September: A time when summer humidity yields to the crispness of autumn and the excitement of professional football. Like pre-teen girls preparing for a Justin Bieber appearance, NFC North fans are waiting in giddy anticipation for the start of the regular season.
As with any football discussion, conversation about the NFC North starts with quarterbacks. From top to bottom, this division has the best stock of quarterbacks in the league. Atop the list are the two whose names will be inevitably linked in Packer history, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Last season, they threw for 63 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions, the best combined totals in the league for two quarterbacks in the same division. Expect a similar battle for supremacy between mentor and pupil this season.
Many in the Windy City thought Jay Cutler would put an end to the Bears quarterback curse, but there were times when he looked uglier than a Charles Barkley tee shot, throwing a league-high 26 interceptions. New offensive coordinator Mike Martz, architect of the great offenses in St. Louis a decade ago, will try to help Cutler meet fans’ lofty expectations.
Detroit’s Matthew Stafford, who showed the toughness of an overcooked ribeye in a comeback win against Cleveland last year, should benefit from a year of experience.The addition of explosive rookie Jahvid Best at running back will also take some pressure off the young quarterback.
Overall, Green Bay looks to have the offensive advantage. You can’t spit at a Packer practice without hitting an offensive Pro Bowler — unless you find yourself milling around the offensive linemen, that is.
The closest competition is in Minnesota, where Adrian Peterson will again be trampling aspiring tacklers into the Metrodome turf — assuming he can hang on to the ball. Favre will have fewer targets than he did last year with leading receiver Sidney Rice expected to miss the first half of the season and reigning offensive rookie of the year Percy Harvin still battling his mysterious migraines.
Chicago and Detroit are far behind when it comes to offensive weapons. The best of the bunch is Detroit’s Calvin Johnson, who’s among the most gifted receivers in the league, but the jury is still out on Chicago’s talented-but-inexperienced receiving corps.
All four defenses have serious questions to answer. Minnesota’s in the best shape with its formidable defensive line, but the Vikings are still wondering if middle linebacker E.J. Henderson will be fully recovered from a gruesome femur fracture he suffered against the Cardinals last year.
Green Bay is unsure how its secondary will function without its dreadlocked members, Al Harris and Atari Bigby, for at least the first six weeks of the season.
Chicago, whose defense is a shell of its former self, is still trying to acclimate high-priced free agent Julius Peppers while bringing perennial Pro-Bowler Brian Urlacher back into the fold after he missed all of last season with an injured wrist.
And Detroit’s new defense hinges on the performance of highly-drafted rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Without consistent pressure up front, opposing quarterbacks will give the vulture treatment to the undermanned Lions secondary — they’ll get picked apart.
When all is said and done, Detroit will still be in the cellar with four wins. The Lions have improved, but the difference between this season’s NFC North schedule and last season’s is the difference between being in a mosh pit at a Slayer show and listening to Jack Johnson on your iPod. Detroit will feel that change in intensity the most.
The offensive incompetence of the past 25 years will continue for Chicago, and without a top defensive unit to compensate, they’ll finish with six wins.
Like last year, Favre will take advantage of the old-man-friendly schedule — four of five December games will be played indoors — and lead the Vikings to 12 wins and a postseason berth.
But I have the Packers unseating the defending division champs with 13 victories of their own and grabbing postseason home-field advantage. Lambeau Field in January isn’t something dome-bound contenders like Minnesota, New Orleans and Dallas will want to deal with.
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