Bob McGinn's All-NFC North Team: Offense
Our Hall of Fame scribe again talks to scouts across the NFL for his annual All-NFC North Team. Here's the unfiltered analysis on everything Lions, Vikings, Packers and Bears.
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By Bob McGinn
An assured first-year coach, a maturing second-year quarterback and a vastly improved offensive line carried the Chicago Bears and their grateful fans to unexpected heights this season.
Still, the Bears would do well to consider their foe across Lake Michigan, which at this time a year was coming off not one but two NFC North titles amid speculation that the Detroit Lions might place the division in a stranglehold for the foreseeable future.
As the Bears charged from worst to first as the Lions fell from first to worst. In the 58-year history of divisional play just seven other teams had gone from last place to first place in the NFC North and its predecessor, the NFC Central Division.
As exhilarating as the ride has been in Chicago behind coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams, there’s ample reason for the Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings to think they’re equally as capable as the Bears entering 2026 and beyond.
“If I was to predict (the division) next year I don’t know who I’d pick at this point,” an NFC personnel man said. “It’s a logjam 100%. If Detroit’s injuries heal up they could win it. Green Bay, if Micah (Parsons) is right, they definitely could win it. They could have won it all (Super Bowl) if he was healthy this year.
“Chicago? Who knows? Two years ago you’d have thought not a chance, but now they’ve got a chance. They got an offense; they’ve just got no defense. Three teams know who their quarterback is and one doesn’t. The Vikings have a young quarterback they’re going forward with. Either way it goes, they let go of some quality quarterbacks that are starting for other teams to stick with a guy that can’t stay on the field.”
Not only does the NFC North have top-notch quarterbacks in Detroit’s Jared Goff, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and Williams but also four established general managers and four winning coaches.
No division can equal the division’s stable, successful coaching ranks with Johnson (12-6, .667) concluding Year 1in Chicago, Matt LaFleur (79-46-1, .631) entering his eighth season in Green Bay, Kevin O’Connell (43-27, .614) entering his fifth season in Minnesota and Dan Campbell (50-38-1, .567) entering his sixth season in Detroit.
The NFC North this year was the second division in history to have every team post a winning record: Chicago at 11-6, Green Bay at 9-7-1, Minnesota at 9-8 and Detroit at 9-8. The AFC North in 2023 was the other.
The division’s overall record of 38-29 was second best among the eight. It followed on the heels of the best record in 2024 (45-23) and a 35-33 record in 2023 that tied for second.
When it comes to Super Bowls, however, the NFC North has nothing to brag about. Since Minnesota advanced to four Super Bowls from 1969-’76, the division has had merely five finalists in the last 48 years. The Bears won in 1985 and lost in 2006; the Packers won in 1996 and 2010 while losing in 1997, the Vikings haven’t been back and the Lions have never been there.
Since the Mike McCarthy-coached, Aaron Rodgers-quarterbacked Packers earned a ring in 2010, no NFC North team has played in the Super Bowl. The AFC South hasn’t had a Super Bowl entrant in that 14-year span, either, whereas the AFC West (four champs) and NFC West (two champs) each have had seven teams play in the Super Bowl. The AFC East has had five (three champs), the NFC East has had four (three champs), the NFC South has had three (one champ) and the AFC North has had two (one champ).
The Bears, the last man standing in the NFC North this year, will continue their bid for the Super Bowl in a divisional playoff game against the L.A. Rams.
“You feel good about the division overall,” said one scout. “But you also say, ‘I don’t know if any of these guys can win it.’ I don’t think they can.”
The difficulty of forecasting one year to the next in the NFL was made abundantly clear in July. That’s when Jeremy Fowler and his colleagues at ESPN surveyed league executives, coaches and scouts in what was their sixth annual ranking of the 10 best current players at 11 different positions.
Assigning 10 points for a first-place ranking, nine for a second and so forth, I broke the vote down by team. You would think having better players would mean having better teams, but that definitely wasn’t the case by the end of the season.
Of the top eight teams in points, just two made the playoffs and their overall record was 67-68-1. Of the bottom eight teams in points, six made the playoffs and their overall record was 81-55. Jacksonville, which finished 13-4, didn’t have a player make the top 10 at any position.
For the record, the Lions totaled 52 points in the ESPN survey, third overall, compared to 15 for both Green Bay and Minnesota, and 13 for Chicago.
How crazy was the NFC North? The Bears won the title but finished last within the division at 2-4. Since 2000, only one other NFL team (Kansas City, 2010) won its division with a losing record in the division. And the Lions finished last in the division but their point differential of plus-68 was the best.
“You never know what change will happen year to year but I think our teams are really talented,” one NFC executive said. “Depending on what happens in free agency and the draft you could see any one of those teams taking the next step. If you lose a coordinator or have unlucky health or some kind of regression from a major player … other than that I think it will be a battle for years to come.”
