The Giants were not the only team to go undefeated through the preseason, either. In fact, the number was relatively high: three teams managed it. The other teams were the Baltimore Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings. Must be something about the purple and gold colors. On the flip side, the Colts and the Cowboys both were winless. Must be something about the blue and white and silver (although silver is hardly a prominent color for the Colts, but you do see it on their gear and fan wear here and there).
Of course, none of that is any real indication as to how teams will fare in the regular season. More meaningful would be the injuries and other things that could affect teams. And unfortunately, some teams received bad news on that front. The Rams lost Sam Bradford for the entire season. Yes, again. And Browns receiver Josh Gordon has been suspended for the entire 2014 season! Those are things that can certainly affect both of those teams, as each attempts to get out of the basement of their respective tough divisions. finally, 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith has been suspended for the first nine games this season.
In any case, now, we can look forward to the regular season, and here I go again with another division to make predictions about. This time, it's the gun-slinging, quarterback happy NFC North!
1. Green Bay Packers (projected division winners) - The NFC North has basically been dominated by the Packers in recent years, almost since Aaron Rodgers took over, and certainly since he came into his own. Although overshadowed by Bret Favre and the Vikings in 2009, the Packers still went 11-5, and qualified for the playoffs. But they were considered a young, up and coming team back then, and they certainly followed up on that the next year! Despite a rough start that saw them at 8-6 and fighting for their playoff lives, the Packers won out the remaining games - including the playoffs, to win the Super Bowl! They then went 15-1 in 2011, but lost to the red hot Giants. In 2012, the Packers cooled off somewhat, but still won the division with an 11-5 mark. And last season, despite all odds, Green Bay sneaked up from behind both the Lions and Bears to win the division on the final weekend with a less than impressive 8-7-1 mark. That means that the Packers have qualified for the playoffs each of the last five seasons, won the last three division titles, and won the Super Bowl the season before that! That makes them one of the most accomplished teams in the league in recent years, and they look like the most talented team in the division this year, as well. If they play as well as they are capable, and keep Rodgers in the lineup throughout the season (something that did not happen last year), they are one of the elite teams in the league, and legitimate contenders for the Super Bowl. In any case, they are my pick to win this division yet again. I just don't see any other team in this division that can stay consistent enough to take it away from the Pack, and the cream rises to the top once again in the NFC North.
2. Chicago Bears (projected second place team) - The Bears at their best have a potentially explosive offense, and what at least should be a more solid defense. By all accounts, they have enough talent to get past the Green Bay Packers, if they play as well as they are capable of playing this season. But it just seems that the Bears always find a way to fall short, and I fear this has become a habit for the Bears in recent years. Even when they win, they lose, as they won the division outright in 2010, but then lost the one that counts to the Packers in the NFC Championship. And last season, they had beaten the Packers in Green Bay, had a better record for much of the rest of the season, and hosted a winner takes all meeting with the Packers in the final week of the regular season, only to lose once again, and watch the playoffs from home, once again. There is always something that goes wrong, even when Chicago looks like they have all the pieces in place to be a serious contender. That does not bode well, and I think it serves as the perfect example of Vince Lombardi's philosophy that losing become a habit. If the Bears play as well as they are capable throughout, they can challenge the Packers, and even win the division. But I suspect this season might follow a familiar pattern of late, where the Bears get off to a solid start, only to see everything fall apart later in the season. Even then, they should be at least a playoff contender but, with the Bears, who knows?
3. Detroit Lions (projected third place) - Much like the Chicago Bears, the Lions have the pieces in place to be a serious contender this season, but something always gets in the way. They had the pieces in place last season, and looked primed through much of the season to win the division outright. Hell, at times, they looked capable of dominating this division! This was a team that started off 4-2, and were even 6-3 by midseason, coming off a very important win over the Bears that gave them the all-important sweep! Even after they dropped both of the next two games, they enjoyed a very satisfying blowout win over the Packers, 40-10! They were 7-5, and basically, if they would win one, maybe two more games tops, the division belonged to Detroit. Even after losing the first of those next two games, all they really had to do was win out in their last two games against teams that had been out of the playoff hunt for a long, long time. But they failed to get a single win in the entire month of December, and dropped from solidly in first place, to third place and out of the running before the final weekend! When you have so many chances, and it comes time to get things done, you need to find that killer instinct, and the Lions have consistently failed to show anything resembling a killer instinct, unless they apply that to their own chances. So, it's just very hard to imagine the Lions finding their way around that to dominate this division this year. The talent is probably there, if they have the season they are capable, at best, of having. But history has shown that they will not have that kind of season. As much as I would love to see this team finally succeed, even big time, I cannot reasonably predict anything better than third place for Detroit this season. Sorry, but that's the way that I see it.
4. Minnesota Vikings (projected last place) - The Vikings seem to be in a constant state of turmoil in recent seasons, with the sole exception of a 2012 season that saw them barely scrape into the playoffs, and then get bounced immediately. I just don't see them turning it around this season, either. Too many question marks at quarterback, too much reliance on an aging Adrian Petersen, and way too many holes on that defense. True, they looked good in the preseason. But once the games really count, I doubt that the Vikings will be able to hold their own for very long. Looking at their schedule, and seeing games like at New Orleans, versus New England and Atlanta, and with tough divisional games, it is all too easy to see Minnesota struggling early, falling behind, and staying there, once again. Nothing against the Vikings, but I just don't see them really competing this season, although they can use this to build up for a more solid 2015!
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