who was third?

 

[gopkrs]

You think losing Ben Johnson is going to hurt the Lions that much?
I think we'll be better offensively this year, if we stay healthy.

Oh, if you saw the Vikings in second place, who was third?

The lions didn't look that good in the playoffs last year. They can be beat. Getting their pass rusher back will help them.
We were next. It's a good division. But the division has a tough schedule. Probably even more important than usual to win division games.

 

[rmontro]

The lions didn't look that good in the playoffs last year. They can be beat. Getting their pass rusher back will help them.
We were next. It's a good division. But the division has a tough schedule. Probably even more important than usual to win division games.

The Lions had a lot of injuries by season's end last year. Anyone can be beat though. Minnesota was a strong second in NFC North. We only managed to be 1-5 in the division last year, that's not good by anyone's standard.

 

[Thirteen Below]

You think losing Ben Johnson is going to hurt the Lions that much?

They didn't just lose Johnson - they lost their DC too, and Johnson and Glenn took 6 of their assistants with them. So Detroit has lost 8 coaches this off-season.

I can't believe so many people are picking them to win the division. I'll be shocked if they do.

 

[gopkrs]

The Lions had a lot of injuries by season's end last year. Anyone can be beat though. Minnesota was a strong second in NFC North. We only managed to be 1-5 in the division last year, that's not good by anyone's standard.

I think we were fortunate last year. Fans who say we almost beat a couple teams who kicked our butt all game long did not watch the same games I did. Anyway, all that is in the past. I seriously believe we are a better team this year. I do hope those two O line draft picks pan out though.

 

[Dantés]

I know that I'm biased, but I am thoroughly unimpressed with the Bears plan.

They have gotten a lot of love for their additions on the offensive line. Thuney is good, but he turned 33 this season (regression and durability issues are coming for him). Dalman is not a great pass protector and pretty pigeon-holed as an OZ run blocker. Jonah Jackson has become quite injury prone. Their depth on the interior is poor, so things could get ugly there pretty quickly.

That aside, Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times last season in large part because of his propensity to hold the ball. It was an issue in college and it's followed him to the pros. It's natural to blame OL for numbers like that, but it's normally a QB problem.

They also did nothing at RB, which was a huge feature of Johnson's offenses in Detroit.

Their draft also got tons of love and I thought it was terrible. Drafting a TE that high has been a total disaster for virtually everyone for decades with only one exception (Bowers). Burden is a gadget who allegedly has no work ethic. Trapilo is 316# with short arms despite being over 6'8"-- if he has to play, I'm guessing he gets blown up.

Ben Johnson is giving me Brandon Staley vibes.

 

[gopkrs]

I'm not sure how well they will do. But I hope you are right.

 

[DoURant]

I think we were fortunate last year. Fans who say we almost beat a couple teams who kicked our butt all game long did not watch the same games I did. Anyway, all that is in the past. I seriously believe we are a better team this year. I do hope those two O line draft picks pan out though.

I don't know if I would say fortunate, but I would say this team did win every game they should have won... there were no "bad losses". (I don't count the Bears year ender loss when a lot of backups played the majority of the game). I also think that this says a lot for the youth on this team, and feel this year they will be better, and win some games they are the underdog in.

 

[Guacamole]

Pack will win the division or be in 2nd, with Detroit. As far as the other two teams......they can fight for 3rd place

 

[rmontro]

They didn't just lose Johnson - they lost their DC too, and Johnson and Glenn took 6 of their assistants with them. So Detroit has lost 8 coaches this off-season.

Ah, I didn't realize that. Sometimes there's a sort of success hangover when teams are good though, and the coaches who takeover try to do about the same thing, and the players remember how to do it. But it can fall apart quickly.

I know that I'm biased, but I am thoroughly unimpressed with the Bears plan.

I don't know if you're right, but I like your optimism.

 

[Pkrjones]

- Detroit (11-6) declines a bit with their coaching staff losses.
- GB (11-6) is a bit better with their youth being more experienced & 2nd/3rd year jumps.
- Minny (9-8) declines as JJ takes over the offense.
- Chicago (8-9) gets better with Johnson at the helm but they still bring up the rear.
Toughest division in th NFL, again. Brutal schedules, everybody beats each other up. Hopefully GB & Detroit remain healthy enough to make deep playoff runs. One of the 2 represent in NFCCG.

