In the NFL, many divisions have shoe-in victors emerging. While the NFC East has quite a battle on its hands between the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants, it’s the NFC North which is emerging with the most high-profile war being waged.
After the quarter-mark, the Detroit Lions sat at the bottom with a 1-3-0 record despite putting up decent yardage and plenty of points. The defensive tyrant that was the Minnesota Vikings have endured some early season struggles despite seemingly completing their elite-level team with a top quarterback over the summer, standing with a 1-2-1 record after four contests. The Chicago Bears, somewhat surprisingly, topped the division with a 3-1-0 record entering their Week 5 bye, with the Green Bay Packers hot on their heels with a 2-1-1 record after their game against the Vikings ended all square.
On the face of it, the Green Bay Packers have performed well on the defensive side of the ball, despite numerous dubious referee calls and star linebacker Clay Matthews seemingly struggling to adapt to the new roughing the passer laws. Despite letting Jordy Nelson leave in the offseason, the offense appears to be doing well enough to sustain a challenge on the division’s top spot, but there are certainly areas which need improving. It’s still early days, but the Packers are at the top end of this divisional battle and look set to come out on top.
Green Bay Packers can still improve
IMAGE SOURCE: Aaron Rodgers FC, via Twitter
In Week 4, the Green Bay Packers left Lambeau Field as the 22-0 victors over the same team that battered the Minnesota Vikings to the tune of 27-6 just one week earlier. However, the shutout victory wasn’t anything to be commended in Aaron Rodgers’ eyes.
As reported by UPI, Rodgers was fuming that the team didn’t up more points against a team that they clearly could have walked over. The veteran quarterback said that while the yards line of 423 looked good, it should have been “about 45 points and 600 yards.”
Having a quarterback who is desperate for the offense that he runs to be more effective and more clinical can only be a good thing for a team that has a defense putting in strong performances – one aspect that has been lacking for the Packers in the run game. Not only has Rodgers been all but immobilised due to a knee injury, but the running back corps only amassed 408 yards through four games.
Some of this will be due to the de facto number one Aaron Jones missing a couple of games and being eased back into his starting role due to being injury prone. But, if Jones goes on a good run, it’ll help to keep defenses honest while Rodgers gets time to pick out his receivers.
As the offensive playmakers like Rodgers, Jones, Davante Adams, Jimmy Graham, and Randall Cobb return to full fitness, the offense should improve. With the defense holding well so far – bar the penalties – the Packers are expected to improve on offense and go for the division lead. In fact, as of the 5th of October, the Packers lead in the odds to win the NFC North at 6/4 with Betway, while the Bears and Vikings trail at 2/1. It seems like the experts see Green Bay as being consistent enough to come out on top while the Bears may just have had an early spike.
Divisional rivals are no pushovers
Sports Mockery, via Twitter
Make no mistake; the Minnesota Vikings are still an almighty team. However, the formerly fearsome defense has struggled in many areas of the game, per the Star Tribune, and have struggled to cohesively shutdown opposition offenses as they have done so convincingly over the last few seasons. Kirk Cousins coming in to helm the talented offense seemed to be the final piece to the puzzle of the Vikings charging for the Super Bowl, but it hasn’t completely clicked yet, being made even more difficult with the defense’s mishaps.
The Chicago Bears, on the other hand, made offseason headlines by trading for stud linebacker Khalil Mack. He immediately upgraded the team for being about a year away from playoff contention to leading the division and battling the Vikings and Packers for the top spot according to ESPN Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin. While Mitch Trubisky is still growing into his role at quarterback, the Bears continue to log in touchdowns in the passing game.
There’s little doubt that the Minnesota Vikings will begin to turn their season around soon, while the Chicago Bears could very well continue to log wins – they’re certainly a very hard team to beat right now. But, with Aaron Rodgers at the helm and an offense that looks poised to become more fluid as the season progresses, it should come as no surprise that the Green Bay Packers are favoured to win this high-class NFC North battle.