The beauty of football is that it is unpredictable.
RandBall: Are the Packers suddenly the worst team in the NFC North?
Maybe this is too optimistic based on one victory over a bad team, but Michael Rand is putting the Vikings up to No. 2 in his NFC North power rankings while the Packers were last. Star Tribune columnist La Velle E. Neal III has a much different order of teams.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 13, 2024 at 5:15PM
The beauty of opinions is that they can change.
That’s how we get the NFC North turned upside down, at least for one week, at least from one opinion.
Star Tribune columnist La Velle E. Neal III and I squared off in a series of debates this week, part of a new extended audio and video feature on the Daily Delivery podcast.
We dissected the Twins’ biggest pitching blunder, then tackled the potential of the Lynx vs. Caitlin Clark in the playoffs. But we saved our main dissent for the final topic: NFC North power rankings after the first week of the season.
La Velle ordered the teams like this: Detroit, followed by the Packers, Vikings and lastly his beloved Bears. His logic was sound: the Lions still look like the class of the division, while the Bears still have a lot to prove after an ugly Week 1 win.
I don’t disagree that the Lions are No. 1. They occupied that spot going into the season as the defending division champs and looked solid again in an overtime win over the Rams. The divergence came after Detroit.
The Vikings went into the season needing a lot of things to go right in order to be competitive. Sam Darnold needed to be efficient. Aaron Jones needed to revitalize the run game. The defense needed to be healthy and carry a load.
All of those things happened in a Week 1 win over a mediocre-to-bad Giants team, and it established enough of a blueprint (in combination with other factors) for me to put the Vikings at No. 2 in the division after the first week.
The Bears have a much higher ceiling than what they showed against the Titans, particularly on offense. The fact that they were still able to win while rookie Caleb Williams struggled in his acclimation to the NFL tells me this isn’t the same Chicago team that went a combined 16-35 the past three seasons.
And Green Bay? They lost to the Eagles on a sloppy field in Brazil, giving up more than 400 yards and 34 points in the process. More importantly, they lost QB Jordan Love to a knee injury for at least a little while. Malik Willis, acquired near the end of training camp, figures to start Sunday. They’re the only team in the division to start 0-1 and they have an unproven QB. That warrants the No. 4 spot for now.
Here are four more things to know today:
- Fantasy football and the bizarre story of the Twins prospect who was released for aiding an opponent by tipping pitches dominated Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
- Also on Friday’s podcast, I visited with Star Tribune high school writer Cassidy Hettesheimer about her story on the unusual Elk River offense that confuses camera operators and defenses. Here’s a video breaking down the story and showing the Power T in action:
- The Twins had a great day Thursday even while idle. The Tigers, Red Sox, Mariners and Guardians all lost, strengthening the Twins’ playoff hopes.
- Patrick Reusse is expected to join me on Monday’s podcast, and there will be no shortage of topics to discuss.
An American League Central title seems unlikely, but the Twins are battling for a wild-card berth.
