6. Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers made a necessary statement on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions. Not only did they “need” that win based on the way the Bears have been playing this season, but the Packers had kind of had a tough month of November prior to Thanksgiving.
They were able to grit out a win against the Giants a couple of weeks ago, but otherwise, the Green Bay offense hadn’t been itself and they just didn’t look like as “complete” of a team as we’d seen in the past this season. Nobody was more impressive than Green Bay to start the year.
Jordan Love stepped up in a big way with four touchdown passes, but that defense – led by Micah Parsons – really came through with some clutch stops. The Packers have a rough stretch upcoming with two matchups against the Bears sandwiching a road trip to Denver, but they seem to be hitting a stride at the right time.
5. Chicago Bears
I don’t think we can underrate the Chicago Bears any longer. The shirtless Ben Johnson video that went viral after their win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday really says it all about this team. The vibes are vibing. The Bears have hit a stride, and they’re just an impressive all-around team.
The thing about the Bears is that they don’t exactly have the most impressive roster in terms of household names defensively, but they’ve led the NFL in takeaways this season and have a number of guys stepping up each week offensively. Against the Eagles, it was the running game that just blew Vic Fangio’s defense away.
If the Bears can run the ball like that for the remainder of the year, they’re going to be in really great shape. This upcoming stretch with two of their next three games against the Packers is going to be must-see TV. If the season ended today, the Bears would hold the #1 seed in the NFC…