Chicago Bears- People have finally cooled off on Jay Cutler and his emo haircut. Maybe it's the 24-29 career record as a starter. Or maybe it was the 26 interceptions he threw last year. 26! Or maybe it's the fact that his QB rating has gone down every year he's been in the league. Or maybe it was the fact that I tried to hit on his little sister's former best friend in Colorado this summer, while she informed me that it was in fact Josh McDaniels' infatuation with Matt Cassel that ultimately sent him packing from Denver (I think that's something to be proud of). Anyhow, Mike Martz joins him this year, which most assume to be a good thing. But, Martz's offense relies on route development, which is dependent on good protection from the line, which is not a strength of the Bears. They did bring in Julius Peppers who even agreed to terms on trying his hardest for three games this year.
Detroit Lions- Should still be some growing pains for Matthew Stafford (is he living in biblical times? who still goes by Matthew?). But, the man I'm interested in seeing, or beast I should say, is the undisputed Heisman winner, Ndamukong Suh. Combined with fellow Husker, Kyle Vanden Bosch (making them my second favorite team for the year), there is at least somewhat of a chance that he is ndominant right from the get go (currently the Vegas favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year!). Pretty good nucleus of skill positions in Calvin Johnson, Jahvid Best, Kevin Smith, Tony Scheffler, and Brandon Pettigrew might finally lead them out of the cellar of the NFC.
Green Bay Packers- Finally, Aaron Rodgers can live Favre-free up in Green Bay. Oh, he's still there. I think it'll prove significant if they can win one of their brawls with the Vikings this year, with so much weight was placed on those games, it seemed to take the wind out of their sails last year. Rodgers can join the elite company of quarterbacks in the league by leading the Packers to the playoffs once again, and do so with similar stats to the tune of last year's 30-7 TD/Int ratio. Rodgers is the key, and the key to Rodgers might be the improvement of the line, as everything else stays the same up in Cheese Country.
Minnesota Vikings- Brett Favre returns but will the magic? There was definitely something going on last year. In the midst of all the hoopla, it's easy to forget just how good Favre was last year. Funny how that can be easy to forget, yet I've learned Favre's pooping schedule in its entirety from watching ESPN (he's a morning guy). Expectations should be big enough this year to satisfy even Visanthe Shiancoe's (pictured eloquently) lady friends. I say there is still a small chance of a team-wide backlash against Favre if they start slow, which is very possible with six of the first seven against the likes of NO, Mia, NYJ, Dal, GB, and NE (all to be played without number one wideout, Sidney Dean Rice--who gets the reference there??).
