We expect big things from both these sides in 2013, despite some mixed messages from Rodgers' team mates in Green Bay
Detroit Lions:
Last season: A promising 2011 campaign turned into a nightmare 2012. A 4-12 record was punctuated by losing the final eight games, a run that would normally see a coach get the bullet. But Jim Schwartz was spared as ownership saw enough to give him another year. We agree and here's why...
This season: Despite the simply awful second half to the season, the Lions should be positive heading into the new term. Last year they lost six games by one score or less, and teams that do that usually win more of those games the following season. They also possessed the second best passing yards average per game, and in Matthew Stafford they have a QB who could be elite.
They offered little in the way of a rushing threat last season but they brought in Reggie Bush to fix that in the closed season, and the addition of Glover Quin from the Texans makes them better defensively.
With long, long time kicker Jason Hanson retiring, they brought in the 49ers Super Bowl kicker David Akers and the Norwegian YouTube sensation Håvard Rugland.
Away from that novel move, the Lions have two beasts in their defensive line too, with Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh. It is a roster that looks good enough to return to the playoffs, question is can they?
Verdict: They have a tough schedule but they simply can't have as bad a year as last year. We suspect that divisional rivals Minnesota and Chicago may slip back a little this season, so if the Lions can turn enough of hose narrow defeats into wins, and clean up their disciplinary record, they could be bound for a wild-card slot.
Green Bay Packers
Last Season: They went 11-5 in the regular season, beat the Vikings in the Wildcard, but ended up losing to the 49ers in the divisional playoffs.
This Season: It's been a slightly strange offseason for the Packers, with departing WR Greg Jennings having some pretty harsh words to say about QB Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver not doing a whole heap to
calm the situation down on ESPN radio last week.
What that suggests is while he's one of, if not the best quarterback in this league, his team mates might not be card-carrying members of the Rodgers fan club. He also made himself look pretty silly with the whole Ryan Braun tweeting thing, but although he's lost Jennings and Driver, he still has Randall Cobb (caught 80 balls last year), James Jones (14 touchdowns) as well as Jermichael Finley and Jordy Nelson to aim at. We reckon there's a weapon or two in there for the gunslinger, and he's still going to be the number one QB on everyone's Fantasy Football draft board.
Eddie Lacy at running back is a decent pick and an interesting one in the draft, but opposing defences are not going to be too worried about the run game from Green Bay once Aaron Rodgers can still stand up on two feet. That said, he might offer the possibility of mixing it up that little bit.
The defence is a slight worry though, for a team that has 5 first-round draft picks on the roster on that side of the ball. While they improved statistically last year, they fell down when it mattered, but they should put up a much stronger performance than they had in the playoffs last year. They also have decent corner backs to boot, as well as a few notable linebackers, and while they'll always get sacks, they need to worry a bit about how much they cough up on rushing yards.
In terms of the schedule, they open their season at the 49ers, which is a seriously tough game, and they also have to face the Redskins early on and travel to face the Bengals too, which isn't a handy start for the Packers at all.
Verdict: They should still definitely win their division, but with a few of tricky games along the way, they should probably finish with a similar record to last year in the regular season.
We've found ourselves talking about Fantasy Football a lot during these previews, so if there's interest from the NFL fans out there in the JOE world, tweet us and let us know and we might set up a little league so you can go head to head with JOE's NFL journos.
