Faceoff: NFC Noth

By Nate Sandstrom and Mark Goldman

After a brief hiatus, welcome back to another edition of Faceoff. This week's guest is Dr. Kent Sandstrom, who may not hold a Ph. D. in football, but at least knows enough to be in the lead in Nate's pick 'em league.

Nonetheless, Nate's father, a longtime Vikings fan, has some questions about his purple and gold's prospects in the confusing NFC North:

1) Can we "stick a fork" in the Vikings after their 0-2 start, particularly given the one-dimensional offensive approach favored by Brad Childress? Or, can the Vikes trust AP to find a way to get them to the playoffs? In a related vein, should the Vikings give up on the Tavaris Jackson project?


Mark says:

You can stick a fork in them for 2 reasons. 1)They won't win the division (the Packers are far and away the better team) and 2) the NFC is too deep for them to win a wild card. We saw the shootout in Dallas last night. The NFC East is stacked from top to bottom and the NFC South has two very good teams in Carolina and New Orleans. I still like the Vikings to get to 8-8 on the back of Adrian Peterson. While I don't think Tavaris Jackson is very good, I think Childress's conservative offense is hurting him even more. Childress is trying to reign Jackson in and the result is a predictable, defendable passing game. Though he will throw more picks, they should let Jackson loose and live and die on his ability to win the games. You don't win games when you try to hide your QB. We know that too well in Baltimore.



Nate says:

First of all, don't ever stick a fork in a viking, it may cause them to raid your village. Secondly, there's no reason to panic after two close losses to two quality teams. Expect the third game to be the charm against Panthers this week, even if the Panthers know they don't really have to defend against the bomb.

That said, it would be helpful if opponents did have to worry about the deep ball. It's hard to know whether the lack of that threat is a conservative approach favored by Childress or the Vikings inability to pick out the right QB (See Brooks Bollinger, John David Booty, Kelly Holcomb and others under the Childress tenure). Add to that injuries to Rice and Berrian and the deep ball is now even less a threat. Regardless, they're stuck with Jackson for now, but he's not bad enough to prevent the rest of the team from rallying to finish 10-4.

2) Are the Packers for real this year? Can they make the playoffs with Aaron Rodgers as their QB? If so, would Mike McCarthy deserve coach of the year honors?


Nate says:

It would be hard to name a coach coming off a 13-3 year Coach of the Year the following campaign. That said, the Packers have thus far exceeded my expectations, staving off comeback-attempts against division opponents in back-to-back weeks.

The Packers definitely look like the favorite in the NFC North, but how will this club handle a losing streak, if they have one? What will the locker room say after Aaron Rodgers first three-INT game? This team seems poised enough to avoid any "What if Brett was here?" distractions, but that question still hangs over the team as a potential poison pill.


Mark says:

The Packers are absolutely for real. And they won't win despite Rodgers, they'll win because of him. He'll be a better QB this year than Favre would have been. It doesn't hurt that he's surrounded by one of the most well-rounded teams in the whole league. Good receivers, RB, line and defense. I'll give the coach of the year honors to Ted Thompson for coaching Mike McCarthy through the Favre mess this summer.

3) Can 'da Bears bounce back from their 2007 debacle? What are their chances of winning the NFC North?


Mark says:

The Bears have 37.5 % chance of winning the division. Their week one win was a little overblown. The Colts aren't exactly the team we're used to. But the Bears have a good chance to make it exciting this year. If they get through September with only one more loss, they could go 5-3. Starting October 5th, they have 2 games against the Lions, one against the Falcons, and one at home against the Vikings. I like their chances to pull out 3 wins there and get on a roll. I could easily see the Vikings falling apart this season and the Bears sneaking into second place in the division.


Nate says:

Let's just say I'll let Mark place the bet on the Bears winning the division when we are in Vegas this weekend. Sure, the defense is playing well again, and Orton seems not to be giving the ball up like Grossman did (apparently that is now Greg Olson's job).

However, Devin Hester's ribs are not good, even if he is playing. If Chicago loses the threat he provides to run the ball back, then it will cost the Bears field position. Another year of sub-par offense in Chicago means this team will be competitive but ultimately miss the playoffs.

4) What are the major strengths and weaknesses of each team in the North? Do any teams in this division have a realistic chance of making the Super Bowl? Why or why not?


Mark says:

The Bears major weakness is stil their QB. Their strength remains Defense and Devin Hester. This is a good enough team that if the got hold of a legit QB somehow, they could make a real playoff run. Packers have very few weaknesses. I think Ryan Grant is a little overblown as a running back and their D-line isn't the biggest, but it's a very balanced team.

The Lions' strength and weakness is John Kitna. He has the ability to throw the ball successfully, but the problem is they think he's better than he is and for that reason they have failed to develop a well-balanced attack. They need to learn to grab a lead and hold it with a stubborn running game. Vikings? Well, their weakness is someone named Tavaris Jackson. Their strength? Someone named Adrian Peterson. I don't know that I've seen two players with such polar opposite skill before.


Nate says:

I'm not sure the Lions have any strengths. It's certainly not the front office. Why else would the draft a good-looking rookie and Kevin Smith, cut Tatum Bell, sign Rudi Johnson, then bring in Shaun Alexander and Cedric Benson. Fortunately this team isn't good enough to get to overtime, otherwise they would kick-off to start the extra frame again.

As for the rest of the teams, the Packers are the only legit Super Bowl contender. I agree with Mark's earlier post that the NFC East is totally stacked. It looks like the 80's may be coming back and the NFC East will again dominate the conference for a few years.