The New Era Of Football In The NFC North: The Forward Pass

The black and blue division has officially evolved.
While a lot of analysts have trouble forecasting wins and losses with every team in pro football, the one comparison that can be drawn is likely to be in offensive style of play.
While most of the National Football League was willing and able to modify the identities of each team, the NFC North division was labeled with the intimidating defense/three yards and a cloud of dust mentality. While St. Louis University head coach was the first to build an offense around the forward pass 103 years ago, 2009 may mark a new generation of football in the upper north version of the NFL.
Each of the four teams in one significant way has emphasized the passing game going into this season.

Green Bay Packers

If there was any player in pro football that had more of a microscope on his performance, it might have been Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The former first round pick was not only asked to replace a future Hall of Fame legend in Brett Favre but Rodgers was the figure in the middle of the preseason drama created by the spectacle created by Favre and his associates before the 16-year veteran was finally traded to New York.
“How can it not affect it?” Rodgers said in January on The Michael Irvin Show on ESPN Radio. “I mean, when he flew into Green Bay the day after—or the day of the Family Night scrimmage, talk about an awkward locker room.”
Rodgers earned the respect of the media, opposing defenses and possibly most importantly his own teammates by finished the 2008 season (his first full NFL season as the starter) with 4,038 yards and 28 touchdowns while leading the NFL’s fifth-best offense.
“I don't think anybody every questioned could Aaron Rodgers be a top-flight quarterback if you watched him practice every day, and that's always the biggest hurdle you have to overcome as any player, particularly at the quarterback position,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said in Thursday’s press conference following Green Bay’s offseason workout. “I just think Aaron Rodgers today has more credibility with his teammates and probably with the media and the fan base.”
Without the shadow of Favre looming over 1265 Lombardi Avenue, the potential for Rodgers as a 25-year-old franchise quarterback to assume a leadership role of Green Bay’s offense is there now and for the next decade.

Chicago Bears

The city of Chicago got its Christmas present four month late when Santa Claus, Ind., native and pro bowl quarterback Jay Cutler came to town.
After dealing with the back-and-forth verbal tug of war between himself and new Denver head coach Josh McDaniels, the Broncos loss was the Bears franchise gain when Chicago general manager Jerry Angelo sent three draft picks and Kyle Orton for the chance to get Cutler.
“I wanted to make sure, knowing that there were going to be a good handful of teams, that we got their attention,” Angelo told the Chicago Sun-Times on May 7. “The one thing we wanted to do was send a loud message to them that we're very serious about this, and we did get their attention.”
With the acquisition of a 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback, the Bears have achieved instant credibility at the quarterback position for the first time since Sid Luckman took snaps in the 30s and 40s.
With an average talent under center in 2008 the Bears were 9-7 and a road loss in Houston away from a wild card berth. Logic would state that if Cutler and Chicago offensive coordinator Ron Turner can jumpstart the 21st best passing offense, more late leads and victories would be on the horizon.
"This is like my second draft day," Cutler said in his introductory press conference on April 4. "I'm excited about what we have here.”

Minnesota Vikings

Ask yourself this one question: Did head coach Brad Childress and the rest of the organization think trading for Sage Rosenfels was going to satisfy the purple and gold fan base? Hint: The answer isn’t yes.
Therefore, for Vikings fans the month of May has started to sound like a plot line from 24 that includes stories revolving around the whereabouts of Childress, mystery meetings in Mississippi with Favre, possible medical appointments in Birmingham and daily news stories with unnamed sources.
Want proof? This was the fourth paragraph of an early May Favre story on ESPN.com: (Favre agent Bus) Cook did leave a door open to Favre playing for the Vikings saying he would expect "to have a conversation about how badly they wanted him and what kind of contract and terms we were talking about." But, "so far, that hasn't happened."
“You know what, I’ll put right out there on the line – there’s a reason he hasn’t had surgery yet. The injury is crap,” 540 ESPN Milwaukee radio host Bill Johnson said on his show May 5. “The injury was a convenient excuse for a bad end of the season.”
So while the drama of Favre continues to reverberate throughout the Twin Cities, it is becoming almost a certainty that wasting the talent of arguably the game’s best running back in Adrian Peterson with Tavaris Jackson as the starting quarterback is not only sticking a proverbial middle finger to ticket holders but it also once again risks Childress’ job security even after making the playoffs last season.

Detroit Lions

Imagine being Matthew Stafford.
You’ve just been selected with the first pick of the 2008 NFL Draft and therefore are the highest paid player in professional football. You won’t be given the starting job on the opening week of the 2009 season. Also, the team that just drafted you hasn’t won a football game in 522 days so the expectations aren’t exactly sky high.
"We have a number of needs," first-year coach Jim Schwartz said before the draft. "The No. 1 need is talent."
Whether or not, Stafford takes an official snap during the 2009 season, when he put his signature on a six-year deal for $72 million with $41.7 million of guaranteed money that allowed an NFL franchise that has been 31-97 going back to 2001 to put a face and secure building block at the quarterback position.
"It's up to us to develop him and get good players around him,” Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said.