La Velle E. Neal III: From first to worst, NFC North disappoints in postseason

La Velle E. Neal III, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 22, 2025

Published in Football

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MINNEAPOLIS — This initially was meant to be a eulogy for the NFC North, the most underachieving division in football. The past few days have changed that. The division might be the best soap opera in the National Football League.

Here’s why I felt it was necessary to gather us and pay our final respects to the division.

The Detroit Lions lived up to the preseason hype and were one of the best teams in football during the regular season.

The Green Bay Packers were expected to be competitive, and they were with one of the NFL’s youngest rosters.

It was the unexpected rise of the Minnesota Vikings, who finished 14-3, that made it the best division in football. The teams combined to go 40-11 with three of the best 10 records in the league heading into the playoffs.

One of these teams surely would reach the NFC Championship Game. It’s a season in which the San Francisco 49ers aren’t relevant and the Eagles are good but not great. The door was open for a North team to take the conference title.

But the trio didn’t just flop, they flopped fantastically.

The Packers lost their final two regular-season games, including a walk-off loss at Lambeau to the lowly Chicago Bears, then were outclassed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild-card round. It should be enough to wonder if the $55 million per year they are handing Jordan Love is wise or foolish.

The warning signs flashed in front of the Vikings in Week 18 when Lions pass rushers met at the quarterback all night, knocking them into the fifth seed. Then the Los Angeles Rams pass rushers met at the quarterback all night long in the wild-card round, often because the ball was stuck to Sam Darnold’s hand. The Vikes were knocked out of the postseason and several million dollars were knocked off Darnold’s expected 2025 salary — which still should be a sizable raise from his 2024 paycheck.

The Lions admirably worked around a slew of defensive injuries during the regular season — eight different linebackers started — until the divisional round. The offense thrived when it wasn’t turning the ball over. And Washington took advantage of five giveaways while rolling to a 45-31 victory and ending their dream season.

Despite his team suffering embarrassing defeats down the stretch, Green Bay receiver Keisean Nixon could not resist getting after the Lions on social media.

“Somebody tell them boys in Detroit I got a extra room at the villa in Cabo,” he wrote on the X platform Sunday night, followed by a laughing face emoji.

Well, Cabo needs an entire vacant hotel to house all these NFC North floppers, who were beaten in the opening round of the postseason by a combined score of 94-50.

So, yeah, I had the shovel out.

But then this week happened.

By the time we settled in to watch the CFB championship game Monday night, it was learned Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was headed for Chicago to become head coach of the Bears. Many Lions fans erupted over Johnson, a hot commodity, leaving only two days following the end of the season. One called him “Benedict Johnson” on social media.

Johnson is the first Lions assistant to leave for a head coaching role since 1974, so their fans aren’t used to being casualties of the coaching carousel. Sometimes these matches are made quickly. Get used to it, Detroit. But the Bears' next visit to Ford Field will be wild.

On Tuesday, the Vikings signed coach Kevin O’Connell to a contract extension and are working on one for General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. KOC definitely deserved his. Kwesi? He’s made impact free-agent signings but needs to raise his draft game. Together, the two are 34-17 in three seasons. That can’t be overlooked.

On Wednesday, it was confirmed that another Lions assistant, Aaron Glenn, agreed to try to resurrect the woebegone Jets. They also lost defensive line coach Terrell Williams to become New England’s defensive coordinator.

How will the Lions be affected by the departure of Dan Campbell’s top two assistants? Can the Vikings take advantage as their leadership pair gets contract extensions? How quickly can Johnson, the consensus top coaching candidate in the carousel, turn the Bears around? What are the Packers up to? Should Vikings fans care what the Packers are up to?

The toughest division in the NFL during the regular season failed in the postseason but became fascinating again in three days this week.

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