The “black and blue” division of The National Football League will
once again be a good one in 2012. The Green Bay Packers are shooting for
their second Super Bowl Championship in the past three seasons. The
Chicago Bears were one game away from The Super Bowl in 2010 and they
would love to once again be in the playoffs. The Detroit Lions have
found out that winning is fun and The Minnesota Vikings have nice
uniforms. This should indeed be an interesting season in The NFC North.
Green Bay Packers (12-4)
15-1 like they were last year, but they are still one of the more
formidable teams in The National Football Conference. The Packers had
the best record in The NFC, but they fell to The New York Giants in The
Divisional Round. The Packers finished 32nd in total defense last year.
The pass rush was upgraded in the draft in the form of outside
linebacker Nick Perry. Perry is a rookie out of Southern California as
his main job will be to free up some of the attention that has been
given to outside linebacker Clay Matthews. In three seasons in The NFL,
Matthews has recorded 29.5 sacks and some of the longest hair since the
days of Fabio, but he cannot rush the passer by himself.
who is the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player. Rodgers still has a crew
at wide receiver in the form of Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, and Jordy
Nelson. The main thing for Green Bay and head coach Mike McCarthy is to
improve the running game. The Pack was 27th in rushing last season and a
stronger running attack not only helps the passing game, but it takes
time off of the clock and the defense isn’t on the field as long. To
bolster the running game, Green Bay recently signed running back Cedric
Benson. Benson was a former first-round pick of The Bears who is coming
off of three consecutive 1,000 yards rushing seasons with The
Cincinnati Bengals. Benson will team with running back James Starks to
give Green Bay a running attack that they hope can get them to New
Orleans in February.
Packers open with two consecutive home games against The San Francisco
49ers and The Bears. This will go a long way in determining the season.
Chicago Bears (10-6)
The Bears were rolling last season until quarterback Jay Cutler
broke his thumb on his throwing hand. At the time, Chicago was 7-3 with
their eyes set on a playoff berth. The Bears then lost five in a row and
finished 8-8. Mike Martz is no longer The Bears offensive coordinator
after clashing with Cutler. In steps former Minnesta Vikings head coach
Mike Tice who will look to implement more of a running attack to protect
Cutler. The Bears added running back Michael Bush to team with Matt
Forte. The Bears finally gave Cutler a legitimate receiving threat when
they acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall from The Miami
Dolphins. Culter and Marshall were teammates with The Denver Broncos for
three seasons and seemed poised to do big things until former Broncos
head coach Josh McDaniels had other ideas as he shipped Cutler off to
The Windy City.
The Bears still have Devin Hester who is the best special teams player
that The NFL has ever seen. With 17 punt/kickoff returns for touchdowns
in his career, it is amazing that teams still kick to him, but he is
indeed a difference maker for The Bears.
Bears head coach Lovie Smith is hopeful that Pro Bowl middle linebacker
Brian Urlacher and his bad knee will hold up this season. Urlacher
injured his knee is the last game of the 2011. Urlacher has gone through
several knee procedures since then as he is still the heart and soul of
the team and for The Bears to once again make the postseason, they will
need a healthy Urlacher.
Detroit Lions (10-6)
To give you an idea of how long it has been since The Lions had made
the playoffs prior to 2011, they were members of The NFC Central while
they called The Pontiac Silverdome home. The Lions and their fans went
through a lot including a rally by fans to fire former Lions general
manager Matt Millen. Now their is a new regime led by general manager
Martin Mayhew and head coach Jim Schwartz. The Lions went 10-6 last
season and earned a wild card berth. The toughest thing for a young team
that is learning how to win is figuring out how to sustain it.
The Lions led The NFL is offseason arrests as some players posed for
mugshots on multiple occasions which isn’t good for business. Between
the arrests, Lions Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh being labeled
as a dirty player, and Schwartz trying to knock out opposing coaches,
this team appears to be undisciplined. The Lions were also third in The NFL last season in penalties with 128.
On the flip side, Detroit has talent. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is a
star in the making while Pro Bowl Calvin Johnson aka “Megatron” might be
the best receiver in the business. Johnson led The NFL in receiving
yards last year with 1,681 while hauling in 16 touchdowns. At 6’5″, I
feel sorry for defensive backs that have to jump with this freak of
nature.
As much attention that The Lions pass rush which is led by Suh receives,
they still finished 23rd in total defense last season which can be
attributed to the penalties.
I am sure the people are looking forward to The Lions week 2 match-up
with The San Francisco 49ers as it could be Schwartz-Harbaugh II as all
eyes will be on the postgame handshake.
Minnesota Vikings (3-13)
The Vikings have the unenviable task of playing in the same division
with three teams that are currently playoff caliber teams. What
Minnesota can hang their hats on going into this season is that 2011
first-round pick quarterback Christian Ponder got his feet wet by
throwing for 1,853 yards. Pro-Bowl running back Adrian Peterson suffered
a torn ACL and MCL in week 16 last year and The Vikings shouldn’t place
all of their chips on him being his usual self for this season.
The Vikings first two games of the season are against The Jacksonville
Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts, but then they will receiver a reality
check when they play The 49ers in week 3 before facing The Bears, Lions,
and Packers twice respectively. At least The Vikings are working on a
deal for a new stadium in Minneapolis.
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