Vike’s Views: Who will win the NFCN?

The Minnesota Vikings play in one of the best football divisions (according to experts). They have a tough road ahead of them.

Detroit Lions – Last year Detroit finished 12-5 and finally won their first NFCN title. They should have been in the Super Bowl if they hadn't given up 20 points in the second half against the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. They return Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and all those stars on offense. Our friend Marcus Davenport is backing up Aidan Hutchinson on the pass rush. The team is strong and will be the favorite to win the North again.

Green Bay Packers – The Packers finished strong last year thanks to a good run from first-year starter Jordan Love. Love proved many doubters wrong. Small sample sizes can lie. The 6-2 streak to end the year and earn the Wild Card spot was impressive. Even more impressive was the beating they inflicted on the Cowboys defense in the playoffs. Another NFCN team that blew a late lead in the playoffs against the 49ers (thank goodness). The Packers need to prove they can do it without Aaron Jones in the backfield. He was also a key part of their end-of-year run.

Chicago Bears – Caleb Williams looks like the next great quarterback. Just like Justin Fields looked like the next great quarterback. Chicago has never had a good quarterback in their entire history. I will always prove anything with the Bears. They have a strong WR group, a decent secondary and some good players overall. Caleb is set up for success, but is Matt Eberflus really the coach that can get them there? I don't think so. The Bears are terrible until proven otherwise.

Minnesota Vikings – The biggest wild card of the bunch. The Vikings would have given the Lions a run last year if Kirk and Justin Jefferson hadn't been injured. Kirk is gone. Sam Darnold is here and that's a big question mark. Will we see a Case Keenum-like run or could it be a 2013-like year with Cassel/Ponder/Freeman? Time will tell and it will probably be somewhere in between. The Vikings start at NYG. The memories of the Freeman game are all too real right now.