In regards to the NFC north, it’s been the Packers division lately. Green Bay has won it the last two years. NBC Sports Sunday Night Football was on conference call yesterday- Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michelle Tafoya.
Collinsworth was asked what team is best positioned, in his opinion, this season to unseat Green Bay from the division title?
Cris Collinsworth: That’s a great question. We just saw Minnesota the other night and, you know, they’re going to be as good as their passing game is. Of course you can never really judge Minnesota until you see them with Adrian Peterson and if the guy can run for almost 2,100 yards coming off a knee surgery what might he do the following season?
I think the question for them is can they throw it enough and can they present a little bit of a deep threat such that teams can’t just stack the box? Cordarrelle Patterson I like — I think he’s going to be a good player, Jennings is certainly going to help.
I still like Green Bay. I think that with Chicago offensively they’re starting to do some good things — Brandon Marshall is certainly a huge weapon but it’s a coaching change, it’s a new offense.
Defensively, they’re going to have a new look — it’s a good defense. Whether or not they’re playing tomorrow on a neutral field I do like Green Bay or Chicago — I’m probably going to take Green Bay. The team that has caught my eye – and I have to admit this – is Detroit.
I watched them the other day and of course they were playing against New England and New England couldn’t have screwed up the game any worse than what they did. But when you start with that kind of front seven and especially that front four — you can call it a front six or whatever as deep as they are along that defensive line you can control a lot of games.
And I think Reggie Bush adds an element to that team, you know, if you can take a little pressure off of Calvin Johnson, you know, it’s just a team with the chance.
I know they had a tough year last year. But if there’s one team that kind of comes off the deck this year and surprises- I think it might be Detroit.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)