The Green Bay Packers were a wild card team in the NFC North this season with a 9-8 record and the Detroit Lions won the NFC North with a 12-5 record this season. Green Bay was eliminated by San Francisco and so were the Lions on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game by a final score of 34-31.
Detroit had a 17-point halftime lead over San Francisco and it was the biggest lead blown in Conference Championship Game history and teams were 17-0 leading by 17 or more points at the half in such instances. It will be interesting to see whether or not the Lions can repeat as NFC North Champions in 2024 because they will have a lot of pending free agents.
The previous season, the Minnesota Vikings won the NFC North. The last time the Green Bay Packers won the NFC North was three straight seasons from 2019-2021. Is it Green Bay’s time to take back the NFC North next season or is that a premature statement to make after the Detroit Lions blew a lead and had a very good season?
Well, nothing stays the same from year to year in the NFL and it is always hard to repeat as division champions in the NFL. Detroit might have the most talent in the division, but Green Bay is very young and they are coming. The Packers made the playoffs in a supposed rebuild season and Detroit did what they were supposed to do this season.
Minnesota is unclear what direction they are heading in at quarterback. They may choose not to re-sign Kirk Cousins and start all over. As for the Chicago Bears, they may be moving on from quarterback Justin Fields and drafting quarterback Caleb Williams from USC as number one overall, but they are still the most dysfunctional team in the NFC North by a mile.
The Detroit Lions Will Be the Favorites to Win the NFC North Next Season But the Green Bay Packers Won’t Be Far Behind
Detroit should get respect entering next season and they should be the betting favorite for the second consecutive season to win the NFC North crown. However, with the development of quarterback Jordan Love, it is very possible that the Green Bay Packers won’t be far behind them.
For as good as quarterback Jared Goff was this season for the Lions, Jordan Love has a higher ceiling. Dan Campbell and Matt LaFleur are exceptional coaches and they split their matchups in the regular season with the road team winning both contests.
Green Bay has a little bit better of a defense than Detroit, but the Lions have more talent than the Packers do at the moment. The Detroit Lions will feel pressure to get back to the NFC Championship Game next season and the Green Bay Packers won’t be picked to win the Super Bowl or anything like that and that will be just fine for them. Sure, the Packers can take the NFC Crown back from the Lions next season but it feels premature at the moment to decide that.
