The NFL season is less than a week away. In a few days, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Seattle Seahawks, officially kicking off the 2014 season.
It will be a big test for the Packers, especially in a division where every game will count when the Chicago Bears are nipping at their heels. While it appears to be a two-team race right now, don’t sleep on the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
If only one think can be guaranteed from the NFC North, it’s this. It will be a high-scoring division with shootouts right and left. All four teams live off their offenses, putting pressure on their defense to catch up.
Green Bay Packers
When Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback, you will always be in the running for the Super Bowl. Green Bay has the offense to get the job done—elite quarterback, great running back, reliable wide receivers and improved offensive line. It all comes down to the Packers’ defense—can DC Dom Capers make the right calls and take advantage of a very talented defense. Casey Hayward, Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Daniels is more than enough talent to compete. Now it all comes down to Capers. If the defense steps up this is a serious threat to Seattle or he will be out of a job if they struggle again.
Chicago Bears
The Bears and Packers are in similar boats—great offense, impressive talent on defense and a lot of potential. Now they need it to all come together and everyone to stay healhy. Many are still sleeping on Jay Cutler but he has proven he can carry a team, especially with a great head coach helping him.
Chicago has two dominant wide receivers, an elite running back and protection for Cutler. They made great additions in the offseason with Lamarr Houston, Jared Allen and Kyle Fuller. The Bears greatly improved their pass rush and made an already strong cornerback group, so much better. Now is the time for Chicago to make that surge and fight the Packers for the NFC North crown.
Minnesota Vikings
After the Christian Ponder experiment swung and missed, the Vikings found their future by trading up for Teddy Bridgewater in the first round. While it may take him some time to fully develop, he couldn’t walk into a situation much better than this one. Minnesota has its weapons ready with Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph. The Vikings have a few great years left of Adrian Peterson and head coach Mike Zimmer will turn this defense around. There are so many things to love about the future of this team, but it will take time. Minnesota is a year away from contention, but Vikings fans have plenty to be excited about going into this season.
Detroit Lions
The Lions are a hard team to peg—few teams have the offensive arsenal like Detroit, but can their quarterback take advantage. On defense they have Ndamukong Suh and Ezekiel Ansah, but there are questions in the secondary and with Nick Fairley. Detroit hopes new head coach Jim Caldwell can fix Matthew Stafford and bring discipline to this team, but Caldwell’s offenses in Indianapolis and Baltimore don’t inspire a lot of confidence. They could put it all together, but we are likely looking at a seven or eight win team.
Ranking the Quarterbacks
1. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
The best quarterback in the NFC North and NFL—Rodgers remains supreme as the all-around talent who can carry his team to the Super Bowl. We saw last season what can happen when Rodgers is hurt, so the magnitude of his return doesn’t need to be spoken. He will play behind the best offensive line of his entire career in 2014. He now has a great running back behind him and while that might mean a drop in stats, it will make Rodgers job easier.
2. Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears
It’s all about health for Cutler—when he is healthy, he can play at the level of a top-10 quarterback. Durability has always been the problem though; he hasn’t started 16 games since 2009. Mechanically, we saw tremendous improvement from him last season thanks to HC Marc Trestman. The Bears built a strong offensive line in front of him and Chicago has the best wide receiver duo in the NFL with Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. Everything is in place for Cutler’s breakout season and a trip to the playoffs, now he has to stay healthy.
3. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
You want to believe in Stafford, there is always that hope that he will one day figure out his mechanics and take advantage of the gifts in front of him. The Lions have made sure to make things easier on him—bringing in Golden Tate, drafting Eric Ebron and hiring a coaching staff entirely to help him. Offensively, there is enough talent here to compete in the NFC North and the defense has been put together nicely. But there isn’t enough reason to believe Stafford can take that next step forward and be a great quarterback.
4. Matt Cassel, Minnesota Vikings
Plenty of the preseason discussions centered on quarterback competitions and which rookies would emerge as the starters. Cassel beat out Teddy Bridgewater for the job in Minnesota and he absolutely earned it. He proved himself to be the reliable veteran who could make smart, quick throws and allow the Vikings to work and develop Bridgewater more. Cassel may not hold the starting job for the entire season, but he is the guy out of the gates.
