2010 NFL Preview: NFC North

Standings
1. Minnesota Vikings (12-4)
2. Green Bay Packers (12-4)
3. Chicago Bears (9-7)
4. Detroit Lions (3-13)

Most Valuable Offensive Player: Aaron Rodgers (QB, Green Bay)
Most Valuable Defensive Player: Jared Allen (DE, Minnesota)
Addition With Biggest Impact: Julius Peppers (DE, Chicago)
Mr. Irrelevant: Kevin Smith (RB, Detroit)

Once again Brett Favre pulled his old man attention whore act and had the media on his toes about whether he would retire or not. Of course he's not, duh. And, this automatically makes the Minnesota Vikings at least two wins better than they would be without him. I believe they would be playoff contenders no matter what, but Favre, despite being an old, broken man in football terms, makes them candidates to lose in the Super Bowl. This probably won't happen, but it might. Breakout receiver Sidney Rice is sidelined for the first half of the season, and that should hurt, but not too much. Bernard Berrian is capable of picking up the slack, and if Percy Harvin's head is ok, he is a stud in the making. And, don't forget that the Vikings' offense features the league's second, third or fourth best running back in Adrian Peterson (in spite of his tendency to fumble at crucial points in a game), and a touchdown machine at tight end. Their defense also happens to be very good, showcasing the best defensive line around and an already good but steadily improving linebacker corps.

Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers has turned out to be one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL, and has a very bright future ahead of him. The Packers' 2010 season shouldn't look much different than Minnesota's. The offensive is pretty young and incredibly talented thanks to Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley being big playmakers at their positions, and Donald Driver and Ryan Grant being consistent if not simply great. They also have a high quality defense with a decent defensive line, solid linebackers that will continue to gel and one of the best secondaries around, lead by the ageless Charles Woodson.

I don't understand why everyone is so hard on the Chicago Bears. Their situation is much better than people reason. I'm not saying they're a playoff team again quite yet, but they're not far off. Pass happy Mike Martz was smart to join on as offensive coordinator, as Jay Cutler is by far the most talented quarterback he's been able to work with since his days with Kurt Warner in St. Louis. Cutler simply had an off year in 2009. His attitude might suck, but he should be terrific in Martz's system, and I'm not just saying this because I had to settle for him in my first fantasy football draft of the season last week. Matt Forte also had a disappointing season in '09, but Martz could turn him into Marshall Faulk. The receiving corps are pretty much a mess, everyone being young and relatively inexperienced, but Martz has worked wonderful magic in something like this before. With the return of Brian Urlacher, the defensive should be solid. With the addition of Julius Peppers, if he decides to give a damn, could make them great. Lance Briggs is a terrific linebacker as well.

Ah, the Detroit Lions. My home team. As it goes before the start of every season, all of my friends that are football fans are shouting bold claims like, "the Lions will be better than the Bears," or "the Lions will win at least seven, maybe eight games!" I kind of love this, because where else does a city's football fans get excited about the possibility of a team finishing at .500, or even barely under? Unfortunately, I do not share the optimism of my friends. Not even close. I will be surprised if they win more than three games. Their schedule isn't easy, and also, the team just isn't any good. I will not deny that the Lions are headed in the right direction. Jim Schwartz made some great moves in the off-season, signing Corey Williams and Kyle Vanden Bosch to be leaders and make a disgusting defense much better. Drafting Ndamukong Suh (who analysts are saying is the next Reggie White, which is crazy to me) with the second pick in the first round was a fantastic decision, but remember in 1994 when the Cincinnati Bengals took defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson at #1? What did he do? Shit. Regardless, I have placed much more hope in Suh reviving the atmosphere of this squad than I have in second year quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford is showing promise, but I am very skeptical as to how long that will last. Remember Joey Harrington? I will consider Stafford a success story as long as he has a better career than Mark Sanchez, who should be horrible. Anyway, Calvin Johnson is so awesome, and I really hope Jahvid Best ends up being incredible, though its more believable that he and Stafford will spend a good portion of 2010 hurt on the bench because we have the worst offensive line in the NFL. Ugh.