Daily Norseman
Futures Day is officially upon us for our friends over at FanDuel, and we’re going to take a moment here to look at the odds they have for the best and most important division in the National Football League, the NFC North. What do they have to say about which team has the best chance to win the division? Let’s have a look at them, based on their current order of favorites.
Yes, the Lions are the favorite to win the division again, and it’s probably just the easiest to put them in that spot. . .for now, anyway. They went 15-2 last year and 6-0 against the NFC North, so it’s reasonable to make them the favorites. Can they maintain that?
Well, they did lose the brains of their coaching staff, with Ben Johnson leaving to take the head coaching job in Chicago and Aaron Glenn now patrolling the sidelines for the New York Jets. Those two guys carried Dan Campbell like he was the title character from Weekend at Bernie’s, so there’s a better than average chance that they see a drop-off this season. They still have a lot of talent, but unless their new coordinators are just as incredible as the two they just lost, it’s not going to be easy for them.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I don’t get the fascination with the Packers. I really don’t. They went 1-5 against the division last year, Jordan Love isn’t capable of beating anyone good, and they’ve got a ton of questions on the defensive side of the ball. Honestly, they should be third on the list, and frankly they’re closer to the #4 spot than they are to the #3 spot.
This is just one man’s opinion. I’ve been wrong on things before, and I may have some bias, but I just don’t see this at all.
I think the J.J. McCarthy factor plays a role in this number. Yes, the Vikings are still talented all over and have done a lot to make sure that McCarthy is comfortable in the offense, but people are still going to want to see it. I think this number is going to shift pretty quickly after the Vikings get a few games under their belts, so if you’re confident in the Vikings winning the division this might be as good as the number gets if you want to maximize your return.
The hype train was pretty heavy on the Bears this offseason. . .sort of the way they were last offseason. . .and it looked like it might be justified early on. However, in the Bears’ final preseason game against Kansas City, their #1 offense looked like a bit of a mess. I mentioned the questions about J.J. McCarthy, but Caleb Williams still has a bunch of questions surrounding him as well. Frankly, his surrounding cast isn’t as...
