Every year, there are a few divisions in the NFL that are just better than the others from top to bottom. In 2024, there is a chance that the NFC North will be in that division.
Last season, the NFC North had a good showing, as well. The AFC North is the only other NFL division that didn’t have a single team with fewer than seven wins (the Cincinnati Bengals were one win away from making it where all four teams had 10 wins).
The Detroit Lions (12-5) and Green Bay Packers (9-8) both made the playoffs in 2023. They also each won a postseason game. It was a great year for them both. Detroit made it the farthest, eventually losing in the NFC championship game to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings each went 7-10. The Vikings had the tie-breaker, so they came in third place while the Bears had another last-place finish. It wound up working out for the Bears, who got a higher draft pick.
Coming into this 2024 season, all four teams are going to be thinking about making it to the playoffs. The Vikings aren’t going to have Kirk Cousins anymore but they are almost certainly thinking about drafting their next franchise QB. We already saw what the Packers and Lions were able to do with Jordan Love and Jared Goff, respectively.
As for the Bears, they are 99.99% going to draft Caleb Williams and have him as their franchise QB going forward. If he’s good, the team will be even more improved than they were last year.
Although the expectations will be high for the Bears this season, someone has to come in last. That could be the biggest hurdle for them to climb this year with a good young team. They have proven that they can overcome the Vikings and the Lions, but they haven’t beaten the Packers in five years. If they can’t get over that hump, it might be another tough year. They absolutely cannot let the division be their biggest weakness.
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