The Chicago Bears are building around Justin Fields, the Detroit Lions are entering the season as betting favorites to win the division, the Green Bay Packers are transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love and the Minnesota Vikings are attempting to repeat as division champs for the first time since 2008-09.
There’s a lot going on in the NFC North this season.
In the latest of a series of posts previewing the division ahead of the 2023 season, Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire, Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire, Zach Kruse of Packers Wire and Tyler Forness of Vikings Wire answered the question: Who is the favorite to win the division in 2023?
Bears Wire: Detroit Lions
There’s no doubt the NFC North is wide open following the departure of Aaron Rodgers. With that said, the Lions showed why they’re considered the favorites for their first division title since 1993. Detroit is coming off a strong end to the 2022 season, where they have a nice, young core in place. They have an ascending defense, which they added to this offseason, and a talented offense looking to stake a claim as the division’s best.
While the reigning NFC North champion Vikings are ripe for regression following a 13-win season, they should still challenge Detroit for the division crown. While they lost Dalvin Cook, they return Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson and upgraded on defense with the addition of defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Lions Wire: Detroit Lions
The Lions are the betting favorites to win their first-ever NFC North title, and it’s easy to see why. Detroit finished the 2022 campaign on an 8-2 tear where the defense make great strides and the offense continued to hum along nicely. Massive upgrades to the secondary (CB Cam Sutton, S C.J. Gardner-Johnson) and a year of experience for the NFL’s youngest defense last season with the main coaches all intact can only help. QB Jared Goff is proving he can play great in OC Ben Johnson’s creatively aggressive offense. No other roster in the division can match Detroit from 1 to 53.
The only holdup is that the franchise has never done it before. They said that about the Red Sox and Cubs in baseball once upon a time, too.
Packers Wire: Detroit Lions
The reigning champion Vikings are due for a big regression. Kevin O’Connell’s team lived off unsustainable luck in one-score games, flamed out in the first round of the playoffs and then lost a significant amount of veteran talent on both sides of the ball. They’ll be exposed against a first-place schedule in 2023. The Lions, meanwhile, surged to end the 2022 season and then added playmakers on offense and defense.
While I don’t think there’s a clear-cut favorite in a wide-open division, the Lions have the best mix of returning talent, stability at quarterback and offseason improvement in the NFC North. It’s possible a 9-8 or 10-7 record wins the division this year, and I think the Lions have the best chance to get there.
Vikings Wire: Minnesota Vikings
Currently, the Detroit Lions are the clubhouse leader in terms of odds to win the division. Draft Kings has them as +130 favorites with the Vikings at +250, but as Ric Flair said numerous times in the 1980’s, “In order to be the man, you gotta beat the man.” The Vikings are reigning champions and the addition of Brian Flores as defensive coordinator will immediately improve the defense from their abysmal performances last season. The offense is mostly intact with an arguable improvement with rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison replacing Adam Thielen and T.J. Hockenson being able to participate in the full offseason program. The division will need to be dethroned, and that task won’t be easy.
