Green Bay Packers Face Stiff Competition for the NFC North Title

Not that long ago, the NFC North was the Green Bay Packers and everybody else.

Oh, the Bears or Vikings would make an occasional run, but ultimately you knew the better team was the Packers.

Right about now you could start writing headlines for the coming season touting the Packers' continued dominance.

Out of habit, you might even be thinking the Packers—with a fairly easy 2012 schedule, a patched-up defense and one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL—should have the NFC North crown just about sewn up.

If that's the case, slow your roll.

The Packers aren't alone at the top anymore. In fact, it's more crowded than it's ever been.

The Packers are good; that's undeniable. They aren't the only ones in the North though.

Detroit was a laughingstock for many years. We all know that. No matter how much you wanted the woeful Lions to improve, they couldn't. Heck, in 2008 the Lions completed a winless season.

Who's laughing now? The Lions have the most potent offense in the division—arguably the NFL—and a defense which is getting better and better each year. The leadership in the front office and in the locker room is stronger than it's been in years—perhaps ever.

A few things stand in the way of a Lions' division title, though.

First, the backfield is a big, fat question mark. It's got a lot of potential but that doesn't do any good if the potential is hurt. Can Jahvid Best get through the season without a concussion? Will Mikel LeShoure get suspended for his pair of drug-related arrests? Is he going to be able to return to his college form post-injury?

Not having a consistent running game isn't disastrous—it just makes life harder.

The other issue is the schedule. If the Packers have one of the easier schedules, the Lions easily have one of the toughest. Road games in Philadelphia and San Francisco, matched with an early game in Chicago, make for a tough early schedule.

If they can get through that intact, they'll be hard on the heels of Green Bay.

Speaking of Chicago, let's not forget them. The draft added to an already fantastic defense and provided quarterback Jay Cutler with a new weapon in Alshon Jeffery, to go with one that they traded for in Brandon Marshall.

They even shored up the backfield by adding free-agent Michael Bush, in case Matt Forte gets hurt again, or holds out for a new contract.

They've got some tough road games as well—at Green Bay early, followed by the Dallas Cowboys as well as a road trip to San Francisco later in the year. However, their schedule isn't terrible and getting Lambeau out of the way early means their second game is at Soldier Field.

A late-season, mid-December game at Soldier Field? Advantage: Chicago.

The biggest questions facing the Bears are how quickly Cutler can jell with his new weapons and whether the offensive line can hold together.

New GM Philip Emery and head coach Lovie Smith have bet heavy that a few tweaks and no Mike Martz will improve the line's play considerably.

If they're wrong, it will be a huge blow.

There's one more team which could stand in the way of a Green Bay Division Title. In fact, they could have a bigger impact in some ways than either the Lions or Bears.

No, the Minnesota Vikings aren't going to win the North this year. They can play spoiler, though.

There are some critical games late in the season whose outcomes will tilt the fate of the division.

In the last six games of the season, the Vikings play Chicago twice and Green Bay, at home, to end the season.

If the division is tight—and it will be—how the Vikings do in those three key games will impact who wins this division.

The Vikings will be looking to gain some momentum heading into the 2013 season and a big win over the Packers would be a great way to do it. At home, late in the year, potentially punking a hated division rival? The fans could make the Metrodome more deafening than it's been in years.

So while you might feel inclined to "Crown Their (expletive deleted)," the Green Bay Packers are going to have to work for it this year.

The NFC North will not let them off the hook.