The NFC North appears to be a division that is there for the taking. The Minnesota Vikings may have finished in first place last season with a 13-4 record, but they are not even the favorites in the division at this point.

Many observers are looking at the Detroit Lions (9-8 in 2022) as the favorite to win the division. That includes DraftKings, and that organization has installed the Lions as +130 favorites to come away with the NFC North crown. The Vikings are the second choice at +250, while the Chicago Bears (3-14 last season) +400 and the Green Bay Packers (8-9) are +500.

While the Vikings had plenty of problems on defense last year, ranking 31^st in yards allowed, the Lions were even worse. They were dead last in that category, giving opposing quarterbacks and running backs a virtual freeway of opportunity to make big plays and run up big point totals.

As a result of their poor showing on defense, the Lions signed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, cornerback Cameron Sutton and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to upgrade the secondary. Gardner-Johnson is coming off a huge season with the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles with 6 interceptions and 8 passes defensed. He also had 67 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack, and he has proved himself as a hitter as well as a ball hawk.

The new additions should give them the opportunity to play the kind of effective defense that should give head coach Dan Campbell a chance to compete much more effectively.

The Lions appear to be a formidable offensive team. They made huge strides last year as Jared Goff was healthy and demonstrated his accuracy and ability to come through on third-down plays.

Goff should get quite a bit more help from the running game this year with former Bear David Montgomery and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs. If the ground attack is credible this season, receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds and Marvin Jones have a chance to make good on the team’s favorite status.

The Vikings were outscored by their opponents last year despite their dominant won-loss record. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell face a different kind of challenge this season than they did a year ago.

The 2022 season was all about building a cohesive team that enjoyed being around each other, because the atmosphere had been doom and gloom the year before under former head coach Mike Zimmer. Now the Vikings are trying to overcome their massive salary cap issues, and they have parted company with big-name contributors Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks and Za’Darius Smith.

Those are significant losses, and holding off the suddenly improved Lions will be a huge challenge. The passing game could be dominant with Justin Jefferson leading the way, but Kirk Cousins has a tendency to be up-and-down, and the downs have come in the biggest games.

The Bears should be significantly improved as quarterback Justin Fields enters his third season and the start of the prime of his career. There is no doubt about Fields as an athlete, but his consistency as a passer is at issue. Of course, all the offseason reports are positive, but the proof will come when the season kicks off in September against the Packers.

Green Bay has finally seen its 31-year era of quarterback superiority come to an end. Brett Favre started dominating in 1992 and he passed the baton to Aaron Rodgers in 2008. Now Rodgers is in New York with the Jets and Jordan Love gets the call in 2023.

Love has made one start in three years with the Packers and is completely unproven. The running game looks dangerous with Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, and they may have the best pass rush in the division with Preston Smith and Kenny Clark.

Despite the odds offered by the gambling site, this is a wide-open division. These may be four ordinary teams, and it will likely come down to which team can stay healthiest throughout the course of the 17-game season.

, who somehow went 13-4 last year despite scoring three fewer points than their opponents, have started a soft rebuild. They cut running back Dalvin Cook earlier this month and saved $9 million against this year’s salary cap. They dealt three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Za’Darius Smith to the Browns last month and got two fifth-round picks in return. They released Adam Thielen, who ranks fourth in franchise history in receiving yards, and linebacker Eric Kendricks.