Top Contender in NFC Central, yes Central

[El Guapo]

There's a lot of inner anger in some of these threads, so lets refocus our vigor outwards...

Who is going to challenge the Packers the most in 2013? I really don't see the Lions doing much. I'm intrigued by the possibility of a new-look Bears but still see them with the Same Old Jay. The Vikings seem to be our biggest competition, with AP peaking, Ponder possibily improving, last year's draft trio improving (Khalil, Walsh, Smith), and the addition of Greg Jennings.

What do you think?

 

[mradtke66]

The Bears are rebuilding. The core of the old team, the defense, has basically been flushed away. At best, they will look like we did in 2009. Improving as the year goes on. Their best players are either gone or old. They'll probably surprise a few, but will be fighting with the Lions for third place.

The Lions are funny. They have a pretty good offense, but they're paying (literally) for having so many high draft picks and it's messing up their cap. With Stafford and Megatron, they can put up points. The defense remains a work in progress. Their D-line is great, but they have nothing in the back 7. Just 7 guys "above average" would make them a hell of a defense. Problem is they kind of need to replace all 7.

The Vikings remain our biggest threat. The weakness is Ponder. I doubt AP will be able to repeat last year. He's the best in the league right now, but repeating is hard. Plus having a strong running game isn't a good predictor of post-season success anymore. The Viking's best season with AP was when they had Favre as the center piece. Correct me if I'm wrong, but AP only did about 1,100 on the ground that year. I'm not scared of their defense other than Allen and he's not the super-threat he used to be. Winfield was a complete player, but he was cut.

 

[HardRightEdge]

The Vikes don't have a winning QB. Ponder may be the most inaccurate deep passer among starters of the last decade. Of course, his one long one was against us. The Purple Jesus deserved the MVP for strapping these guys on his back and dragging them to the playoffs. Otherwise, meh.

The Bears have an erratic QB unlikely to be extended in his contract year. Having a lame duck "franchise" QB is not a good look. We can't put all the problems on Cutler's shoulders...he's played behind some bad pass pro lines. Bushrod is not going to fix that. Are Forte and Marshall enough? History says "no". The D is going from old to old and rebuilding. Hester seems to have lost interest.

The Lions are beginning to look like the new Raiders...the whole is less than the sum of the parts, and many of the parts are knuckleheads. The problems the last 2 years go much deeper than the back 7, RB and Titus Young (so far, my leading candidate for knucklehead of the decade). I'm not sure what's worse here...the bad chemistry or the undisciplined character of this team in most aspects of the game...the one feeds on the other I suppose. 2013 is probably it for Meyhew and Schwatz if they don't put up a winning season. Meyhew is in his sixth year; Schwartz in his fifth. I would have fired them both after last season...Meyhew for picking troubled and toxic players; Schwartz for not doing anything with them. Please...spare me the QB cap issue hamstringing the GM. Everybody with a decent QB has that issue.

The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, a good WR corp, Aaron Rodgers, a good TE, Aaron Rodgers, a good G/T combo on the right side, Aaron Rodgers, a good set of CBs, and Matthews. Even with all the holes and the tough schedule, anything less than 10 wins and the Division title should be a disappointment against this motley assortment of competition. If we were a 5th. wheel in the West with tough D's top to bottom, 0.500 might be a press.

 

[AmishMafia]

Packers: Solid core of players. Lots of talent that missed time last season. Should be better this coming season with development of a few key players. Cobb, Perry, Hayward, House and maybe Daniels are all likely to step forward and be bigger contributors. Mid vets haven't peaked yet either - Newhouse, EDS, and Neal. Also have a few 'wildcards' who could very well surprise us: Sherrod, Quarless, Jones, Manning, McMillian, and Harris. The season looks bright.

Vikings: I thought they were farther away than what they were last season. This year they are declining on defense. Allen should be declining soon and they cut Winfield. They traded Harvin away. The addition of Jennings is not going to be a good thing. He only played in 21 games the last 2 years. When he did play, I thought he looked like his old self. If they get one full productive season from him, they should be happy. Overall, they should be about the same as last season, a borderline playoff team. This is the only NFCN team (other than the Packers) that has a positive outlook for the near future.

Bears: Still suck. Their defense should take another step back. Their offense is inconsistent. New OL should help as well as getting inured OT, Carimi back. They probably will be at where they were last season.

