NFC North Division Analysed: Part I
The 2012-13 National Football League (NFL) regular season is going to be the best season yet.
With exciting storylines involving teams, head coaches and players in addition to mouth-watering encounters will make the upcoming season one of the most exciting football seasons.
There is still a lot of time to go before the regular season begins in earnest but to whet the fans appetite for the games ahead we at Bettor.com will give our predictions on which team in the National Football Conference (NFC) will go on to win their divisions.
In this series we will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of NFC North teams and predict the team that will come out on top in one of the toughest divisions in the entire league.
Green Bay Packers
Last year’s divisional champions, the Green Bay Packers were a team to be reckoned with in 2011-12, when they powered their way to victory after victory on the back of an unstoppable offence.
The Packers lost just once in the regular season while winning the rest of their games to end up with a 15-1 record and took home another divisional crown.
This year too they will be the favourites to once again win the NFC North.
Led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers the Packers offence is intimidating.
Rodgers has some brilliant weapons at his disposal with Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson all performing greatly in the previous season.
The teams pass offence is one of the best in the league while the team utilises the rushing game to mix things up.
One problem with Green Bay though is its suspect defence. Although the team has concentrated its drafts into improving the secondary, the Packers are still likely to struggle to keep opposition offences at bay.
However, the Packers offence itself regularly out scores its opponents and this ability is why they are the favourites to win the NFC North.
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions came in a distant second last year in the race for the NFC North Championship.
With a 10-6 record the Lions finally ended their long running playoff drought. This year the team is confident of challenging for honours and are gearing up to make a big push for the divisional crown this season.
One of the most exciting teams in the league last year, the Detroit Lions is not an easy team to face. Former number one draft pick, Matthew Stafford, finally overcame his long running injury problems to deliver a full season to the Lions and his contributions
were crucial in Detroit’s resurgence from the division’s punching bags to playoff and divisional contenders.
Wide receiver, Calvin Johnson showcased why he is regarded as one of the best players at his position in the NFL while the rest of the offence too delivered some big performances.
They will be looking to push on from those performances this season and the offence will be key to any Lions challenge for the divisional crown.
However, the offence is not without its flaws. Detroit is heavily dependent on the passing game for points due to a virtually non-existent rushing game and opponents took advantage of that dependency last year.
This season running backs, Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure are expected to overcome their injury problems and help the Lions offence mix their game up.
Another weakness is the Lions defence which struggled to keep out opponents in the final half of the 2011-12 season and work needs to be done to make the defence stronger before the start of the new season.
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