NFC North Breakdown: Which Team Will Win The Division?

The NFC North has gotten much better recently.

Last season, the Lions won the NFC North and made it to the NFC Championship game.

Detroit had a record of 12-5 last season.

Green Bay finished second in the NFC North with a 9-8 record.

The Packers made the playoffs and smashed the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round before losing a close contest in the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Vikings were 7-10 and did not make the playoffs last year.

Chicago finished last in the division with a 7-10 record but they improved drastically this offseason.

They drafted QB Caleb Williams first overall and hope he will be their franchise QB for the long haul.

Below, we will break down each team in the NFC North and predict which team will win the division.

NFC North Breakdown

The NFC North has improved significantly over the last couple of years.

Every divisional matchup will be a close and tough contest.

Scroll down for a breakdown of each NFC North team heading into the 2024 NFL season.

Detroit Lions

Last season, the Lions won the NFC North with a 12-5 record and made it to the NFC Championship game.

The Lions played the 49ers very tough in the NFC Championship game.

It looked like they’d represent the NFC in the Super Bowl during the first half of the NFCCG.

Unfortunately for Detroit, they could not hold on to the lead and the 49ers defeated them in the NFCCG.

Their offense was one of the best last year.

They are getting the best out of Jared Goff and have helped him with a top rush attack.

Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery led an excellent rush attack behind one of the best offensive lines in the league.

Amon-Ra St. Brown has established himself as one of the best wideouts in the NFL.

Sam Laporta was highly impressive in his rookie season.

He will be even better in year two, along with Gibbs.

Detroit’s offense was fifth in points per game last year.

Aidan Hutchinson will take another step forward as he tries to establish himself among the top pass rushers in the league.

They added CB Carlton Davis and made further moves to improve a weak secondary.

Last season was not a fluke by Detroit and they will remain one of the best teams in the NFC.

They will look to repeat as NFC North champions.

Green Bay Packers

Green Bay finished second in the NFC North with a 9-8 record last year.

No player and team arguably had a better second half of the season than Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers.

In the final eight games of the regular season last year, Love had 18 passing TDs and just one interception.

He carved up the Cowboys in the Wild Card round, throwing for 272 passing yards, three passing TDs, and zero interceptions.

Love played well in the Divisional round but threw two interceptions and the Packers lost 24-21 against the 49ers.

In the final eight games of the season last year, Green Bay went 6-2.

Green Bay believes in Love and gave him a huge new deal.

The Packers ranked eighth in points per game last year.

While the Packers do not have a star on defense, they have a bunch of good players.

They ranked 13th in points allowed per game last year.

With Love improving, this will only help their defense as well.

Green Bay went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to now Jordan Love.

The Packers look to threaten the Lions and are capable of winning the NFC North.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings were 7-10 and did not make the playoffs last year.

Minnesota lost Kirk Cousins last year due to an Achilles injury after he played in just eight games.

He was out for the remainder of the year and signed with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason.

This leaves the starting QB job to either Sam Darnold or rookie J.J. McCarthy.

Whoever wins the QB job has one of the best WRs in the league to throw to.

Justin Jefferson remains arguably the best wideout in the NFL.

Jordan Addison is also a very good WR.

Aaron Jones will take over the starting RB role.

Minnesota still has weapons on offense but their success will highly depend on the play of their QB.

Their defense ranked 12th in points allowed per game last year.

Danielle Hunter is no longer with the team.

This is a big loss.

The interior of their defensive line is a major weakness and teams will find success running at them.

Minnesota may find themselves at the bottom of the NFC North unless they get good QB play from either Darnold or McCarthy.

Chicago Bears

Chicago finished last in the division with a 7-10 record but they improved drastically this offseason.

Before the NFL Draft, the Bears made some signings in March.

They signed RB D’Andre Swift, acquired WR Keenan Allen, and traded away QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Chicago signed DB Jaylon Johnson to a four-year extension and signed DB Kevin Byard to a two-year deal.

They also had a big draft as well.

With the first overall pick in the draft, they selected QB Caleb Williams.

Chicago hopes Williams will be the franchise QB for a decade or more.

They took WR Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Bears hope to have Williams and Odunze together for a long time.

WR DJ Moore also signed a four-year extension.

Chicago’s defense improved significantly as the season went on.

Their defense ranked 19th in points allowed per game last year.

However, they got much better in the second half of the year.

Chicago allowed 20 points or less in seven of their final eight games.

This was a drastic difference from the year’s first four games.

They allowed 27 or more points in each of their first four games.

One thing the Bears hope their defense can improve upon is getting to the QB.

They ranked 31st in sacks per game.

Chicago hopes all these moves will help them make the playoffs either this season or next and challenge to win the NFC North sooner than later.

Which Team Will Win The NFC North?

On paper, before the season begins, the Vikings seem like they may finish last in a tough NFC North.

Their season will highly depend on the play of their QB.

The Bears are much better than last year.

However, they are still not capable of competing with the Lions or Packers in the division.

Chicago may be one year away from competing to win the NFC North.

This is a two-team race between the Lions and Packers.

While Green Bay had a very strong finish to their season last year, the Lions have a superb all-around team.

Detroit’s offense is one of the best in the league.

The defense for the Lions looks to be improved and their secondary will be better.

Detroit has a strong team and may very well finish first in the NFC and make it to the Super Bowl.

The Lions will repeat as NFC North champions.