NFL NUGGETS NFC North preview : Favre affair leaves QB-starved NFC North in limbo
Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/67357/
Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of an eight-part series previewing the division races of the upcoming NFL season. Next week, the AFC North.
Jon Kitna ? Tarvaris
Jackson ? Rex Grossman ?
Aaron Rodgers ? Yes, that’s the four projected starting quarterbacks for the teams of the NFC North. That’s why it completely perplexes me that the Green Bay Packers aren’t welcoming back Brett Favre with open arms.
Not only is Favre still a great player, his leadership and legendary status make the guys around him play better. I think if Favre comes back to the Packers, you can add at least four wins to their season total.
At this point, the bridge between Favre and the Packers’ front office is probably burned. If Favre goes to another team and wins the Super Bowl, Green Bay fans will run GM Ted Thompson out of town on a rail.
Good. The introverted Thompson has botched the relationship with one of the storied franchise’s most beloved players and deserves to be held accountable.
But Thompson still controls Brett Favre’s current fate. Either the Packers will bring him back to the team (as, laughably, Rodgers’ backup ), or they will trade him to a team outside the division.
No way will Green Bay grant Favre his desired release. He’d go straight to Minnesota, a division rival that has everything in place but a quarterback.
So for prognostication purposes, we’ll assume that Favre is not going to play for the Packers, nor any NFC North team, this season. So I’ve got to give the nod to Minnesota to win this lackluster, quarterback-starved division. NFL Nuggets NFC North Predicted Order of Finish
1. Minnesota (10-6 ) — As bad as the quarterbacks are in this division, Minnesota sports the worst. If the Vikes are counting on Tarvaris Jackson to carry them to the Super Bowl, they’re in for disappointment.
The key to the season for Minnesota is the health of running back Adrian Peterson, a budding NFL star. If Jackson can stay out of his own way, the division is the Vikes’ for the taking.
On defense, the Vikings are set. Defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams powered the league’s top-ranked rush defense last season. Minnesota added free- end Jared Allen — one of the NFL’s top pass-rushers — to give the Vikes one of their most formidable fronts since the famed “ Purple People Eaters. ”
2. Green Bay (8-8 ) — Sorry, Packers fans, but I don’t see your NFC Championship game team from last year going anywhere this season without Favre. Not to say the potential isn’t there.
The tone of this column is that Favre got the Packers to the NFC title game all by himself. That’s not so. Players like receiver Greg Jennings, running back Ryan Grant and safety Atari Bigby stepped up big time late last season to elevate the team. If those guys can keep improving, along with some new guys stepping up, then Green Bay’s got a shot, even without Favre.
3. Chicago (7-9 ) — A. 500 record might be generous for a team with no proven quarterback and very little at receiver. And they had very little at running back until signing Detroit free agent Kevin Jones last week. But I still like Lovie Smith’s defense and dynamic return man / receiver Devin Hester.
It seems like I write this every season, but the Bears again need for Rex Grossman to simply play better. But who is he going to throw to, Brandon Lloyd ?
It will take a Herculean effort from linebacker Brian Urlacher, defensive tackle Tommy Harris and the Bears’ defense to win close games and give Chicago any shot at the division title. 4. Detroit (5-11 ) — With Favre gone, Jon Kitna becomes the division’s most competent QB. But with offensive coordinator Mike Martz out, Kitna could be challenged for the starting job by Drew Stanton and Dan Orlavsky. Dan Or-whosky ? Whomever’s under center for Detroit will still have standout receiver Roy Williams to throw to, but the return of dynamic second-year man Calvin Johnson will be key. Johnson and Williams were both slowed by injury last season, but when healthy could form one of the NFL’s top receiving duos. The problem for Detroit last year was on defense. The Lions traded away their best defender, DT Shaun Rogers, and didn’t do much to replace him. It was another in a long line of blunders by GM Matt Millen, who amazingly, still has a front-office job. Though the division is as even top to bottom as it has been in many years, the Lions still aren’t good enough to win it.
• • • Offensive MVP: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota. Defensive MVP: Aaron Kampman, DE, Green Bay. Top rookie: Chris Williams, OT, Chicago. Breakout player: Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit. Joe West is the assistant sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.