NFC North offseason update & odds: Pack first, the rest nowhere?
This time last year the burning NFL question was would Aaron Rodgers actually play football in 2021?
After the breakup though came the makeup, and it could not have worked out any better for the Green Bay Packers as they romped to an NFC North division title and Rodgers claimed a second consecutive NFL MVP award.
This year though there are other questions Rodgers and the Pack must answer - notably can they win again with a depleted set of offensive weapons for their great quarterback?
Green Bay will start Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season as hot favourite to claim the NFC North again, but that speaks as much to the lack of opposition. Minnesota and Chicago both have new head coaches and questions to answer, while the Lions are still a way off contending.
The countdown to the regular season in September continues relentlessly, and here we assess how the NFC North landscape looks right now.
NFC North in 2021: All about Aaron
Rodgers did make up with the Pack, he did report, and he was absolutely terrific as Green Bay won the North and locked up the #1 seed in the NFC.
A horrific Week 1 loss at the hands of the New Orleans Saints turned out to be just a blip for the Packers as they went on an astonishing tear with Rodgers playing almost perfect football. The results were stellar and a division title was never in question.
Minnesota continued to underachieve - particularly offensively - and that led to HC Mike Zimmer leaving the team after a losing season.
Chicago were horrible for the most part as rookie QB Justin Fields - despite showing the odd flash of brilliance - experienced the expected growing pains.
Detroit may have finished last in the division, but arguably they had the best season of all. The preseason talk was all about the potential for 0-17 and the first pick in the NFL Draft, but they played everybody tough and managed to win four games. There is hope in Motown.
Final Standings
- 13-4 Green Bay Packers
- 8-9 Minnesota Vikings
- 6-11 Chicago Bears
- 4-13 Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers in 2022
- NFC North Odds: 8/15
- Super Bowl Odds: 12/1
- Head Coach: Matt LaFleur
This is a very different Green Bay team heading into 2022, for one reason above all else - there is no Davante Adams.
The Packers sent their WR1 to the Las Vegas Raiders in a blockbusting trade rather than pay him the huge contract he wanted/deserved. They also saw deep threat Marquez Valdes-Scantling leave for Kansas City in free agency.
While Rodgers had a pretty nice record without Adams (24 TD passes and just three INTs in 11 career games), he always knew in the past that Davante was coming back. Not any more.
Green Bay did (eventually) start the task of restocking the WR room by taking North Dakota State’s Christian Watson in Round 2 of the Draft. He has size and speed but is likely to take time to smooth out the rough edges in the pro game.
The Packers added another receiver in the Draft, this one more of a punt, as Romeo Doubs arrived from Nevada in Round 4. He is another burner to take the top off defenses.
Of course both these guys have Rodgers to throw them the ball after he signed an NFL record contract worth a staggering $50million APY to stay in Green Bay. The question is whether he can establish a winning rapport quickly with his new targets.
The Packers did also make a couple of other, much lower profile moves at WR - re-signing Rodgers’ BFF Randall Cobb and bringing in former Raven Sammy Watkins on a cheap deal.
Up front Green Bay should be immediately improved if LT David Bakhtiari is back to full health after missing most of 2021. Third-round draft pick Sean Rhyan (UCLA) should compete for a starting job somewhere on the line after RT Billy Turner joined Denver in free agency. Fourth-rounder Zach Tom (Wake Forest) is another big man who provides position flex.
While Cheeseheads everywhere were screaming for wide receivers with those two first-round picks Green Bay had, GM Brian Gutekunst went heavy on defense. Georgia defense to be exact.
Twice in Round 1 Green Bay picked up a star defender from the national champion Bulldogs, LB Quay Walker and DT Devonte Wyatt. Both add further star power to an already impressive unit.
Also on defense, the Smiths were separated as Za’Darius left for Minnesota while Preston got a nice extension to stay at Lambeau.
On the back end of the defense the Packers shelled out on another big-money extension for elite CB Jaire Alexander, and re-signed Rasul Douglas.
Summary: The Packers should be absolutely terrific on defense in 2022, and they have Rodgers. That should really be enough to win the North again.
The big question here is whether these new receivers and #12 are good enough to take Green Bay deep into the postseason following the bitter losses of recent years. Only time will tell.
Minnesota Vikings in 2022
- NFC North Odds: 11/4
- Super Bowl Odds: 40/1
- Head Coach: Kevin O’Connell
When Mike Zimmer departed the Vikings in the offseason and former Los Angeles Rams OC Kevin O’Connell replaced him, there was one major reason. An underperforming offense.
How could a group which includes the likes of Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen look so pedestrian so often? Well in theory the arrival of O’Connell will change all that.
O’Connell ran an innovative scheme for Sean McVay in SoCal, and he will be expected to bring out the best in a super-talented cast of offensive stars in Minnesota. Coming off that Super Bowl championship with the Rams, his reputation is sky-high.
The feeling clearly is that the offense is set as Minnesota spent five of its first six picks in the Draft on defense. Georgia S Lewis Cine and Clemson CB Andrew Booth were selected in the first two rounds to add quality to a secondary in dire need of it.
