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Omar's Preview NFC North

13
Vote

by user Omar19902003

Well, my first preview was of a division that I believe will get 3 teams into the playoffs. Here comes a division that is much worse. Indeed the NFC North has been a weak division for the last couple of years, and I see that trend continuing despite the optimism coming from fans of the NFC North. Here is my team by team look:

Chicago Bears: Well, the Bears had a magic carpet ride of a season last year, winning the division as well as snatching the number 2 seed in the NFC. Now that is all dandy but the Bears recent histroy shows that the quarterback will be a problem. I expect that trend to continue as neither Rex Grossman nor Brian Griese are that great and they both do not have great weapons to work with. Also teams had figured out that defense at the end of last year(see Carolina Panthers in playoffs). I see the Bears going 6-10.

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings started off slow but finished strong thanks to Big Brad Johnson and great special teams and defense. However, looking at this team going into this year I do not like what I see. First of all their schedule, with the exception of the New York Giants, was weak when they went on their winning streak. Also, this offense is a liability. Brad Johnson is older than Brett Favre, and does not have the arm that he does. Also Troy Williamson has not proven that he is capable of being a number 1 reciever. Finally while they did get some big offensive line help(Steve Hutchinson)I still don't believe that Chester Taylor is all that he is cracked up to be, look at the hype LaMont Jordan got last year and then look at the results. I say this team is not as good as people would like to believe. I have them going 5-11.

Detroit Lions: So, the city of Detroit is excited because they now have their savior at qb(Jon Kitna) and their new found genius at OC(Mike Martz). Please, this team is just as bad as last year, sure they will score maybe a couple of more points, but don't expect more wins. This teams looks great on paper, ONCE AGAIN, but how many years has it been since we said that the Lions are gonna be good. By my count it has been 3 years and running that we have been waiting for the Lions to produce with all those great recievers. Well it appears that those recievers aren't as good as they were hyped to be, and I am officially done waiting for this sorry franchise. They won't win till they get rid of Matt Millen. Im gonna be generous and say they match last year's record of 6-10.

Green Bay Packers: Now people can say all they want, but this is a team that is better than it looks on paper. First of all, Brett Favre can still play, last year he threw 20 touchdowns with absolutely nobody around him. Of course, he also threw 29 interceptions but that was because he was the only player who could do anything so he was trying to hard. I beleive that with a healthy team this year he will be more careful with the ball, and also become the pro bowler we all know he is. Second, this team drafted great offensive line men that will help immediately this year( Colledge, and Spitz) these guys were great pickups late in the draft. Also from reports show that last year's rookies, Whitticker, etc., are starting to pick up their play as well. Also, with a new offensive coordinator who is great at working with offensive lines, Atlanta and Denver, I believe he will fix that problem. Thirdly, the running backs, we have 3 starter material running backs. So I figure that one of them will stay healthy and be productive. Finally, the defense will be much improved, the corner back duo of Charles Woodson and Al Harris will be one of the best in the NFL, also look for Ryan Pickett to have a breakout season, and look for Abdul Hodge and A. J. Hawk to be strong ROY canidates. As for the safeties, anyone who saw Nick Collins play last year knows that this kid is a stud. So, with a soft schedule, improved team, and a legend at qb, I see the Packers taking the division at 9-7.


Date

Tue 06/13/06, 10:03 am EST

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Anonymous Fanatic #1
1294 days ago
Score 1+-
I'm not sure how you get so many wins from this division, but if someone is gonna tally some, its not gonna be GB. If all these teams are bad, how do they each manage 5-6 wins? The problem with the bears isn't talent at QB, its health. If Grossman is health, he's a decent QB. I wouldn't attribute the Vikings solid end to Brad Johnson, however, compared to Farve last year, atleast he could manage the game without turning the ball over.

A agree detroit needs to get rid of millen, but they could potentially win this division because everyone is so bad. Kitna is better than Harrington and is a decent QB in general, I think you will see a productive team this year, especially with martz as OC.

