Overview of The Athletic’s 2026 NFC North Preview
This episode breaks down one of the NFL’s most compelling divisions: the NFC North. The conversation centers on four very different team-building stories — Detroit trying to stay elite on offense while patching the defense, Green Bay balancing Jordan Love’s rise against real roster fragility, Chicago banking on Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams to unlock a huge offensive ceiling, and Minnesota betting on the Kyler Murray experiment to work with a loaded supporting cast.
A major theme throughout: the division’s upside is high, but every team has at least one serious structural worry. The hosts also lean into the idea that this is a “collegiate” division — familiar, close-knit, and full of old-school rivalries — which adds to the intensity of the preview.
Detroit Lions
What they’re most excited about
- The offense is still viewed as a fireworks show, even after a less consistent 2025.
- Jahmyr Gibbs is the biggest potential breakout:
- He’s in position to be a true bell-cow back with almost no competition for touches.
- The hosts think he could push into offensive player of the year territory if the usage spikes.
- The skill talent remains elite:
- Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Jameson Williams
- Sam LaPorta
- Jared Goff remains the stabilizing force.
What to watch early
- The young offensive line:
- Christian Mahogany
- Tate Ratledge
- Blake Miller
- Cade Mays’ health is a major variable
- Whether Drew Petzing changes the run game:
- More gap/power concepts
- More play-action
- More ways to feature Gibbs
- How the front seven comes together:
- Aidan Hutchinson is the anchor
- They need help from the interior and edge rotation
Biggest concern
- The secondary.
- Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph are dealing with early-season injury issues.
- The back end could be unstable with several plug-and-play options rather than proven starters.
- The Lions played a ton of base defense last year and gave up too many explosive passes.
What success looks like
- Winning the division.
- Looking once again like a 10- or 11-win team.
- Ideally winning a playoff game, but the main goal is proving last year was the exception.
Green Bay Packers
What they’re most excited about
- Jordan Love is still the centerpiece:
- Calm in the pocket
- One of the league’s best deep-ball throwers
- A very aesthetically fun quarterback to watch
- The pass-catching group has serious upside:
- Christian Watson was especially electric late last season
- Matthew Golden flashed big-play ability
- Jayden Reed adds more explosiveness
- Tucker Kraft is a huge mismatch and may be the most dangerous underneath target on the roster
What to watch early
- How the defense functions without Micah Parsons available right away.
- Whether Edgerrin Cooper can be weaponized as a pass rusher and playmaker.
- Whether the young edge group and interior line can survive until the defense is fully healthy.
Biggest concern
- The offensive line and cornerbacks.
- The line has been a recurring pressure point in Love’s career.
- The corners were described as weak against downfield throws.
- The bigger fear is that the team’s floor is lower than it looks:
- If the run game struggles and the line can’t hold up, Love may be asked to carry too much.
- That could lead to him getting blamed for problems that are actually structural.
What success looks like
- Winning the NFC North.
- At minimum, doing better than another seventh-seed type season.
- The hosts agreed that, given Green Bay’s standard and talent, division title aspirations are fair.
Chicago Bears
What they’re most excited about
- It’s the Caleb Williams show.
- The offense has a potentially massive ceiling under Ben Johnson.
- The core of the skill group is explosive:
- Caleb Williams
- Rome Odunze
- Colston Loveland
- Luther Burden
- The hosts were especially high on Colston Loveland, who they already view as one of the best young tight ends in the league.
What to watch early
- Whether the offense looks cleaner, crisper, and more controlled than it did last year.
- Whether Caleb’s decision-making, ball placement, and out-of-structure play improve.
- The offensive line, especially left tackle, and whether the team can survive injury attrition.
Biggest concern
- The defense, by a mile.
- The secondary and safety situation feels unstable.
- The pass rush may not be good enough.
- The hosts think last year’s defensive success was heavily driven by turnovers and third-down variance.
- They also noted the Bears have spent a lot of premium resources on defense in recent years with limited results.
What success looks like
- The offense proving it can be a long-term machine.
- Caleb Williams looking like the franchise quarterback without ambiguity.
- If that happens, the exact win total matters less than the sense that the Bears finally have their offensive foundation.
Minnesota Vikings
What they’re most excited about
- The Kyler Murray experiment.
- The combo of Kyler Murray + Justin Jefferson is the centerpiece:
- The hosts think Murray can unlock a lot of the intermediate/deep passing game Minnesota wants.
- The supporting cast is strong:
- Jefferson remains the alpha
- The run game has real potential with Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones
- The team is excited about changes up front and the influence of Frank Smith
What to watch early
- How quickly the young defensive rookies can contribute:
- Caleb Banks
- Dominique Orange
- Jake Golday
- Whether Dallas Turner makes the leap they need from a young edge player.
- How Minnesota adapts its offense to Murray’s strengths, especially:
- Shotgun vs. under-center usage
- Play-action design
- Quarterback involvement in the run game
Biggest concern
- The defense, especially the secondary and safety depth.
- Whether this is one of those outcomes where:
- Kyler is solid,
- the offense is competent,
- but the overall team still lands in the 9-8/10-7 range and creates a painful quarterback decision.
What success looks like
- Kyler Murray proving to be the answer at quarterback.
- Re-establishing the optimism the Vikings had about Kevin O’Connell’s offense.
- Making the playoffs or at least leaving the season with clarity that Kyler is the guy.
Big-picture takeaways
1. The NFC North is offense-forward
- Each team has a compelling offensive story:
- Lions: stability + Gibbs explosion
- Packers: Love + skill-position juice
- Bears: Caleb + Ben Johnson
- Vikings: Kyler + Jefferson + run-game upside
2. Every defense has a major question
- Detroit: secondary health and explosive-pass prevention
- Green Bay: pass rush and cornerback reliability
- Chicago: basically the whole unit
- Minnesota: secondary depth and whether Flores can keep carrying the group
3. The division’s range of outcomes is huge
- The Lions are the safest bet.
- The Bears may have the highest pure offensive ceiling.
- The Packers have a strong quarterback but real floor risk.
- The Vikings are the most fascinating quarterback experiment in the group.
4. Quarterback context matters more than usual
- Jared Goff is a stabilizer.
- Jordan Love could be elite but also become the face of a shaky roster.
- Caleb Williams needs to take a real leap.
- Kyler Murray may be the key to determining Minnesota’s future direction.
Final thought
The episode frames the NFC North as a division where the offense can carry any of the four teams into contention, but the defenses may decide who truly separates. Detroit feels like the favorite, Green Bay feels volatile, Chicago feels explosive, and Minnesota feels like the most consequential quarterback bet of the bunch.