As wild as the thought is, Matt LaFleur is officially the longest-tenured head coach in the NFC North. He only has three seasons under his belt. But despite being a first-time head coach, LaFleur has excelled in his first three seasons. He has dominated his NFC North contemporaries, with a 15-3 divisional record — one of which was a meaningless late-season game.
Playing in a division with such little competition has created a yellow brick road to the post-season for the Green Bay Packers, making the regular season something of a formality. But going into the 2022 season, there is no guarantee Aaron Rodgers returns to Green Bay. And now the faces around the North are changing. The Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings have hired new coaches, and the Detroit Lions hired Dan Campbell last year. If Green Bay’s rivals make the right hires and can build around their young talent, there’s a real chance the NFC North will become much more intimidating in the future. And that’s a good thing.
The Lions made the first move in the LaFleur era. Early in the 2020 season, Detroit realized Matt Patricia was awful and hired Dan Campbell. No one was sure what to make of the hire. Campbell was a meme machine with a big heart on a team with little talent.
The Lions didn’t exactly “bite kneecaps” this season. They finished as the second-worst team in the league. But Campbell’s crew showed heart all season and never stopped fighting. Campbell appears to be a good leader, and he’s been willing to bust out all stops to win. Detroit has some intriguing pieces and a ton of draft capital. I’ll mock the Lions every chance I get. But there may be cause for optimism for the first time in a while.
Packers fans loved to make fun of Mike Zimmer, but he did pretty well against Green Bay. But a team can only go so far with Kirk Cousins. A revolving door of offensive coordinators and a series of failed draft picks kept the Vikings from maximizing their talent, and the Zimmer (and Rick Spielman) era came to an end.
Minnesota hired the analytically minded Kwesi Adofo-Mensah from the great city of Cleveland and reportedly will hire Rams OC Kevin O’Connell as their head coach following the Super Bowl. The Vikings will need to decide on the fate of Cousins. But whoever is under center has a great cast of weapons at his disposal.
After trading up for Justin Fields in the draft, Chicago realized they should try to upgrade their head coach, so they hired defensive-minded Matt Eberflus to replace Matt Nagy. They also replaced Ryan Pace for Ryan Poles. And Eberflus snagged Luke Getsy from Green Bay to call plays. With a first-time HC and OC, it remains to be seen how Chicago will operate. But the Bears had a solid 2021 draft, and Fields could progress after an uninspiring rookie year.
New Bears general manager Poles claimed, “We’re going to take the North and never give it back.” I’ll believe it when I see it. The Packers have bigger goals than the North in mind, but you’d like to see some punch behind those words. The Bears-Packers rivalry has stalled out in the Aaron Rodgers era. It’s only so much fun dropping “The Bears still suck” on a fanbase that already knows their team sucks.
I usually look at NFC North games as usually a free win. That spark of hatred I should feel is as cold as Lambeau Field in January. My NFC North friends never pass up an opportunity to smack talk the Packers, but I’m too ambivalent to their teams to care. I hate the NFC West, except the Los Angeles Rams, way more than the teams in the North. An actual divisional challenge would be a great spark for the drama of the sport.
The Packers team itself would benefit from stronger rivalries as well. Instead of viewing those six divisional games as padding for a playoff run, better competition will make the North feel earned. Clawing their way to the top against more challenging teams will better prepare them for the tougher tests they’ll face in the post-season. (I am aware the Packers did well against playoff-bound teams and beat both Super Bowl teams in the regular season this year. The point still stands.)
Even with Green Bay’s cap situation and the understanding that Aaron Rodgers could leave, the Packers still have a better roster than their rivals. They also likely have a better head coach as well. Green Bay should still run the North, but having better competition will make the accomplishment all the sweeter.
In video games, you’ll generally hit a point where weak enemies stop giving you experience points. That may apply to the NFL as well. Both teams in this year’s Super Bowl play in two of the most competitive divisions, and the competition has made them better. These new coaching hires can’t be called good or bad until they’ve had a chance to prove it on the gridiron. But a fresh NFC North is a good look. We certainly won’t complain if Green Bay keeps destroying its rivals. However, Packers fans and the team itself will benefit from a more challenging division.