 

[OldSchool101]

GB
12-5
Detroit
11-6
Minnesota
10-7
Bears
8-9
3 times in Day3.

The Bears had the best offseason followed by a close Packers 2nd place. I think Chicago Wins 8-9 games and fall just short of postseason.

 

[weeds]

I'm still stuck on that 1-5 divisional record and even that was good fortune. I'm still not sold on Jordan Love as "that guy". My prediction is: We'll see.

 

[OldSchool101]

I'm still stuck on that 1-5 divisional record and even that was good fortune. I'm still not sold on Jordan Love as "that guy". My prediction is: We'll see.

That’s reasonable. However you can’t have hope for something you already see. So all fans are in that category to an extent, including myself.

I’ll just offer this because there’s this argument (not suggesting you just derivative topic) you must have the best QB. I’d say you must have the best D and maintain a consistent QB who learns how to mitigate risk by reducing mistakes. Also one that can rise up in big games. Jordan proved to me that he’s capable at Dallas in his very first playoff game. Not all the score was him. JA and our D played bigtime imo.

Hurts took what we gave him. We didn’t make him entirely earn it. Had the Packers punted 50 yards on 1st Down in series 1? (For illustration) We’d have been in that game well into the 4th Quarter at Philly. It would’ve been 0-3 at Halftime and either tied or a +1 lead into Quarter 4. Instead we created our own rough water. Keep in mind the was a VERY good team at their house and aside from spotting them on play #1? Our D played pretty darn stout.
We all know that The game of football is as much about momentum as it is scoring. You have to understand how to play Defense with your Offense to settle your opponent. Just like Billiards. Jordan has got to learn don’t give them squat, we don’t need Hero ball. We need Jordan playing smart

 

[weeds]

That’s reasonable. However you can’t have hope for something you already see. So all fans are in that category to an extent, including myself.

I’ll just offer this because there’s this argument (not suggesting you just derivative topic) you must have the best QB. I’d say you must have the best D and maintain a consistent QB who learns how to mitigate risk by reducing mistakes. Also one that can rise up in big games. Jordan proved to me that he’s capable at Dallas in his very first playoff game. Not all the score was him. JA and our D played bigtime imo.

Hurts took what we gave him. We didn’t make him entirely earn it. Had the Packers punted 50 yards on 1st Down in series 1? (For illustration) We’d have been in that game well into the 4th Quarter at Philly. It would’ve been 0-3 at Halftime and either tied or a +1 lead into Quarter 4. Instead we created our own rough water. Keep in mind the was a VERY good team at their house and aside from spotting them on play #1? Our D played pretty darn stout.
We all know that The game of football is as much about momentum as it is scoring. You have to understand how to play Defense with your Offense to settle your opponent. Just like Billiards. Jordan has got to learn don’t give them squat, we don’t need Hero ball. We need Jordan playing smart

Equivocation, my friend. Equivocation. 1-5.

 

[Heyjoe4]

The Lions had a lot of injuries by season's end last year. Anyone can be beat though. Minnesota was a strong second in NFC North. We only managed to be 1-5 in the division last year, that's not good by anyone's standard.

Yeah if there’s just one goal for the season, it should be to finish 4-2 in the North.

If the Packers can pull that off, then they should be a force in the playoffs. Last year’s 1-5 (could have easily been 0-6) just can’t happen again.

 

[OldSchool101]

Equivocation, my friend. Equivocation. 1-5.

Nah. Too much emphasis put on that Divisional Record. It’s largely a misrepresentation because our QB wasn’t 100% in many of those games. Anyone denying that didn’t watch him crawl off the field mid season or hobble around for a month and a half with a brace.

It’s a ruse (the epitome of Equivocation) employed by Chicago fans (or anti Packer fans) to make us fans appear to doubt ourselves.
If we’re going to employ equivocation then it’s only fair to be tested with propositional truth tables.

Here’s another Logic question to see if 1-5 holds as representation of a bad team? Multiples NFL teams have went 1-5 Divisional record AND qualified for postseason outside of 2024 Packers…
True or False?

