NFL Trimester Report: NFC North "Contender or Pretender"

Continuing on a segment that was started yesterday, here is a breakdown of the standings in the NFC North through 1/3 of the season...

Chicago (4-1)
The Bears brought in offensive genius (and QB killer) Mike Martz in the off-season to get their passing game in order. What have they gotten so far? Ranking 24th is passing and 23th in rushing offense. Yes, they have beaten both Dallas and Green Bay already, but it only took 4 games for Martz to get Jay Cutler concussed. Defense is still top 10 in the NFL but you have to score to win games. Pretender

Green Bay (3-2)
The Packers have a very talented squad all around, but they have been hit big time with the injury bug (Ryan Grant, TE Jermichael Finley, LB Nick Barnett, etc) and QB Aaron Rodgers has taken a ton of hits so far. Their remaining schedule is challenging, but I think they have enough healthy bodies left to take the division and limp into the playoffs. Contender

Minnesota (1-3)
I bet Brett Favre in the picture above is thinking to himself, "this isn't what I signed up for..." Their lone victory so far has been against the Detroit Lions (who were winless at the time), but to their credit they have managed to stay close in the 3 losses they have suffered to potential playoff teams. Adrian Peterson is still a beast and Randy Moss will be a bigger factor once he learns more of the play book, but Favre is looking every bit of his 41 years so far. Warm up the tractor. Pretender

Detroit (1-4)
The Lions clearly are still in rebuilding mode and they weren't expecting to contend for another couple of years. One down fall is that 2nd year quarterback Matthew Stafford can't stay on the field enough to progress into the franchise QB the Lions are hoping he is. One positive is that the Lions have some nice weapons at the skill positions with RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson and TE Brandon Pettigrew. Detroit is still a couple season away from relevance. Pretender

-ALR