And you are way off th mark on Green Bay: I fail to see how Farve will throw less INTs this year. Granted the defense sucked, but that doesn't mean you throw balls to the other team! There's no way GB starts all those rooks on the offensive line and THEN farve is better, it just doesn't add up. sure GB has some good RBs, but the secret to running the ball isn't the talent of the ball carrier, its the talent of the line...A.J. Hawk is a rookie lineback in a new system (for everyone) that never bodes well. And Finally, Mentioning Al Harris and "best in NFL" has got to be one of the biggest crimes I've ever heard. I hate to bash you on this, but, have you ever seen al harris play. He was a 3rd corner on the eagles and he sucked, now he's older and he's gonna blow way more covers. Sorry man, You're off the mark again...
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JuTMSY4Legend
1294 days ago
Score 1+-
Damnit, I need to sign in....
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
1294 days ago
Score 0+-
Chicago had a useless offense lsat year... I still think that they and Green Bay will challenge for the division, albeit at around 8-8. I think there is reason for optimism in Green Bay, but the Lambeau faithful will want to see more than an even year. They want to see a Super Bowl, which looks very unlikely this year. I think it's a weak, but tight division. All four teams have a chance of being under 8-8. A side on 7-9, maybe even worse, could make the playoffs and it wouldn't be too great a shock.
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ThefoulpoleSoccer Kid
1294 days ago
Score 0+-
I see the Bears going 9-7, but that is because the defense might be better this year with Mike Brown playing the entire season (hopefully). Just need to get Lance Briggs in camp. All those young guys are a year older. Grossman will be alright, but not great.
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ThefoulpoleSoccer Kid
1294 days ago
Score 0+-
In addition, it is clear that you hate the Bears. No bad feelings from me.
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JuTMSY4Legend
1294 days ago
Score 0+-
Clearly, that defense can carry the team. Grossman is better than people think. If healthy, he could be passable, kinda like kitna in cincinnati, but I find it believable that he could make the pro-bowl. That guy is better than you think...The bears will win the division...
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EnyboDiv-I Stud
1293 days ago
Score 0+-
Wow, this article bleeds green. The Packer bias coming out of this is disgusting. I agree with Minn being bad and Detroit being a mirage. I even agree that the Packers will be better than last year. But how can you drop the Bears down to 6-10? They have the same dominant defense and a better offense. I am not sayign great offense, but Grossman/Griese will be better than Orton. Benson will be playing from week 1. At least say 8-8 and give them some sort of respect.
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JuTMSY4Legend
1293 days ago
Score 0+-
No Love for Thomas Jones? The guy had over 1,000 yards last year if I remember...
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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer
1293 days ago
Score 1+-
Yes, Carolina figured out how to beat Chicago, but not every team has a Steve Smith on their depth chart. Most of these guys are right, the Bears won't be beat by too many of their NFC North counterparts...maybe once to Detroit and once to Green Bay but that's it. The Packers' saving grace is that they have only about two games this season that are really, really tough (New England and Seattle--back to back weeks too). The other teams they play will be struggling with the same things as they are (rookies). New Orleans, Arizona, and New York all have decent young talent, but who knows if they're going to mesh. You won't have The Sherman Factor working for you this year (where you automatically add three more losses because he was a useless weinie of a head coach) but you do have to factor in that a lot of the team is young, Ahman Green is over the hill, and the fact that Rod Gardner and Mark Boerigter are the No. 3 and 4 WRs. Donald Driver and Robert Ferguson are the x-factors to this team's success. If they go down with injury, Green Bay goes down in flames, and Favre may eclipse last year's INT total.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
1293 days ago
Score 0+-
Well at least if he does, he could set the "most career interceptions" record. Lets face it, he holds, or is close to holding most other NFL passing records...
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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer
1293 days ago
Score -1+-
I wasn't denying his greatness. But at this point in his career he seems to only be good as the players around him, unlike earlier in his career where he could make guys like Antonio Freeman look like Terrell Owens.
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PurplePeopleEaters
1268 days ago
Score 0+-
This is extremely biased as some other posters have mentioned. Although I am a Vikings fan, I doubt they go 5-11 this upcoming season barring a huge injury. You failed to mention how good their offensive line really did get on both sides of the line. The line was probably the Vikings weakest spot last year, however, the return of Matt Birk and the additions of perrenial pro-bowler Steve Hutchinson and former Eagles starter Artis Hicks could make them a force to be reckoned with.

Yes, I agree that Brad Johnson is old, but he is a mistake-free quarterback. He also thrives in the newly implemented west-coast offense. If Brad can play mistake-free football as usual, then the Vikings will continue to move the ball. I also agree that Troy Williamson didn't show many bright spots last year but again you fail to notice that he was in Mike Tice's so called 'doghouse' for a solid part of the season last year. He will likely be a 3rd reciever to start the year behind Travis Taylor. Also don't forget that Jermaine Wiggins does get a boatload of receptions in the Vikings offense. I don't expect him to be anything short of spectacular this upcoming season.

Another key addition you failed to mention was the addition of Fullback Tony Richardson, and unrestricted free agent from the Kansas City Chiefs. Richardson anchored the blocking scheme in Kansas City for both Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. Adding his key lead blocking to the fact that the vikings have a retooled offensive line will help the progression of Chester Taylor who also thrives in a west coast offense.

Now this is just the offense. Although Corey Chavous left on defense, the vikings got a much needed hard hitting safety by the name of Tank Williams. A hard hitting safety was something the vikings were in dire need of in order to run the Cover 2 defense.

The vikings also went out and made sure they had good linebackers to fit their scheme. Chad Greenway and Ben Leber should do fairly well in the cover 2.

Now that i have made my case for the vikings NOT being bad next year, I still haven't made my case for why the Bears won't be that bad and why the Packers will really NOT be that good. Don't expect any more nail-biting last second field goal wins because you also forgot to mention that Ryan Longwell is now a Viking.
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