Last week we covered the West of both conferences. Now we move to the North. We start with the NFC this round. Let’s dive in.

NFC North

First Place: Green Bay Packers (12-5)

Since Aaron Rodgers left, the Packers have made the playoffs in back to back years both times as a wild card. Last year they sort of limped in. Jordan Love was hurt off and on all of last year. Their receivers also had some issues with drops. And by issues with drops I mean they dropped a lot of passes. I mean a lot. But they still made the playoffs despite two teams in their division winning 14 or more games. Jordan Jacobs was awesome last year and their defense was very solid most of the year. They are well coached and are still a very young team. This is the year they make the leap and put it all together and win the division. The receivers are talented and they added another great young talent. They have a great head coach. And I think Love’s struggles had more to do with injuries and drops than him actually being bad. If I am wrong about that, then the Packers will obviously not win the division. But I think I am right. And hopefully I am so my son will be upset less during the season this year.

Second Place: Detroit Lions (11-6)

I think the Lions are great and have a very talented team. They can’t be less healthy on defense than they were last year so that should help. They have incredible weapons with two great running backs, two really good receivers and a very solid tight end. But I have two major concerns with the Lions. The first concern is that they lost both coordinators. Do I think the Lions can overcome that? Of course. I just think it might take a little time. I think the Lions will be a super bowl contender by the end of the season but I think there will be bumps along the way. And one of the reasons I think that is concern number 2, which is a very difficult schedule. They are at the Ravens, Bengals, Chiefs, Commanders, Eagles and Rams. That is a brutal road schedule. And Goff is historically better inside than outside and that is a lot of outside. So I give the Packers a slight edge against them for the divisional crown.

Third Place: Minnesota Vikings (9-8)

The Vikings won 14 games last year with Sam Darnold last so I could be undervaluing them here. But I just think there are too many things in their way this year. The schedule has some challenges. They basically have a rookie quarterback. Their second best receiver is going to miss 3 games due to suspension. They have a great coach who is a quarterback whisperer but even this is a challenge for him. The defense is still very solid and I think they will be competitive. But they won a lot of close games and I think some of those games go the other way this year. I still think they will be very competitive and will be a team everyone says is better than their record even though that really isn’t a thing.

Fourth Place: Chicago Bears (6-11)

The Bears made a lot of moves this offseason. They got a new coach. They revamped their offensive line. They got more weapons on offense. They got more guys to help the defense. They also get to play a last place team schedule. All the stars are aligned for this team to make a leap and get into the playoff conversation. So why do I have them only winning 6 games? The answer is simple, Caleb Williams. Last year I had them as a sleeper pick and had them sneaking into the playoffs. They were my biggest whiff in my predictions. There were a lot of reasons why but one of them was the performance of Caleb Williams. Caleb did not play well and I haven’t seen much since the end of the last season to give me any confidence going into this year. Also, while Ben Johnson was a great offensive coordinator there is no guarantee that he will be a good head coach. So while there is a lot to like about the Bears, there is just too much I don’t feel good about to have them anywhere besides 4th in this very difficult and competitive division.

AFC North

First Place: Baltimore Ravens (13-4)

The Ravens are a great regular season team and this year should be no different. The schedule has some challenges but isn’t brutal. They play the NFC North which is a challenge but they also get the AFC East and besides the Bills, there isn’t much scary there. The defense got way better as the season went on last year. And they added a lot of great players to that defense. They didn’t change much offensively but I don’t know that they needed to. They have a great running quarterback who has gotten better at throwing. They have a great running back and good enough receivers and tight ends and to me they are clearly the best team in the division. I’ll be shocked if anyone but the Ravens win this division assuming Lamar stays healthy.

Second Place: Cincinnati Bengals (10-7)

The Bengals were amazing on offense most of last year. They were also terrible on defense most of last year. I don’t think much is going to be different this year. But I think the Bengals have a better record mostly because the beginning of their schedule is pretty easy and they are typically terrible at the beginning of the year. Zach Taylor has decided to do things differently to avoid the start being crappy again. Starting with the Browns and Jags should help. If they are 0-2 after those two games then all bets are off and we can assume they will miss the playoffs again. But I think they are just too good offensively. Their coach needs to win and make the playoffs. And as bad as their defense was last year, they still won 9 games and almost made the playoffs. I think they win one more game this year and get in.

Third Place: Pittsburgh Steelers (9-8)

The Steelers made the playoffs again last year. And lost in the first round again last year. So they dumped Russ and Justin Fields and got Aaron Rodgers. This of course was after Rodgers spent sometime in the darkness, supposedly got married and didn’t get any better offers, (cough, cough, the Vikings, cough). So now he is all fired up and ready to go. My favorite part of his marriage was the part where he is looking forward to not being in the spotlight. The guy brings more attention to himself than anyone in the league. Anyway, the Steelers basically have the same problems they always have. They have a great defense but a sub par quarterback with one guy to throw to and a questionable run game. All this equals yet another winning but unsuccessful season.

Fourth Place: Cleveland Browns (4-13)

Usually when I make predictions I look at a teams schedule and go throw game by game and make a prediction. I am just throwing out 4 wins for this Cleveland team. It was going to be because they have 4 quarterbacks but then they just signed another one. This team is a hot mess. There most expensive quarterback isn’t even able to play and if he was they wouldn’t want him to based upon how bad he has been. The drafted two quarterbacks and I don’t think they are that excited about either of them. They don’t have great players to throw to either. They do have a pretty good defense. They are like the Steelers only significantly worse. The only bright spot is that Joe Flacco is probably going to start which means lots of Shane Falco references throughout the season. I know you all can’t wait for that.