NFC North: Brett Favre Could Lead QB Division

The NFC North is the quarterback’s division.

Just look at Brett Favre.

I know, I can hear you already, “What does the waffling Favre have anything to do with the strength of the Black and Blue Division?”

Fans of the Packers probably don’t want to hear anymore No. 4 drama but the signal caller’s soap opera can’t be totally ignored.

Favre may not even come back but he has out-headlined everyone else in that division. The Wrangler jeans wearin’, southern boy turns 40 on Oct. 10 and his star still shines brighter than everyone else.

If the tea leaves somehow tell Favre, who owns a 169-100 career regular season record, to come back and “stick it to Ted Thompson” as a quarterback for the Vikings, the rest of the division better be put on notice. With a strong running back in Adrian Peterson—who is seeking his third straight Pro Bowl in as many seasons this year—and a terrifying defense, Minnesota would own many of the winning pieces.

While everyone has been fawning over Favre, Aaron Rodgers remains content. The Packers quarterback, who unfairly was placed in the Favre Love Triangle last summer, played remarkable before suffering a severe sprain to his throwing shoulder. His detractors point to his 6-10 record as a starting point for his mediocrity but a closer look shows that five of those losses were by three points or less.

A less-than-stellar year from running back Ryan Grant didn’t help Rodgers either. Grant rushed for over 100 yards just four times last year and didn’t notch his first rushing touchdown until Week 7.

The Bears addressed their biggest question mark and got their first Pro Bowl signal caller since Jim McMahon in 1985. The Bears did unload a moving truck’s worth of picks for Jay Cutler, but will be happy with the results. Cutler has a howitzer for an arm, is poised under pressure and will also have the added benefit of second-year running back Matt Forte, who tallied over 1,200 yards on the ground last year.

Now the only question in Chicago is, who’s going to catch Cutler’s whistling spirals?

Finally, even the lowly Lions got into the act by drafting University of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford as the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Obviously the jury is still out on this kid but he may not have to endure the pressure right away. Detroit could let the immobile Daunte Culpepper start and let Stafford season for a year. That way if the Lions revert back to their bumbling ways of the forgettable 0-16 season of last year, Stafford won’t have his confidence crushed right away.

This division is inherently better than last year. And if a certain indecisive quarterback decides to lace them up for one more season, the other three teams will be looking up at the Vikings.

The Packers have a realistic chance to make the playoffs for the sixth time this decade but the new 3-4 defense must be implemented without fail.

New defensive coordinator Dom Capers cannot afford to have anyone confused in the system’s first year of implementation or else one of the aforementioned signal callers will make the Packers pay. And for a defense that was ranked 22nd in points and 20th in yards last year, there is a lot of work to do.