The worst to first club in the division (NFC Central 1967-1981, 1983-2001; NFC North 2002-2025) numbered seven until the current Bears made it eight. Let’s take a peek at the first seven.
Minnesota, 1968: Stocked with talent from the exceptional drafts of 1967 and ’68, coach Bud Grant vaulted from 3-8-3 and last place in 1967 to 8-6 and first place in 1968. The dynasty in Green Bay was kaput without Vince Lombardi. Grant went on to win 10 division crowns in 11 years. Joe Kapp, a refugee from the Canadian Football League as was Grant, was the Purple’s macho quarterback.
Green Bay, 1972: Having replaced Phil Bengtson in 1971, Dan Devine drove his ball-control offense from 4-8-2 in 1971 to the top at 10-4 with assistant coach Bart Starr calling the plays. Running backs John Brockington and MacArthur Lane did the heavy lifting and Scott Hunter did the handing off. The next year, quarterbacks Jerry Tagge, Jim Del Gaizo and Hunter produced 5-7-2. Green Bay wouldn’t win the division again for 23 years.
Tampa Bay, 1979: Baptized in 1976, the Buccaneers were 0-14 as an orphan of the AFC West in 1976 before being reassigned the next year to the NFC Central, where they would remain until realignment in 2002. In 1977, they were last at 2-12. In 1978, they were last at 5-11. Then came 1979, when coach John McKay combined a relentless defense featuring defensive end Lee Roy Selmon, strong-armed Doug Williams, punishing runner Ricky Bell and a favorable schedule to finish 10-6 for a divisional title. The Bucs barged to the NFC Championship Game before falling to the Rams, 9-0. In 1980, Bell was hurt a lot and the result was 5-10-1. They won it again in 1981 with a 9-7 record.
Detroit, 1993: Many forget that the Lions made the NFC Championship Game in 1991 before bowing out in Washington. After a 5-11 meltdown in 1992, quarterback Erik Kramer saved an offense that sorely missed Barry Sanders down the stretch. When they upset the Packers in the regular-season finale the Central was theirs at 10-6. Six days later, again at the Silverdome, Favre-to-Sharpe abruptly extinguished their playoff hopes. Although the Lions made the playoffs in 1994, they wouldn’t win the division again for 30 years.
Chicago, 2001: This division title required an eight-game jump, largest for the worst-to-first bunch. Under third-year coach Dick Jauron, the Bears finished 13-3 after limping home 5-11 in 2000. What happened? Marty Booker caught 100 passes, Anthony Thomas rushed for 1,183 yards behind a terrific offensive line, the defense amassed 48 sacks and the turnover differential was plus-13. A 33-19 loss to the Eagles in the playoff opener led to a 4-12 collapse in 2002.
Chicago, 2005: Lovie Smith, off a 5-11 first season, guided the Bears to 11-5 in 2005. A defense ranked No. 24 in 2004 finished No. 2. Thomas Jones rushed for 1,335 yards and the defense (Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles “Peanut” Tillman) took the ball away. After dropping their playoff opener to Carolina, 29-21, the Bears rebounded to reach the Super Bowl in 2006.
Chicago, 2018: Inheriting a 5-11 outfit from John Fox, rookie coach Matt Nagy provided plenty of answers in a seven-game surge to 12-4 in 2018. Mitch Trubisky turned in a 95.4 passer rating in his second season. Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Roquan Smith triggered a No. 3-ranked defense. The turnover differential was plus-12. Alas, the playoff opener went to the Eagles, 16-15. Nagy’s squad fell to 8-8 in 2019 and the Bears didn’t claim another division crown until this year.
The NFL structure, of course, is designed to promote parity. Coming off their third straight basement finish in 2024 the Bears benefited from playing a fourth-place schedule in which their opponents collectively were 131-155-3 (.459) this season. Next year, their first-place schedule includes opponents that were 158-129-2 this year, a .550 winning percentage that leaves Chicago with the NFL’s toughest schedule. Detroit’s fourth-place schedule in 2026 ranks 27th at .467.
In the last five years all four NFC North teams have won the division. It leaves this breakdown of titles: Minnesota 21, Green Bay 17, Chicago 12, Detroit five and Tampa Bay, three.
Based on extensive interviews last week with four executives well-versed on the Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings, the following is my All-NFC North Division team on offense. Defense and special teams will appear next week.
Go Long subscribers can access the scouts’ lengthy analysis in full below.
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ALL NFC-NORTH TEAM
OFFENSE
WIDE RECEIVERS
1. JUSTIN JEFFERSON, Vikings: Finished with the fewest yards (1,048), fewest touchdowns (two) and lowest average per catch (12.5) in his stellar six-year career. “A lot of that was because of the quarterback position,” one scout said. “I didn’t see any dropoff in him.”