Ranking the Running Backs
1. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Even as he approaches his 30’s, Peterson is still the best running back in football. While a strong case could be made for LeSean McCoy, Peterson put up with worse circumstances last season. Those circumstances should improve this year with better play at quarterback, a real passing game and a better coaching staff. Peterson can do everything you could ask for and more. His numbers should climb back up more this season as he finished off the “elite” end of his career with a bang.
2. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
Forte isn’t often talked about amongst the elite running backs, but last season he showed everyone why he is the most important piece to the Bears’ offense. Of course he is a big part of Chicago’s running game, but his 74 receptions last year show how heavily this offense depends on him. Forte is set for another big season in 2014, especially if this offense stays healthy.
3. Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers
After falling in the draft to concerns over his durability, Lacy exploded on to the scene as a rookie last year with the Packers. While he was more effective with Rodgers on the field, he carried the team when Rodgers was hurt. Now with Rodgers back, Lacy should see plenty of running lanes to power through this season.
4. Reggie Bush, Detroit Lions
It seems like just a few years ago, everyone was prepared to write off Bush as a draft bust. His speed made some big plays but he was far too inconsistent and couldn’t be relied upon for a major workload. But he found a home in Detroit and paired with Joique Bell, the Lions have one of the best 1-2 running back duos in the league.
Ranking the Receivers
1. Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
He is the best wide receiver in football, the type of player who can beat every single cover you throw his way and make one big play after another. If he could improve in one area, he just needs to cut down on some of the drops from last season.
2. Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears
Marshall has settled into Chicago perfectly—becoming a leader in the locker room for guys like Jeffery, while standing out as a go-to for his quarterback. Marshall continues to impress and show everyone why he is a top-10 wide receiver.
3. Alshon Jeffery, Chicago Bears
After questions surrounding his work ethic, Jeffery has proved the critics wrong the past two seasons. Jeffery put in the extra work as a rookie to get in shape and improve his route running in 2012, and then it all came together with a breakout sophomore season. Now in his third season, Jeffery should cement himself as a top-10 wide receiver.
4. Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers
Many thought Nelson was a product of an elite quarterback—opinions changed quickly when Rodgers went down and Nelson still put up big numbers with backup quarterbacks. While Nelson does many things well, he is the king of sideline catches.
Ranking the Tight Ends
1. Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings
Fresh off signing his contract extension, Rudolph has to be excited about his role with the Vikings this season. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner loves using tight ends and making them a big piece of the offense. Rudolph will be a reliable weapon for Cassel to target while opposing teams focus on stopping Jennings, Patterson and AP.
2. Martellus Bennett, Chicago Bears
Bennett didn’t have quite the offensive explosion he was hoping for last season. He finished with just five touchdowns and really was the fourth option on a team with Marshall, Jeffery and Forte ahead of him. But he is always a threat thanks to his physical size and will create major problems this season for any defense that sleeps on him.
3. Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions
The tight end position has room to improve in the NFC North, but plenty of potential with Ebron’s upside. We all know about his size-speed combo and he will be wide open in Detroit. Now he just needs to prove it on an NFL field.
4. Richard Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
The Packers took a lot of criticism for taking Rodgers in the third round—he flashed potential but was never consistent on a very bad Cal Bears team. But Rodgers has proven the front office right so far with a strong offseason. Now he just needs to make things happen with the other Rodgers.
Ranking the Rookies
1. Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings
2. Kyle Fuller, Chicago Bears
3. Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix, Green Bay Packers
4. Anthony Barr, Minnesota Vikings
5. Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions
6. Richard Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
7. Brock Vereen, Chicago Bears
8. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers
Ranking the Offensive Lines
1. Detroit Lions
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Chicago Bears
4. Green Bay Packers
Ranking the Defensive Lines
1. Detroit Lions
2. Chicago Bears
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Green Bay Packers
Ranking the Linebackers
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Detroit Lions
4. Chicago Bears
Ranking the Secondaries
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Chicago Bears
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Detroit Lions
Overall Offensive Rankings
1. Chicago Bears
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Detroit Lions
4. Minnesota Vikings
Overall Defensive Rankings
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Chicago Bears
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Detroit Lions
Final NFC North Power Rankings
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Chicago Bears
3. Detroit Lions
4. Minnesota Vikings