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2005 NFL Preview - NFC North

NFC North

Minnesota (11-5): By far the most improved team in the NFL this off-season, the Vikings took the two biggest weaknesses of their team (the defensive backfield and Randy Moss’ head) and fixed both… Bringing in Fred Smoot and Darren Sharper addressed the defensive backfield issues, and shipping Moss to Oakland eliminated him from the picture. Brad Johnson, Pat Williams and Travis Taylor, three other major free agent acquisitions, should solidify the backup QB, defensive line and Wide Receiver positions, respectively… Nate Burleson was already poised to break out, and with Troy Williamson and Erasmus James coming to the Vikings via the draft, Minnesota looks ready to jump to the head of the class in the NFC…

Detroit (9-7): OK, after referencing the Lions throughout this preview as the prime example of a team with far too much expected of them last year, now I’m expecting them to do “great” things this year. Very simply, they have the luxury of playing the Bears and Packers twice, two teams that couldn’t cover a wide receiver on a go route if they had a bottle of super glue in each hand – have you heard that the Lions have a couple of pretty good receivers? The only thing that could hurt them is the extremely early (Week 3) bye. They’ll have to play 14 straight games after that with no break, not to mention the possibility of the playoffs. They open with three winnable games (GB, @Chi, @TB) before running squarely into Baltimore and Carolina, which should put them right back in their place. They’ve got a good shot at the playoffs this year, just as long as they stay healthy…

Green Bay (6-10): Oh my. This can’t be right. I feel like I should hide under my desk to avoid the lightning bolts. 6-10? Really? Well, Brett Favre actually is mortal. Ahman Green seems to have solved that nasty little fumbling habit, but you never know. The receivers are still good, but will only be as good as the man getting them the ball, so who knows how that will end up… The defense is the problem. For two years running, they haven’t been able to stop any above-average passing offense. Now it seems like they can’t stop the run either. That spells some serious trouble. But from a fantasy perspective, think about it like this – with such a bad defense, the Packers’ offense will spend a lot of time on the field. With the ball in their hands that often, they’ve gotta put up some decent points. It’s the ’99 Rams / ’04 Colts “Theory of Relatively Lousy Defense”…

Chicago (2-14): Da Bears. Da poor, poor Bears. They actually tried to get better this year, taking the best RB in the draft in 1^st-round pick Cedric Benson and signing Muhsin Muhammed as a big target for Rex Grossman. Then Grossman broke his ankle and Benson lost his mind (is he still holding out?), and suddenly the Bears look like this year’s version of the unscheduled bye week, a dubious honor held by the 49ers and Chargers in the past two years. Even worse, they didn’t have a bad defense before all of the offensive losses. Unfortunately, in the reverse of the “Theory of Relatively Lousy Defense”, the Bears’ defense will have to spend an inordinate amount of time on the field because the offense won’t be able to move the ball. In time, that, plus the Week 4 bye, will take their toll…

posted by Big D @ 9:49 PM