A season ago, the NFC North was arguably the best division in football, as the Detroit Lions (15-2), Minnesota Vikings (14-3), Green Bay Packers (11-6), and Chicago Bears (5-12) combined to go 45-23 during the regular season, with the top three teams each earning a trip to the playoffs.
Yes, the postseason was a little embarrassing, as each team was dusted by at least a dozen points in their respective openers, with the Vikings specifically taking a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round. But what's done is done, and it's time to look ahead to the 2025 campaign.
With training camps right around the corner, plenty of pundits are offering up predictions for the upcoming season, and Bleacher Report's Moe Moton recently took some time to give his thoughts on which team will finish last in every NFL division.
And as you may have already guessed, he's predicting the Vikings to bring up the rear in the NFC North. But not only did he give Minnesota as a whole a little bulletin-board material, Aaron Jones may have gotten a little extra motivation as well.
B/R says the Minnesota Vikings will finish last in the NFC North, mainly because of J.J. McCarthy
Moton spends roughly half of his prediction on the Vikings finishing last in the NFC North discussing quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
And it's honestly hard to fault him for that, as it genuinely is difficult to know what to expect from a 22-year-old who missed his entire rookie season after undergoing several surgeries to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
That said, however, Moton did note that McCarthy has a strong receiving corps to help him adjust, specifically mentioning wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson. He also noted the additions Minnesota made on the offensive line in rookie first-round guard Donovan Jackson, four-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly, and guard Will Fries.
Furthermore, he stated that the Vikings' defense "may be better than last year's unit that ranked fifth in scoring and 16th in total yards with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave on the front line."
But he then went right back to the McCarthy well, stating that the Michigan alum's "inexperience could cost the Vikings some games against formidable opponents." And Minnesota certainly does have plenty of those on the slate in 2025, as the Vikes are tied with the Packers and Dallas Cowboys for the fifth-toughest strength of schedule (.557) based on last year's regular-season records.
But this is the sentence that got me: "Without a complementary ground game, the QB could struggle through the first half of the season before he finds his rhythm."
Yes, it's true that the Vikings ranked only 19th in the NFL in 2024 in rushing yards, averaging 109.1 yards per game. But Moton made no mention of the fact that Aaron Jones rushed for a career-best 1,138 yards last season and ranked eighth among all players with 1,546 total yards from scrimmage.
That's not complementary enough for you?
Okay, so Jones didn't have a ton of help last year, with Cam Akers ranking second on the team with 297 yards in a dozen games.
But that's why the Vikings went out and made a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for Jordan Mason, who filled in beautifully for the injured Christian McCaffrey last season, rushing for 789 yards while averaging 5.2 yards per carry, the latter of which ranked seventh in the NFL. So, a combo of him and Jones could be lethal.
Look, are the Vikings going to go 14-3 again? Probably not. But did anyone think Sam Darnold would do what he did a season ago?
The NFC North will undoubtedly once again be one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL. But the Lions aren't winning 15 games again. We do have to admit that both the Packers and Bears made improvements during the offseason, but there are still plenty of weaknesses on both rosters.
Could Moton's prediction come true? Of course. But don't be shocked if the Vikings surprise the league for the second season in a row.