Lions: Agree with above - a lot of talent there, but the coaching isn't harnessing it. They have 2 of the best players in the North - CJ and Suh. They should be much better than they are. I think Mayhew's biggest shortcoming is hiring a coach. But I hope the Ford's keep him in charge for a long time.

 

[texaspackerbacker]

This is very difficult at this time of year. We all engage in static analysis of the rivals and dynamic analysis of our own. Based on that, yeah, nobody is a threat and we will improve. The one factor I would consider is the Bears will have a new coach. If by some miracle, they got that right, they could make a big leap forward, but I doubt it.

 

[mradtke66]

Bears: Still suck. Their defense should take another step back. Their offense is inconsistent. New OL should help as well as getting inured OT, Carimi back. They probably will be at where they were last season.

Carimi was hurt? I thought he was pulled from tackle because he couldn't hack it. Last I heard, they were going to try him at guard because he hasn't panned out at tackle. Of course, if he was hurt that would explain a few things.

 

[El Guapo]

It's funny how positive we can all become about the Packers, when put in the context of our divisional rivals. Of course, there are rivals outside of our division to contend with!

Carimi had the big knee injury in 2011, three surgeries in the off-season, and never seemed back to form. Many speculate that the specific knee injury was never "accurately" revealed and wonder if there was more to the story. Nonetheless, he didn't play well at all whether it was injury related or not.

My additional comments about the Vikings are that Ponder may still develop more than some think, and that the GM drafted three immediate impact players last year during his first draft (having total control) and may strike it rich again. That could be all it takes for them to make strides forward. AP surely won't replicate last year, just like Rodgers couldn't have replicated 2011. However, that doesn't mean he won't rip us for 200 again!

 

[HardRightEdge]

This is very difficult at this time of year. We all engage in static analysis of the rivals and dynamic analysis of our own. Based on that, yeah, nobody is a threat and we will improve. The one factor I would consider is the Bears will have a new coach. If by some miracle, they got that right, they could make a big leap forward, but I doubt it.

Actually, the analysis of the Packers is bound to be pretty static too at this juncture since we're not actually doing anything much more dramatic than retooling the meal service and watching Jennings walk.

It's also easy to view statically our Division rivals since they're not doing much either. I might have missed a name or two of some consequence, but here's the gist:

MIN: Added Jennings and Cassel; traded Harvin; released Winfield. Pretty much standing still.

CHI: Lost Roach and Urlacher; added Bushrod, (the other) D.J. Williams, and Martellus Bennett. They dumped a couple of iffy OL guys, but they still need replacing. Plusses and minues, not a lot of drama.

DET: Their best move was probably getting rid of Titus Young. Tolerating a guy like that marks you as a chump and a walk-over; the clubhouse doesn't respect you keeping a guy like that, providing any of these guys are thinking straight through the marijuana haze. They owe Delmas a big apology. The word "cancer" is thrown around to liberally...Young is the real deal. Otherwise, Backus and Hanson retired (pros like them probably had had their belly full of nonsense), they added Akers and Glover Quin, Megatron did a restructure to clear $4 mil in cap space. Whoop-dee-do. Adding Reggie Bush might spice things up and Quin should help the porous secondary, but losing Backus creates a hole; Bush had the distinction of leading the league in fewest yards per carry after contact. (Not sure if Alex Green had enough carries to qualify. )

In conclusion, it is good to be in a division that is cap-strapped and generally lacking in management imagination and acumen.

 

[texaspackerbacker]

I'm not as negative about Ponder as some people - more like hoping he flops hahaha. What I meant by dynamic analysis of the Packers is we can see the decent chance of guys like Sherrod, Perry, and Bishop coming back, Harris - who is basically a nobody in the eyes of fans of other teams - having a big year, McMillian and a lot of others who COULD amount to something. Undoubtedly the Bears, Vikes, and Lions have cases like those also that we aren't even considering. That's what makes judgments of those other teams so shaky at this time of year.

 

[GeeDogWarrior]

The Lions scare me the most out of the three - Nick and Suh were owning our Guards, if they had some Corners and DEs - they probably would've sweeped us... Their offense is more of a 1 trick pony than ours - they get a HB and a guy to compliment Megatron - etc. They're the team I'm spooked by.

Vikings - Our D will probably spend the entire off season learning to play the run (like 09) - we play with discipline - we'll contain Peterson alot better than last year - blitz the crap out of Ponder, we'll sweep these fools.

Bears - Jay Cutler..... 'nough said.