Jim Souhan: Vikings sit atop the NFL's most dominant division

Jim Souhan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Oct 14, 2024

Published in Football

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MINNEAPOLIS — Not that Minnesota sports fans are cynical, but on Monday I expected a skywriter to fly over U.S. Bank Stadium, spelling out this inspirational message:

“Did the Vikings pick a bad year to be good?”

It’s mid-October, and the Vikings remain undefeated.

In 2024, in the NFC North, being undefeated while your local coffee shop is running out of pumpkin spice gets you a half-game lead on the second-place team and a 1 1/2-game lead on the third- and fourth-place teams.

Sunday, as the Vikings enjoyed their bye week, the Packers blew out Arizona, the Lions embarrassed the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men of Dallas, and the Bears shredded the Might-As-Well-Stay-in-London Jaguars.

Once upon a time, the NFC Central — the precursor to today’s — was known as the “Black-and-Blue Division.”

The Bears wore black and orange and featured players like Dick Butkus, whose name sounded like the air leaving the lungs of a flattened running back.

The Vikings were the Purple People Eaters because of a front four that defined “group therapy” as time spent laying together on a quarterback.

The Lions were … the Lions, and the Packers played in a museum honoring the power sweep.

Those teams’ colors paid homage to old bruises. Their style inflicted such bruises. Their spirit animal was a muddy pig.

They birthed legends like Butkus and Alan Page and Jim Marshall … and they were never as good, as a division, as the relatively-new NFC North is today.

The division’s record is 17-5. The NFC North is the first division since the realignment of 2002 to have four teams with four victories six weeks into the season.

With the Vikings’ first game against Detroit scheduled for Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, here’s a look at how these teams rank in a few important categories:

— Quarterback: At the moment, it’s Detroit’s Jared Goff. He’s been remarkably accurate and able and willing to spread the ball around to a dynamic group of receivers and runners.

Second has to be Jordan Love, because he won a playoff game last year and is shaking the rust off after his knee injury. Who is third? After a shaky start, Caleb Williams has played extremely well the past two weeks. The Vikings’ Sam Darnold, after three spectacular weeks, looked shaky against the Jets’ very-good defense.

Put Williams ahead of Darnold for now because he lacks Darnold’s baggage.

— Running backs: The Packers let Aaron Jones go and signed Josh Jacobs, who has been an effective power runner. Jones went to the Vikings and became one of their most valuable players. The Lions invested heavily in David Montgomery (via free agency) and Jahmyr Gibbs (a first-round pick) and both have been spectacular. The Bears signed D’Andre Swift.

The Lions win because they have two starting-caliber backs. I’ll take Jones over Jacobs because of Jones’ versatility. Swift isn’t in the same class as the competition.

— Coaches: The Bears’ Matt Eberflus has much to prove, although he looks much smarter with a real quarterback. The Lions’ Dan Campbell has helped turn Detroit into a league power. The Packers’ Matt LaFleur is one of the winningest young coaches in history. The Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell is widely respected and coaches one of the NFL’s two undefeated teams.

I’d put Campbell first because he ran away with the division last year and might have the best team in the league this year (at least before Aidan Hutchinson’s injury). LaFleur has a higher winning percentage and has been on the job longer than O’Connell, so he wins a close decision for second, although O’Connell could change that ranking by winning a division title with Darnold.

— Coordinators: The two best will face off on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores are exceptional strategists. The Lions offense against the Vikings defense might be the most important and entertaining matchup of the season.

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