Since they won the Super Bowl XLV, the Green Bay Packers have reigned supreme as the undisputed leader of the NFC North Division. And this coming season, many game analysts still believe the Packers will come out on top.
During the last six years, the Packers became Division champions five times including a few individual awards. Future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers was named MVP, twice; Eddie Lacy bagged the Rookie of the Year award, while during the last season, Jordy Nelson was awarded Comeback Player of the Year.
Rodgers will be back
There were rumors that Rodgers might find himself retiring from the game after the 2016 NFL season.
And though they lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game, Rodgers expressed his intention of staying in the league a little bit longer.
“I think I have a number of years left in me,” the 33-year old Packers QB said after that game. And so the Packers front office decided to bring in additional firepower who could help secure another trip to the playoffs.
Strengthening the defense
CBS Sports reported that only one team allowed more passing yards than the Packers while only two teams gave up more touchdowns. Evidently, the Packers must strengthen their defense. To resolve this concern, the first four of the Packers’ draft picks were defensive specialists: Kevin King (CB), Josh Jones (S), Montravius Adams (DT), and Vince Biegel (OLB).
Coming back to strengthen the defense is cornerback Davon House who signed a one-year contract. House was drafted by the Green Bay Packers back in 2011 and played for four seasons before his joining the Jacksonville Jaguars during the last two seasons. House and the rookies will join the defensive team led by Morgan Burnett (SS), Damarious Randall (CB), Quinten Rollins (CB) and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (FS) among others.
Rebuilding NFC North teams
The Chicago Bears are hoping to forget their miserable 3-13 record last season. By selecting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky during the 2017 NFL Draft, and the emergence of Jordan Howard, the Bears are hoping to combine solid offense and youth.
Matthew Stafford, who recently became the highest-paid NFL player with a $135-M deal, led eight fourth-quarter comebacks last season to bring the Detroit Lions to the Wild Card Playoffs.
Though the number of times he was sacked last year dropped significantly, the Lions aim to give him more time to make plays by strengthening their offensive line. This is why they brought in T.J. Lang (G) and Rick Wagner (T).
The Minnesota Vikings clearly needed to boost their offensive line after quarterback Sam Bradford got sacked a career-most 37 times last season. During the offseason, the Vikings front office signed veterans Riley Reiff (OT) and Mike Remmers (OT) in seeking to prevent another disastrous offensive outing.
These three teams underwent rebuilding process during the offseason. Still, many football analysts believe that their efforts are insufficient to topple the Packers from bagging another NFC North Division title this year.
