Who will win the NFC North?
Last season the NFC North ended with the Green Bay Packers running away with the win, beating out the second place Bears by five games. This season the Packers are looking to run it back, as they made it all the way tot he NFC Championship game, losing narrowly to the Buccaneers. While the Packers are hopeful to win the North once again, the Bears, Vikings and Lions are looking to dethrone the cheeseheads. So how will this division shake out in 2021?
Like we’ve been doing for recent divisions we’ll start with the reigning victor of the NFC North. As we said previously, the Green Bay Packers won the division last year, beating out the Bears by five games. Their 13-3 record came best in the NFC, thus giving them the number one seed in the 2020 playoffs. This offseason the Packers locked up Aaron Jones on a four year contract worth $48 million, giving him a long term deal instead of just placing the cheap franchise tag on him. The cheeseheads will be picking at the twenty ninth selection in this years upcoming draft, and as of now, they are poised to either take a wide receiver to line up opposite Davante Adams, or a playmaker who can help their defense. The Packers were in on JJ Watt earlier this offseason and were considered to be one fo the front runners for the future hall of famer before he signed with the Arizona Cardinals. It’ll just take the Packers one great draft before they’ll be able to get over the hump of the NFC Championship game, and hopefully get Aaron Rodgers another ring, but will they even win their own division? We’ll see later on.
The Chicago Bears came second in the division last season,and were able to clinch the final playoff spot in the NFC over the Arizona Cardinals. The Bears are in the middle of a transition period though, despite making the playoffs last year. They signed Andy Dalton to be their starting quarterback in 2021, a deal for one year worth up to $10 million. This move made many Chicago fans upset, considering they were in heavy talks with Seattle for Russel Wilson, however, talks fell flat and the Bears opted for an alternative. They will likely take a quarterback in the first round though, names to watch include Kyle Trask and Mac Jones. Can the Bears get it together enough to make a push for the division, or will it be another disappointing down year for Chicago?
Last season the Vikings had a rough start to their year, but flipped a switch halfway through and finished a game below the Bears. The Vikings have one of the best young receivers in the game today in Justin Jefferson. During free agency the Vikes signed Patrick Peterson to a one year deal worth $10 million, and also brought in names such as Mackensie Alexander as well as Xavier Woods. The Vikings secondary looks completely different than last year, which is a good thing as they had one of the worst in the league last year. Minnesota is picking fourteenth overall in the draft in April and will likely be in the market for a another receiver or most likely a defensive lineman. So will these moves get Minnesota back into the playoffs as a division winner, or will these hopes fall flat as well?
Lastly, and last in the division last year, is the Detroit Lions. The Lions have certainly made the most moves this offseason out of the division. Not only did they hire their new head coach, the stud that is known as Dan Campbell. But they also made a massive trade at the start of the offseason that will set them up for success in future years. They traded Matthew Stafford, their longtime starting quarterback, to the Los Angeles Rams for two first round picks, a third rounder and Jarod Goff. The Lions certainly won this trade, considering how they were being forced to trade Stafford, and they were able to get so much more than they should have in return, and also were able to acquire their new starting quarterback in the process without drafting a rookie. Some other moves they made this offseason include trading for Michael Brockers, and signing names that include Romeo Okwara, Jamal Williams, Tim Boyle, Charles Harris, Breshaud Perriman and Randy Bullock. Will Jarod Goff be able to play his way back to the playoffs and maybe even another Super Bowl? We’ll have to wait and see.
To predict this division, we’ll go for the shocker. We predict that the Packers will repeat as the division winner, shocker right? We don’t think that Green Bay has regressed enough, or their opponents have improved enough to dethrone the division kings. However, we do predict that the Lions will come second and be the best of the rest. The way the Lions were able to swindle the Rams for so much in return for the quarterback they’ve had for so long, will prove to be the biggest win of the offseason. Dan Campbell will also be a great play caller and will show his worth out on the field. We also predict that the Vikings will come in as a close third, just like in 2020. The Vikings have improved thus far this offseason by rebuilding their secondary, but we don’t thunk that this will be able to compete with the moves that Detroit has made. And coming up in the rear we predict that the Bears will finish dead last. We also think that this will be the last year of the Ryan Pace, Matt Nagy era. Signing Andy Dalton was the worst decision they’ve made, as there were other quarterbacks available at the time that would have been better, like Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jameis Winston (yes, Jameis) or Robert Griffin III. We think that the Bears will be embarrassed and will probably end up having to deal with some unhappy players and some trade demands.