Joe & Daphne's Preview: The NFC North

Pictured: Daphne being held by not Joe.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe) and Daphne Parello (@DaphnePup)

We finish up our NFC previews with the high-flying North.

I know, imagining a division where passes are flying all over the yard at Lambeau Field and Solider Field is a little weird, but with three of the league's Top-13 passers returning from last season, along with a promising sophomore, and half the division (Minnesota and Detroit) playing indoors, this isn't the NFC Norse of old.

Even with all those yards through the air returning, there are still questions for each team in the North. Can Green Bay find enough defense to get to Super Sunday? Can the Bears turn Jay Cutler's gaudy yardage totals into wins? Can Detroit take the next step and truly contend in the NFC, and how far can Teddy Bridgewater carry Minnesota in his second season, especially with the help of reinstated All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson?

Daphne and I investigate.

Long And Suite Preview: The NFC

Both of our experts are unusually optimistic about Aaron Rodgers and the Packers this year.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin) and Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

We're just gonna blow through these quickly - just post our picks for how each division will finish, what each team's record will be, and how the playoff seedings stack up. The heavy analysis as to how and why those things will come about will be in tomorrow's full-season preview. This is just quick and dirty picks. First will be each division's order of finish. The second section will have each team's record (and a pick for each team's respective over/under). The third section will be our top six teams.

Long And Suite Preview: The NFC North

Jared Allen and Julius Peppers both changed teams this summer. But they both stayed in the division. Which one will have a bigger impact? And will it lead to a division title?

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin) and Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Would you have guessed that the NFC North was tied for the 2nd-worst cumulative record of any division in the league last year (only the AFC South was worse)? Would you believe that the division had the worst cumulative SRS score in the entire league? Would you believe that they were the only division in football to have all four teams post a negative SRS?

It seems improbable that a division with so many blue-blood teams would go belly up like that, but it did.

Granted, there were some extenuating circumstances. The Packers were 6-2 when Aaron Rodgers played all four quarters. They were 2-5-1 when he didn't. They had three different backup quarterbacks start in a span of four weeks, including the was-somehow-still-employed Seneca Wallace. The Bears, long known for stellar defenses, suffered a rash of injuries on that side of the ball and saw the entire unit fall into a tailspin. The Lions, for the umpteenth year in a row, couldn't find much success running the ball and couldn't find a reliable second receiver to compliment Calvin Johnson. And the Vikings, well, they started Josh Freeman for a game. That really sums up their season.

Long and Suite Preview: The NFC North

It's a quarterback's league, but Adrian Peterson carried Minnesota to the playoffs in 2012.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin) and Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Like the NFC East, the NFC North is an evenly-matched division. All four teams have made the playoffs at least once in the last three years, including the Vikings doing it with two different quarterbacks. Unlike the NFC East, however, there seems to be a consensus choice to win the division - you won't see too many predictions that don't have Green Bay on the top line.