As the football world awaits Brett Favre’s inevitable announcement that he will sign with the Vikings, the signing would complete the transition of the NFC North this offseason from a running division to a more balanced offensive attack.
With running backs like Adrian Peterson in Minnesota, Matt Forte in Chicago, Ryan Grant in Green Bay and Kevin Smith in Detroit, the running game will not disappear completely, but the emergence of one quarterback last year and the addition of some new faces under center means defenses will have to prepare for the pass a little bit more than they have before.
Passing Last Season in the NFC North
Aaron Rodgers showed he could step out of Favre’s shadow and play at a high level last season as he led the Packers to the eighth best passing attack in the NFL last season. Green Bay averaged 238.3 yards per game in the air last year. But for the NFC North that was an anomaly as the rest of the league struggled with no team finishing in the top 20 last year for passing yards.
Chicago was second behind Green Bay with its duo of Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman who combined to average 191.3 yards per game (21st in the NFL), followed by Detroit and its quartet of Dan Orlavsky, Jon Kitna, Drew Stanton and Dante Culpepper, who tallied 185 yards per game (24th).
Minnesota was last in the division, averaging 184.8 yards per game with Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Ferrotte basically just turning around and handing the ball to Peterson on most plays.
Changes Under Center
With exception of Rodgers, Stanton and Jackson, few of those quarterbacks are back on the roster or will seriously vie for the starting spot.
Until Favre signs with Minnesota, the biggest move this off-season has been Jay Cutler going to Chicago. Cutler threw for 4526 yards last season and completed 62.3 percent of his passes. And he did that on a Denver team that had no running game to speak of as no Bronco running back ran for more than 350 yards last season.
Detroit went to the draft to find their quarterback, selecting Matt Stafford out of Oklahoma. Stafford will battle with Stanton for the starting job but with the Lions in serious rebuilding mode, it may be tempting to let Stafford, who is the Lions quarterback of the future, learn under fire.
On the Receiving End
While Rodgers has the potent duo of Greg Jennings and Donald Driver, they combined for 154 catches, 2304 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, the top receiver in the NFC North could be Detroit’s Calvin Johnson. Johnson amassed 1,331 receiving yards last season and was the Lions pass offense.
Cutler will have his work cut out for him, working with a group of receivers in Chicago that few would be hard pressed to name. The only standout is Devin Hester who has proved himself a better kick returner than wideout. But Cutler’s former playing mate in Denver, Brandon Marshall, is unhappy in Mile High and pushing for a trade. Cutler has said he would welcome Marshall who had 1,265 receiving yards last with him last season.
If Favre signs, he also will have a lack luster receiving corps. Minnesota has Bernard Berrian and went out and drafted Percy Harvin from Florida. Favre’s career has been studded with receivers that he has helped over achieve but that was a younger Favre. But with teams focusing on stopping Peterson, Favre and his group could see big gains.
Statistics Source: www.nfl.com
Bryan Rose - I have always had a passion for sports and history. Basically they were the two things that got me through high school and ...
Join the Conversation