Ranking NFC North's 2025 Super Bowl chances after postseason dud
Yesterday at 09:37 PM
What a season it was for the four teams in the NFC North. The Detroit Lions were 15-2 and won the division, winning the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs in the process. The Minnesota Vikings were expected to have a down year, but instead, they finished 14-3 while beating the Green Bay Packers twice. Speaking of the Packers, they had another playoff season under Matt LaFleur after going 11-6 in the regular season. The Chicago Bears fired their head coach, Matt Eberflus, midway through the season, but they saw some growth in No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, and now they have a fresh start to build off of for 2025.
The NFC North was an absolute gauntlet in 2024. Three teams made the playoffs with a combined record of 40-11, and it seemed almost like a guarantee that the winner of the NFC was ultimately coming out of the North this season.
And then the playoffs hit.
The Packers predictably sputtered out again as they ended their season on a three-game losing skid. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-10, with only the defense being the unit that seemingly showed up to play on Wild Card weekend. Jordan Love threw three picks, and now he has some serious questions to answer this offseason.
The Vikings weren’t much better in the Wild Card round. In fact, they looked a ton worse, losing 27-9 to the Los Angeles Rams while the Sam Darnold magic ran out.
Detroit was supposedly gifted an easy Divisional Round opponent with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders coming to town, but the Lions completely choked away everything they accomplished this season and looked bad in the process. So much for grit. They lost 43-31 to the Commanders, and all their bluster and confidence from earlier this season was proven to be fraudulent.
Meanwhile, the Bears were the only NFC North team that didn’t suffer a playoff loss, but that’s because they didn’t make the playoffs at 5-10. They did get a new head coach out of it, though, because they hired Detroit offensive coordinator wunderkind Ben Johnson.
So, how’s it all going to shake out in 2025? So much still has to happen this offseason because the Super Bowl hasn’t even been played yet. Then there’s free agency and the NFL Draft, where all of these teams can improve.
Still, here’s an initial ranking of the NFC North’s 2025 Super Bowl chances after this disappointing postseason as a division.
1. The Lions are still best in the NFC North until they are knocked off
The Lions have won the NFC North two seasons in a row. That’s a huge deal for an organization that had not won it last since 1993, and a ton of that credit belongs to Campbell. He quickly instilled a winning culture into a losing franchise, and now the Lions are consistent Super Bowl contenders for the foreseeable future.
Even with Johnson now the head coach in Chicago, the Lions have a ton of elite pieces heading into 2025, including wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, offensive tackle Penei Sewell, edge-rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and safety Brian Branch, among others.
2. The Packers have a ton of money to make massive improvements
The Packers are certainly a model of organizational consistency and competency because even a “disappointing” season for them is a spot in the playoffs with a chance to upset a few folks en route to the Super Bowl. That’s not enough for General Manager Brian Gutekunst, though. He’s chasing championships in Title Town.
The Packers whimpered to the end of this season, but they still have several top playmakers who can lead them in 2025, including Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, who they picked up last offseason. General Manager Brian Gutekunst also has around $40 million to spend this season to continue adding talent to his established core.
If Love can bounce back from his regression in 2024, the Packers will once again be contenders.
3. The Bears may finally have their QB whisperer in Ben Johnson
The Bears have to feel like they have found their missing piece in the leadership structure. Johnson was the NFL’s most exciting offensive coordinator over the past two seasons, and now he’ll get a young and exciting quarterback to mold in Williams, the former No. 1 overall pick.
Williams showed a nice base of talent as a rookie, and if Johnson can develop him and establish his explosive offense in Chicago, the Bears could quickly become scary. The Lions averaged 33.2 points per game this past season, which led the NFL. They also put up 409.5 yards per game on offense, which was only behind the Baltimore Ravens.
4. The Vikings could be starting from square one at quarterback
You can’t completely count the Vikings out because Kevin O’Connell has proven to be an excellent coach. In fact, there’s a case to be made that he’s right up there with Campbell in the division, and he’s certainly comparable to LaFleur, who has a 67-33 record as a head coach since 2019 with five playoff appearances.
The Vikings also have Justin Jefferson, who is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. With those two leading Minnesota’s offense, the Vikings will always be a tough out.
The question for Minnesota is this, though? Who is the quarterback in 2025?
They could run things back with Darnold, but he’s about to be a free agent, and who knows whether this 2024 season was an aberration — because it absolutely was the outlier of his career. They could go with 2024’s No. 10 overall pick, J.J. McCarthy, but he’s still a complete unknown at the NFL level, and he’s coming off a major injury.
Ultimately, the Vikings have big questions at the game’s most important position, which is why they’re fourth in these early rankings.
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