The NFC North may be the best division in football in 2025, but what would each team's worst-case scenario be?
This could be a four-horse race in the 2025 NFL Season, and that is not an exaggeration. Each team has a combination of high-end QB play, roster talent, and competent coaching. It's truly insane to look at just how loaded some of these teams are.
Well, what would be the worst-case scenario for each team in the NFC North for 2025? We tried to predict that right here.
Worst-case scenario for each NFC North team for the 2025 NFL Season
Detroit Lions - Coordinator losses have bigger impact than we think - Lions miss the postseason
Losing Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn might not be quite as bad as it could be, as the Detroit Lions have the best roster in the NFL, but what if these losses are indeed catastrophic? The worst-case scenario for the Lions in 2025 could be some shaky coaching and a rocky season on both sides of the ball, perhaps leading this team to miss the playoffs and losing their grip atop the NFC North.
Green Bay Packers - Jordan Love fails to take the next step, Packers top-out at nine wins
We have been waiting for Jordan Love to truly breakout, and the Packers did take some strides from 2023 into 2024, going from nine to 11 wins, but what if that was their ceiling? What if Jordan Love is just a good QB and nothing more?
The Packers could top-out at nine wins in what could be another year of us asking 'what could have been' with this team given how talented they are and how well-coached the players are.
Minnesota Vikings - JJ McCarthy looks bad, even for de-facto rookie standards, team wins five games or fewer
There is nothing to say that JJ McCarthy is going to play well - what if he's just downright awful, even for rookie standards? While the Vikings have a top-tier offensive infrastructure in place, some QBs just can't operate efficiently at the NFL level.
The worst-case scenario for the Vikings in 2025 would be them watching JJ McCarthy just failing to grasp the position at the NFL level and truly bottoming out - the roster is awfully talented, but bad QBs bring everything down. The worst-case scenario could be them winning just five or so games.
Chicago Bears - Caleb Williams' sloppiness from year one is still there, Bears fail to finish with a winning record
Caleb Williams definitely held onto the ball too long and took way too many sacks - the accuracy was also a sticking point at times. Chicago made strides to fix some of the offensive issues from 2024 - they hired Ben Johnson as the head coach and totally rebuilt the interior offensive line.
On paper, this offensive talent is top-7 in football, and most competent QBs are going to succeed with this infrastructure in place, but what if Williams doesn't? The worst-case scenario for the Bears in 2025 would be Williams' 2024 issues lingering into 2025 and the offense as a whole just not getting off the ground. This could lead them to win just five or six games and truly put into question if the former first overall pick is meant to lead this team.