Minnesota also made a pretty big defensive splash in free agency by signing edge rusher Za’Darius Smith to a big deal after Green Bay elected not to keep him. Pairing Smith with Danielle Hunter should strike fear into opposing QBs.
The Vikings also beefed up their defensive front by signing Harrison Phillips from Buffalo, while former Cardinal Jordan Hicks adds quality to the linebacking corps.
In terms of losses, safety Xavier Woods bolted for Carolina though Cine should step right in to replace him. TE Tyler Conklin meanwhile is now a New York Jet.
Summary: We like some of the moves the Vikes made in the offseason, apart from that draft-day trade with Detroit (nowhere near enough value for dropping from 12 to 32 overall).
The big question mark going into 2022 will be around the offense, and whether O’Connell can get the best out of his cast of all-star weapons. And whether Kirk Cousins can win big games or is just a flat track bully.
Chicago Bears in 2022
- NFC North Odds: 10/1
- Super Bowl Odds: 100/1
- Head Coach: Matt Eberflus
If Chicago’s 2021 season was hugely underwhelming, the offseason it just endured was even worse.
The Bears lost a couple of franchise cornerstones (WR Allen Robinson signed by the Rams in free agency and OLB Khalil Mack traded to the Chargers) and did very little of anything to make up for it.
Hiring Matt Eberflus as Head Coach to replace Matt Nagy might mean a better defense in 2022, but we really worry about the development (or not) of sophomore QB Justin Fields.
Fields displayed flashes of the potential he undoubtedly had coming out of Ohio State as a rookie, but where is the required improvement coming from in 2022?
As well as losing Robinson to throw to (and Jakeem Grant), the departure of guard James Daniels to Pittsburgh was another blow for Fields and the offense.
The replacements - such as they are - hardly get the pulse racing. In came WRs Byron Pringle from Kansas City, Tajae Sharpe from Atlanta, Dante Pettis from the New York Giants and Packers duo Equanimeous St. Brown and David Moore. A whole new mediocre corps.
On defense the Bears lost another important piece as DL Akiem Hicks signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was bargain basement stuff all the way for Chicago in free agency, and the Draft was not much better. The Bears started at a disadvantage, having given up their first-rounder to the Giants in 2021 to move up and get Fields.
Second-round CB Kyler Gordon out of Washington filled an area of need, but will hardly get fans excited. We are higher on fellow second-rounder Jaquan Brisker, the Penn State safety who should provide excellent versatility on the back end of the Chicago defense.
The Bears didn’t look to get Fields any help until Round 3, taking Tennessee WR Velus Jones Jr at 71 overall. He is a burner, and he better transition quickly to the pro game if these Bears are to have a chance of putting points on the board. He is also an excellent return man.
Summary: We were as underwhelmed as we could be about this Bears offseason - they just seemed to sit there and allow their roster to get worse.
The lack of urgency to surround Fields with the weapons to excel in 2022 was shocking, and makes us wonder if the coaching staff is bought into him after all. Worrying times.
Detroit Lions in 2022
- NFC North Odds: 10/1
- Super Bowl Odds: 150/1
- Head Coach: Dan Campbell
When Dan Campbell took over in Detroit and said this in 2021 people laughed:
"We're gonna kick you in the teeth, and when you punch us back we're gonna smile at you, and when you knock us down we're going to get up, and on the way, we're going to bite a kneecap off. We're going to stand up, and it's going to take two more shots to knock us down.”
They weren’t laughing a few short months later after Campbell’s roster - short on talent but strong on work ethic - overachieved by winning four games. Kneecaptastic
Proof of the Lions’ pluck and effort came in their record against the spread in 2021 - a terrific 11-6 which was bettered only by Dallas and Green Bay.
Campbell, who coached his team superbly, also knew that he was heading to potentially better times in the future with the draft capital garnered in the trade of Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Lions started their 2022 Draft by taking local boy made good, Michigan DE Aidan Hutchinson, at #2 overall. They then made a really aggressive move to trade up from 32 to 12 and acquire potentially the best WR in the Draft, Alabama burner Jameson Williams.
Despite taking Hutchinson the Lions were not shy about claiming another edge rusher in Round 2 as they hoovered up Kentucky’s Josh Paschal. Illinois safety Kerby Joseph in the third round was another excellent pick to beef up the defense.
Detroit already has a top-notch TE in T.J. Hockenson, but it added depth at the position in the fourth with Virginia Tech’s James Mitchell.
Free agency saw the Lions shopping at the cheaper end of the market - no splashy buys to see here. It was all about building through the Draft. A strategy we love.
The Lions will find out this season if Jared Goff is the answer at QB, but it does so knowing that there are two first-round picks available to get a shiny new signal caller in the 2023 Draft if required.
Summary: We loved the job Campbell did in 2021, and it left us thinking there is a high ceiling in Motown if the talent level on this roster improves.
The selections of Hutchinson and Williams in Round 1 added two franchise cornerstones, potential game changers for years to come.
The Lions will not challenge for a division title in 2022, but they should be improved once again as they gradually find their way back to the land of the living.
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
MOST READ
