It was the best year possible ever for the NFC North in 2024, nevertheless, it still ended in failure for each of the four teams. None more than the Bears, who we'll start with. 

Bears

The Bears season was destined to fail from the start - just like the rookie years of their last several savior first-round pick QBs. They took Caleb Williams and bragged about the wide receiver corps he had to work with but didn't bother to beef up the offensive line, bring in a new head coach or a successful general manager (still haven't done that).  Williams will start his second year with his fourth (fourth!) playcaller. Horrific. 

None of the three receivers managed 1,000 yards and De'Andre Slow (prized free agency acquisition) couldn't get to 1,000 yards or 4 yards per carry. Caleb Williams actually had a good TD/INT ratio but that's partially because he was sacked an insane 68 times. 

The defensive plan wasn't that bad. They were great in 2023 when Eberflus was calling plays. They added Kevin Byard to play safety and then focused on the offense. Basically everyone not named Jaylon Johnson or Gervon Dexter regressed. Neither TJ Edwards nor Tremaine Edmunds, one of the best linebacker pairs in 2023, ranked in PFF's top 50 at linebacker. Montez Sweat had a Rashan Gary-like setback. It just seemed like everything went wrong for the Bears. 

Sadly, they hired the best head coach candidate on the market - though some people probably said that about their last two hires. Look for them to invest a lot on the offensive line this offseason and maybe be in the market for one of the five or six top line pass rushers agitating for a new deal. 

Vikings

The Vikings exceeded just about everyone's expectations last year, putting together a 14-3 season. Kevin O'Connell's offense got 4,300 yards, 35 TDs and 12 interceptions out of Sam Darnold. The former bust who, on his fourth team is finally breaking out. Brian Flores had the defense humming too. He made an alpha pass rusher out of Jonathan Greenard, turned Andrew van Ginkel into a household name and somehow switched up his entire scheme while still bringing pressure from all angles. 

Here's the thing, and we talked about this last week, some of the Vikings' success this year came from a luck. They had nine wins in one-possession games and Sam Darnold's ghosts didn't appear until week 17. Once the luck turned and Darnold turned into a pumpkin, they had no chance. They got stomped by the Lions in the regular season finale and then embarrassed by the Rams in the playoffs. 

They have the talent to hang with the top NFL teams and they obviously beat the Packers twice and I'm not saying they didn't deserve to be in the playoffs at all but they were never a serious Super Bowl contender. 

Now they face a tough decision. Do they bet on Sam Darnold or turn over the reins to JJ McCarthy? They could franchise Darnold and make him prove he gave Bill Murray a call to make the ghosts go away, but that would kill most of their ample cap space - likely taking them out of the running for any significant free agents. If they pay Darnold and he doesn't rebound from his embarrassing end-of-season run, they'll be in the worst spot you can be in the NFL - a pretty good roster that is going to price itself off your team because the bad QB is paid too much. Yuck. If they go with McCarthy, who was probably the fifth-best QB in that draft, they could end up wasting Justin Jefferson's prime trying to find a QB. Not a great spot to be in! Let's hope they screw it up.

Lions

This may have been the Lions big chance, and given how quickly their fans have become insufferable en masse, let's pray it is. 

The knee knibblers have had the quasi-Shanahan offense putting up numbers for the past three years. They have the best or second-best o-line, two above-average running backs, an Egyptian god playing receiver and Jared Goff. What they were missing was a defense. 

I made fun of them all off-season for beefing up their run defense last off-season instead of worrying about the pass defense at all. They acquired an aged corner, a run-stuffing nose tackle and a slot corner with their main moves. None of those really worked out, but the defense got good anyway. 

It got good because they had the best spine of the defense in the league. Alim McNeil evolved into a top-10 defensive tackle. Jack Campbell took the leap. Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph were two of the three or four best safeties. They had everything going for them last year and injuries killed it. 

Adrian Hutchinson, emerging as the league's premier pass rusher, broke his leg and was out for the year. Alex Anzalone, veteran linebacker, played in only ten regular season games. Alim McNeil tore his ACL. Carlton Davis broke his jaw. By the time they faced Washington in the playoffs they had 21 players on injured reserve. And a few more got hurt in that game. At some point, it's just too much. 

It's hard to say they'll win it all next year because the injury luck will shift when both coordinators became head coaches and neither replacement hire seems like an automatic home run. This year may be their last shot with this team. They've got a ton of cap space but that's going to go away quickly. In 2026, they're already down to $27mm in cap space without deals for Adrian Hutchinson, Kerby Joseph or Brian Branch. The pillars of their defense. Jared Goff has a $69mm cap and would save them $35mm if he were cut. Right now the 2026 Lions have $208mm in cap space devoted to offense and $56mm to defense. Something gotta give.