Chicago Bears: Grossman will be just fine this year throwing to Berrian, Muhhamad and a couple of good TEs in Desmond Clark and 1st round drafty choice Ben Olsen. My concern lies with Cedric Benson. Will he take the role of #1 RB by the cajones, lead the Bears with determination and heart, or will he falter? The Bears will make the postseason without a great running attack because of their standout defense, but as we all know, you need to run the ball to win in the playoffs. Barring injury, I see a productive year from Benson, with a 4+ yard per carry average behind a very cohesive, veteran offensive line. The defense will rank in the top 5 and is the strength of this team.
Detroit Lions: Defense wins and the Lions are not very strong there. Outside of excellent MLB Ernie Simms and possibly DT Cory Redding, nobody on defense scares offensive coordinators. Two players that need to step up are DT Shaun Rogers and OLB Boss Baily. Rogers has never fulfilled his All Pro billing and Baily is a playmaker that needs to play hard for all 16 games. Offensively, the offensive line has some depth, but nobody really stands out except for LT Jeff Backus. Jon Kitna has a great arm, weapons to throw to and an offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, that game plan to an offenses strength. Kitna and the offense will have success if two things happen; 1) Limit the INT’s and 2) get dependable RB play. Kitna said they would 10 games, I don’t believe it.
Green Bay: I’m bored of this team. Favre has been overthrowing receivers for two years now and this pre-season was no different. The defense, led by two very talented LBs Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk, is solid and will help the Packers fight for a 2nd place finish in the division, but issues on offense will keep them out of the post-season.
Minnesota Vikings: The defense will be the strength of this team but not enough talent on offense to compete for the post-season. It will be fun to watch Adrian Peterson run and Tavaris Jackson use his athleticism to make some nifty plays. Every year there is a team that everyone writes off as trash, only to see that team make a ton of noise. This is the prime candidate in the NFC because only Viking fans have them finishing in the playoffs.
Predictions:
1) Bears 2) Lions 3) Packers 4) Vikings
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