We didn’t even NEED to Win Week 18!

If anything the Bears fans or Packer fans who bought into that narrative are using a singular argument of 1-5 to employ Equivocation. Very misleading. Do we want to win more division games? Sure. Does 2024 imply we are not Postseason level? Nope.

It’s outside Doubters who reach by using a diversionary tactic to remove focus from an AWFUL, TERRIBLE

5-12!!

 

[Heyjoe4]

Equivocation, my friend. Equivocation. 1-5.

Agreed. The past is useful only if we learn and grow from mistakes, or just weaknesses. We all have em, so do sports teams. And to use your word, everything else is an equivocation. Good word.

Referencing last season just once, MLF should bring the hammer down just before the season starts - get past that 1-5 mentality and make the team believe they will win the North.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Nah. Too much emphasis put on that Divisional Record. It’s largely a misrepresentation because our QB wasn’t 100% in many of those games. Anyone denying that didn’t watch him crawl off the field mid season or hobble around for a month and a half with a brace.

I’ll pose this question to make the truth abundantly clear.

ZERO teams have ever been swept in their Division and still made postseason. The Packers would’ve Won 10 games and still went postseason.

So the truth is that the 1-5 record was an anomoly. It resulted from 3 teams within the same division being similarly strong. The records show that was historically an outlier.

MLF and the team need to look ahead. Excuses for the 1-5 record are excuses.

 

[OldSchool101]

MLF and the team need to look ahead. Excuses for the 1-5 record are excuses.

I don’t think myself or the Green Bay organization has ever excused losing. Those games were hard fought battles that we came up a play short. Nothing more nothing less. Making it into a “we’re not as good as anyone in our division” argument is weak. Teams ebb and flow and we’ve owned our Division regularly. No team Wins every year so I say quit focusing in the rear view mirror or you’ll crash.

In addition I don’t count garbage time. Week 18 was garbage and everyone knows it. Next thing you know people will scrape games against our backup QB from Hundley to try to press their narrative. You don’t Win 11 games being a slouch.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I don’t think myself or the Green Bay organization has ever excused losing. Those games were hard fought battles that we came up a play short. Nothing more nothing less. Making it into a “we’re not as good as anyone in our division” argument is weak. Teams ebb and flow and we’ve owned our Division regularly. No team Wins every year so I say quit focusing in the rear view mirror or you’ll crash.

In addition I don’t count garbage time. Week 18 was garbage and everyone knows it. Next thing you know people will scrape games against our backup QB from Hundley to try to press their narrative. You don’t Win 11 games being a slouch.

Still sounds like a lot of equivocation, as weeds put it - "Love wasn't 100% - There were a lot of untimely injuries, We almost beat Philly, The 1-5 record was an anomaly", and on and on.

It's just too much. It's the language some use to excuse a loss. There are no excuses, no moral victories. The only direction to take in football and life is forward.

 

[milani]

I've been seeing some NFL predictions for the upcoming season start to pop up. Everyone seems to agree the Lions will win the division and the Vikings will finish last. As for the Packers and the Bears, two of them had the Bears second and the Packers third. And two had the Packers second and the Bears third.

So people seem to think the Bears are now on the Packers level basically. Not sure if that's because they think the Bears are improved, or if they're just not that impressed with the Packers.

I would go with the Lions. The rest is unpredictable right now. Strength of schedule does not favor either the Packers or Vikings. We were 1-5 in the division. Do not sell Minnesota short just because of a brand new QB with no experience. The Bears could be hot and cold.

 

[Pkrjones]

I would go with the Lions. The rest is unpredictable right now. Strength of schedule does not favor either the Packers or Vikings. We were 1-5 in the division. Do not sell Minnesota short just because of a brand new QB with no experience. The Bears could be hot and cold.

What?!??
Vikings 2025 Opponents (wins bolded):
Home:
Bears Packers, Lions, Eagles, Commanders, Ravens, Bengals, Falcons.
Away:
Bears, Packers, Lions, Cowboys, Giants, Steelers, Browns, Seahawks, Chargers.

Even if Minny goes 3-3 in the division (which may be a stretch) I think they'll finish 9-8 at best.