The Differing NFC North Defenses Deciding the Division
The NFC North defenses inspire a lot of intrigue, but not a lot confidence.
Last year, Green Bay put forth a dominant effort when Minnesota travelled to Green Bay in Week 17. Jaire Alexander backed up the chatter by pestering Justin Jefferson all day, leading to one of the most modest games of Jefferson’s career: just a single catch and 15 yards. Of course, Alexander isn’t alone when it comes to talented Packers defenders. De’Vondre Campbell, Kenny Clark, and Rashan Gary are all strong players.
Meanwhile, the Bears, Lions, and Vikings are looking to rise from the doldrums of defensive drudgery. Each team’s defense was nowhere near good enough in 2022. In Chicago, that meant a last-place finish in the NFL. Detroit managed to become an average team and the Vikings had an elite record (though not an elite team).
Even as all eyes are on Jordan Love, Justin Fields, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins, the defenses in the NFC North are going to be crucial for determining which team emerges atop of the pile in January.
The NFC North Defenses and the Division Crown
Firing Ed Donatell surprised nobody.
The architect of a bland, uninspired defense, Donatell failed to overcome the persistent shortcomings that plagued Minnesota throughout the season. The rotten cherry on top of the world’s worst sundae was the letdown against the Giants in the playoffs. Seeing Daniel Jones lead an offense to 31 points — and at U.S. Bank Stadium, no less — was pretty deflating for Vikings fans.
So, out went Donatell and in came Brian Flores.
In March and April, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah mostly looked to subtract players rather than aggressively bring in a ton of replacements. Byron Murphy, Marcus Davenport, Dean Lowry, and Joejuan Williams stand out as notable exceptions, but the plan is to hand over a bunch of young, unproven players to Flores.
So much depends on Mr. Flores, a blitzing wizard who is being tasked with reversing the troubling trend that has beset the Vikings for three years: a defense that allows (on average) more than 25 points per game.
Surprisingly enough, the Lions opted to retain their DC, Aaron Glenn. He presided over a defense that tied with the Vikings for points allowed. Even worse, Detroit was the only team that gave up more yards. Detroit’s strategy hasn’t been to fire their DC but to amp up the talent. The Lions signed Cam Sutton and C.J. Gardner-Johnson while sinking high draft capital into Jack Campbell and Brian Branch.
Chicago did something similar, onboarding notable free agents as Ryan Pace whittled away at his team’s mountain of cap space. DeMarcus Walker, Yannick Ngakoue, Tremaine Edmunds, and T.J. Edwards stand out as the main adds.
What we have, then, are some different approaches. Green Bay mostly maintained their roster (though they did add Lukas Van Ness in the draft). Minnesota opted to replace their DC. Detroit and Chicago aggressively added impressive free agent players.
Take a look at where the teams ended up last season for points allowed and yards allowed:
| TEAM | POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME | YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME |
| GB | 21.8 — 17th | 337 — 17th |
| MN | 25.1 — t28th | 389 — 31st |
| CHI | 27.2 — 32nd | 376 — 29th |
| DET | 25.1 — t28th | 392 — 32nd |
Clearly, each team would like to improve, with only the Packers getting to a point where the performance was reasonably impressive. Even still, the division topped out at being a bit below average: Green Bay’s twin 17th overall rankings.
One wonders if the talent additions in Chicago and Detroit alongside the DC switch in Minnesota will lead to a situation where all four teams are clustered somewhere in the 16-20 range for NFL defenses. A truly elite NFC North defense is unlikely to arrive in 2023, so we may be looking forward to a year where a defense being average is enough to get a competitive advantage over the other three divisional foes.
The Vikings have a pair of preseason games in the books. After the next game — a date with the Cardinals of Arizona — Minnesota will get their depth chart down to 53 men. We’ll then know who Brian Flores will be working with as he seeks to pull off a renovation dramatic enough to make HGTV happy.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this piece.
