2. Detroit Lions
I've said it a million times already this offseason, but I can't think of a more disappointing team in the 2025 season than the Detroit Lions.
Of course, the Lions lost Ben Johnson last offseason, and that was detrimental to their offense as they wound up replacing him with veteran assistant coach Johnny Morton, who was demoted during the regular season. Now, Drew Petzing is in charge of that group, and getting them back to playing at a championship level week after week.
He'll have to do that without David Montgomery, who was sent over to the Texans in a trade.
The Lions' defense is still the one area of the team that you can't exactly count on right now, and I'm not sure where you hang your hat to say they got better this offseason. Staying healthy on that side of the ball would be a start, but the Lions have simply not been aggressive enough in the past two offseasons when it comes to upgrading the edge position opposite Aidan Hutchinson.
There will be a lot of pressure on 2nd-round pick Derrick Moore as a result.
1. Chicago Bears
I want to start of by saying -- I'm not sure the Bears have the best roster in the NFC North. I'm not sure this is truly the best all-around team in the division. The Bears simply have the right formula and combination at the quarterback position, and I'm really buying the short and long-term future of Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams together.
Like I said earlier, you can poke holes in the case for any of these teams, and for the Bears, it's the question of why they didn't do more to upgrade the pass rush this offseason.
There's still time to do something, but at this point, most ships have sailed and the Bears will be left with what they've got. They could still try and bring in a veteran like Cam Jordan or Von Miller, but does anyone move the needle for this team all that much?
Chicago's defense was a takeaway machine last season, but that's something you can't exactly bank on every year, especially when you change personnel.
I love Chicago's offense, but the defense makes me worried that this ranking is going to look foolish midway through the regular season.
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