Is NFC North toughest division in football

[Kiwon]

You mean Sage Rosenfels? lol

No, Sean Salisbury

[Fred's Slacks]

I always felt the NFCS was overrated last year. Yes, they had 3 10 win teams but they also played the NFCW and those three teams each played Carolina twice. That's 6 easy wins. Win 4 of your other 10 games and you've got a 10 win season. They were good, but not as good as they got credit for last year.

[mraynrand]

Tampa looked like shit yesterday - their defense can't tackle. The Lions O-line dominated them. Freeman looked pedestrian. Maybe it's just the Lions improvement though. It's just one game.

The Vikings can stay in games with their defense and running game, but their 'Passing Offense' - all 25 yards of it - will lose them games.

I have to believe ATL had playoff hangover - plus they didn't address problems in their secondary/pass defense.

Philly was a preseason favorite of many. I can't think that Vick will last the season with the beating he takes, and Vince can't throw and accurate ball. They may threaten, but aren't as good as 3/4 of the NFCN.

[Smeefers]

I have a hard time seeing the NFCN being acknowledged the toughest division. The guys at ESPN would shit a brick if they couldn't talk about how tough the east coast teams have it. I hate the bears. I thought they were seriously over rated last year, but they refuse to die. They looked good yesterday. Against a pretty good team (although I always thought ATL was over rated. Ryan is no super star yet.)

[Upnorth]

One thing I think should be obvious is NFCN has the best defence. We all know the pack have a great d, the bears (bastards) look better than last year and the d line for the lions is probably the best in the league. The worst defense in the north is the queens and the d is their strenght.
The lions have had over the last 3 years a historically bad pass defence, but it started to firm up last year. With the additions to the dline they look ready to over come the weak secondary. If this is the weakest defensive unit in the division, I think dominance is obvious.

[denverYooper]

Tampa looked like shit yesterday - their defense can't tackle. The Lions O-line dominated them. Freeman looked pedestrian. Maybe it's just the Lions improvement though. It's just one game.

The Vikings can stay in games with their defense and running game, but their 'Passing Offense' - all 25 yards of it - will lose them games.

I have to believe ATL had playoff hangover - plus they didn't address problems in their secondary/pass defense.

Philly was a preseason favorite of many. I can't think that Vick will last the season with the beating he takes, and Vince can't throw and accurate ball. They may threaten, but aren't as good as 3/4 of the NFCN.

There was some discussion in the week 1 thread about Vick taking a beating and Dungy mentioned last night on FNIA that Vick looked to be rattled already this year and was slipping back into his tendency to take off running instead of letting plays set up.

[Harlan Huckleby]

If the Vikes win 8, Frazier may be Coach Of The Year. They'll be lucky to win 2 games in the division. They already have a loss outside of it.

IF you watched the Vikings in the preseason, McNabb showed a very live arm.

I don't know what happened yesterday, but I would be careful about burying the Vikings after one game.

[Harlan Huckleby]

People, what did we see yesterday? Anyone? Anyone?

We saw the first game of the NFL season.

What does the first game mean? Anyone? Anyone?

Jack shit, that's what. Atlanta does not suck. Minnesota will find a passing game.

[Lurker64]

I think the NFC South developed an unearned reputation as elite largely because 3 of the 4 teams in it had 8 combined games against the Bengals, Browns, NFC West, and the 2-14 Carolina Panthers (who were 0-6 in their division).

The Falcons were 8-0 in these games.
The Bucs were 8-0 in these games.
The Saints were 6-2 in these games.

That's going to tend to inflate win totals.

More, in 2010:
The Saints were 3-1 in games not against their own division, the NFC West, or the Bengals and Browns.
The Falcons were 2-2 in games not against their own division, the NFC West, or the Bengals and Browns.
The Buccaneers were 1-3 in games not against their own division, the NFC West, or the Bengals and Browns.

I think the last statistic is the one that gives us the best indication of how that division ends up this year.

[hoosier]

The NFC North is so tough it's not a division, it's a corps.

[mraynrand]

The NFC North is so tough it's not a division, it's a corps.

The NFC West is a squad then

[Upnorth]

The NFC West is a squad then

More like an army of none.