NFC Norris Division

[The_Dude]

I think this was a question on the ESPN Sunday Morning show this weekend, and I thought I'd open it up to the Cafe...

The NFC North has to be the most pathetic division in professional sports right now. You have 4 teams, all with losing records (well, the Lions are .500, but they've played like they should have a losing record). Who wins this division? And, how many games do they win? (will they have a better record than the San Diego Padres?)

Right now, I honestly have to say that Green Bay has gotta be the favorite at 1-4... how ridiculous is that?

Please opine...

Dude

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Well, one could also argue that the Lions should be 3-1 right now as they had the outcome of the TB game reversed on a terrible call. Now, dont get me wrong - look at my sig - if the Lions were somehow 3-1, they would easily be the worst 3 win team in the NFL by far.

This is an awful division - terrible coaches, injuries, a tough schedule featuring the AFC North, and teams going through rebuilding phases. Not much else you can say right now. I would be suprised to see a 9 win team come out of this conference. Prior to the season, I said either the Bears or Lions would come out of it, and I stand by that guess.

[skibrett15]

I can only see the Packers coming out on Top, as they're the only team I can see winning a tough game against a tough team. The Bears might have had a shot, but they lost T. Jones for god knows how long.

[maddog60]

If Detroit can get a QB somehow, they would have to be the favorites. Chicago and Minnesota are lacking, and GB is surviving only on the stubbornness of Favre. Someone forgot to tell him his team is injured and bad.

[husker_fanatic]

just like in baseball in the NL east how atlanta always pulls through, it seems that in the NFC north in football the packers always pull through

[PackerAttack84]

This is about the saddest division ever, but hell, it's rather ideal for the Packers. You can rebuild your team AND compete for a playoff spot. I don't see the Lions winning the division, I don't think many people believe Joey Harrington can lead a team to the playoffs. The Bears are very young, Orton at QB and Benson getting the carries. The Vikings are just awful, why they went after Darren Sharper is beyond me, he is nothing. He makes an occasional great play, but it doesn't even come close to even out all of the bone-head, awful plays he makes each drive. Culpepper has looked awful, and a Viking offense without a running game is close to nothing. It's hard to say it, but I do think the Pack will come out on top. They've been competitive in every game this year. The defense looks much better, rookie second round draft pick Nick Collins is a very solid tackler and gives the Packers a future saftey. The only thing that might hurt the Packers is the running game, if they can't run, the passing game will not be able to reach its full potential.

[Bennett4prez]

If Detroit can get a QB somehow, they would have to be the favorites. Chicago and Minnesota are lacking, and GB is surviving only on the stubbornness of Favre. Someone forgot to tell him his team is injured and bad.

I think I'll value this opinion since all the others were just homers with no facts, only homer bias.

[portisfan24]

The Bears have a good defense and if they can grind the ball out with Benson and TJ they have a good shot. They wont go anywhere in the playoffs but they have the best defense and probably the best rushing offense in the division.

[Atog]

The Bears have looked good with TJ, but his health is a concern and they havn't looked good outside of the running game.

Favre has impressed me these last two games, but even if he can keep it up it'll be very hard getting back to .500 after going 0-3.

The Vikings are looking really bad, and it's not just because they lost Randy Moss.

My (Homer) Pick is the Lions at 9-7. They have some hard games this year (Atlanta, Bengals, Steelers, Cowboys), but there are plenty that they can win on paper-(Saints and Cardinals, in addition to playing Minny 2x)
I'll throw this out there-

Detroit: 9-7
GB:7-9
Chi: 6-10
Min: 6-10
(I didn't work their schedules into this much, so this outcome might be impossible )

[spodog]

I gotta go with the Vikings. This is not hard to figure out. The Bears, Lions and fudgepackers have no cheerleaders!

As the only NFC (in this case - not f'ing competitive) North division team with Cheerleaders, the Vikes will probably take it.

Prediction: they win the division with a 7-9 record.