The NFC North is Green Bay’s to lose
The four teams of the NFC North faced off against one another in Week One. The two favorites for the division, Minnesota and Green Bay, faced off in a 43-34 Packers win. Meanwhile, Chicago and Detroit, the two forgotten teams of the division, squared off with Chicago gaining the upper hand in dramatic fashion, 27-23.
After one week of play, the clear advantage goes to the Green Bay Packers, last year’s division champions.
Quickly remove Chicago and Detriot from the race, at least for now. Both teams showcased flaw after flaw in their game from Sunday. Even with an influx of talent in the offseason, Detroit still showed struggles on defense, while the Bears’ quarterback issues (surprisingly) haven’t magically disappeared with the addition of Nick Foles to the Chicago sidelines. Plenty of time to patch up the holes, but both the Bears and the Lions did nothing on Sunday to look like serious division contenders.
Which leaves us with the two NFC North heavyweights. But even with Minnesota expected to compete for the division, the Vikings looked a class below the Packers on Sunday. The Aaron Rogers vengeance tour is in full effect already, and the Vikings had no answer for it.
Ending the game with 364 yards and four touchdowns, Rogers looked like a man on two different missions. The first being to prove he still has it, to himself, to the world, and especially to the Packers, who drafted his replacement in Jordan Love with their first-round pick in the 2020 draft. The second mission, to absolutely embarrass the Vikings secondary. Both missions accomplished.
Minnesota put together some nice stats in garbage time, but this one was never in doubt. Until further notice, the Green Bay Packers are the best team in the NFC North.
