The Vikings should be even more dangerous this season with Adrian Peterson back in their lineup. (Photo credit: Joe Bielawa / Foter / CC BY)
Lately, the NFC North has been little more than a warmup for the playoffs for the Packers. But the rest of the teams appear to be closing the gap.
Will any of them be able to unseat Green Bay as the NFC North champion? Let’s take a closer look in this NFC North betting odds preview.
Packers
The Pack has had a monopoly on the NFC North since the turn of the decade, claiming four straight division titles. Only one of those seasons, however, resulted in a Super Bowl appearance.
A trip to the Super Bowl might have been in order for Green Bay last year, had QB Aaron Rodgers not been hampered by injury in the playoffs. Protecting Rodgers is always key in Packerland, and Green Bay will return its entire offensive line this season. RB Eddie Lacy provides a solid ground attack and, even without injured stud WR Jordy Nelson, Rodgers has plenty of options to throw to in WRS Randall Cobb and Davante Adams and TE Richard Rodgers.
If Green Bay has a weakness, it’s on defence. The Packers’ pass rush isn’t great now that Clay Matthews has to play inside linebacker, and the secondary is average. Fortunately for Green Bay, its offence is so good that it gives its defence room for error.
For a team that has been so successful over the past five years, Green Bay has an easy schedule in 2015. Their toughest road games are at Denver, Carolina, Detroit and Arizona, and Rodgers is 40-6 at Lambeau Field over the past six years. As long as Rodgers remains healthy, the Pack is obviously the favourite to win the North. But we can’t recommend laying more than 3:1 on them to do it.
Lions
After years of knocking on the door of being a powerhouse, the Lions nearly knocked the door down last season. Detroit went 11-5 during the regular season and was a disputed TD away (remember the Calvin Johnson catch that was overruled) from an upset win over Dallas in the playoffs.
Detroit returns QB Matt Stafford and a solid WR duo of Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, but there’s not a ton behind them. The offensive line has some issues and there isn’t much depth at WR beyond Megatron and Tate. The Lions hope they’ve upgraded at RB with the addition of Nebraska product Ameer Abdullah, who could be a good tandem with Joique Bell.
The Lions were carried by their defence last season, but the stop unit has lost two key cogs on the front line: Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. Detroit hopes the acquisition of former Ravens DL Haloti Ngata can fill some of the hole. The Lions return their full linebacker and secondary corps, so there’s optimism that their defence won’t suffer too much with the losses of Suh and Fairley.
Detroit will have a tough start to the season, scheduled to face the Broncos, Seahawks and Cardinals in the first five weeks of the season, but then its schedule gets easier. Still, an over-rated offence and a defence that should regress makes an NFC North title unlikely this year for Detroit.
Bears
Chicago hit rock bottom last season, going an embarrassing 5-11 — the team’s worst record in a decade. The outcry was to get rid of malcontent QB Jay Cutler, but coach Marc Trestman paid the price instead, with John Fox hired as the team’s new head coach.
Cutler is a turnover machine who bails out of plays instead of taking a hit, but he wasn’t helped last year by a porous offensive line in front of him. The line is still a weak spot, though the Bears have made a few moves in hopes of improving it. That would help star RB Matt Forte, who had a career high in receptions last year but averaged just 3.9 yards per carry. The receiving corps is a bright spot for Chicago, even after the departure of Brandon Marshall, since Alshon Jeffrey, Kevin White, Martellus Bennett and Eddie Royal are all good weapons.
The Bears will have to put up lots of points if their defence is anywhere near as bad as last year (27.6 points allowed per game). The linebackers and secondary appear to be improved, but the defensive line is still not very good. However, John Fox is known as a defensive coach and he’s turned teams around quickly before.
Chicago opens the season against three consecutive playoff teams (Packers, Cardinals, Seahawks), and also has early road games at Kansas City, Detroit, San Diego and St. Louis. But the Bears have the potential to be much better this year, and sprinkling a few bucks on Chicago at 16:1 to win the NFC North might be worthwhile.
Vikings
Minny was a surprise to many last year, finishing 7-9 despite the absence of Adrian Peterson and having a rookie QB in Teddy Bridgewater. The Vikings could have had an even better record, since five of their losses came by eight points or less.
Now the Vikings have a sophomore QB in Bridgewater, Peterson to hand the ball to and deep threat WR Mike Wallace to throw to. The offensive line is likely to improve as well, with both new additions and players returning from injuries.
Defensively, Minnesota is rock solid at defensive line, linebacker and in the secondary. The Vikes return much of the unit that allowed just 21.4 points per game last year, down from 30 ppg the season before.
The Vikings have their share of both easy and difficult games throughout the season, and could easily win 10 or 11 games if things go their way. If Minnesota can earn at least a split of its season series with Green Bay, there’s tons of value on the Vikings to win the NFC North at 8:1 odds.
Pinnacle Sports NFC North Betting Odds
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