Bear Digest

How the Lions, Packers, and Vikings could wreak havoc on the Bears in 2025

Alan Goldsher|
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams attempts to avoid a feisty Detroit Lions defense.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams attempts to avoid a feisty Detroit Lions defense. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

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Chicago BearsDetroit LionsGreen Bay PackersMinnesota Vikings

The four teams that inhabit the NFC North aren’t what you’d call besties.

The Bears despise the Packers. The Packers despise the Vikings. The Vikings despise the Lions. And the Lions despise everybody.

Come to think of it, everybody despises everybody.

There’s a good chance that the division’s temperature will be at an all-time high in 2025, as all four teams appear poised to take the North.

Actually, check that: Detroit, Green Bay, and Minnesota appear poised to take the North, while Chicago is merely trending up.

Thing is, the Bears have six inter-division games on the schedule, so if any or all of their rivals pull off a slick trade, or hit a grand slam on a third-round draft pick, or get a career year out of a veteran, Chicago’s season might start trending sideways. Or backwards. Or straight down.

Here’s one potential game-altering life event from each of Chicago’s NFC North frenemies that would send Bears Nation—and, for that matter, the Bears themselves—into a tizzy:

DETROIT LIONS

Their Defense Gets Healthy and Lands Some Top-Shelf Help

Last season’s Lions defenders were thrilled their team offered them a solid health insurance plan:

  • Aidan Hutchinson busted his leg and missed 12 games.
  • Alex Anzalone broke his arm in Week 11.
  • Alim McNeil’s torn ACL ended his season in Week 15.
  • Carlton Davis III fractured his jaw in Week 11, landing him on injured reserve.
  • Marcus Davenport’s season ended in Week 3 due to a triceps injury.

We could go on, but we’ll spare our Detroit readers.

Some, if not all of their banged-up defenders will be healthy and ready to rock in 2025—which, in and of itself, is scary enough for the rest of the North—but if Lions GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell crush it with defensive picks in rounds one (28) and two (60), well, yikes.

NFL Mock Draft Database currently has Texas A&M EDGE Nic Scourton falling into the Lions’ laps in the first round, and the last thing Bears Nation wants to see is another speedy rusher getting all up in Caleb Williams’ grill.

GREEN BAY PACKERS

They Land a Legit WR1 For Jordan Love

Last season, Green Bay QB Jordan Love and his offense racked up 3,807 passing yards, the 12th-most in the league…and that was without a true top wide receiver.

Ostensible WR1 Jayden Reed managed 857 yards on 55 receptions—both led the team—while TE Tucker Kraft hauled in the squad’s most receiving touchdowns with seven. Love’s other two go-to pass catchers, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, both missed games due to injury and neither looked fully healthy when they returned.

The Packers currently have almost $45 million in salary cap space, as per Spotrac, which might allow them to get a Chris Godwin or a Stefon Diggs into their building.

Or, if the New York Jets move on from Davante Adams…and if he returns to Green Bay…and if he’s anything close to his old self—he’s only 32, so anything’s possible—that would be a straight-up nightmare for both the Bears and the entire NFL.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

J.J. McCarthy Is a Stud

Free agent QB Sam Darnold balled out for the Vikes last season, which is why the general consensus around the league is that his market value is in the vicinity of $40 million. That said, if the Minnesota brass was smart—which, generally speaking, seems to very much be the case—they wouldn’t blow up their cap table to re-sign him…especially when they have a potential-laden first-round pick already on the roster.

Nobody’s seen J.J. McCarthy face a starting-level NFL defense—a torn ACL in the preseason ended his rookie year before it started—but he showed enough at Michigan that on Draft Night, 2024, the Vikings traded up to scoop the former Wolverine at the ten-spot.

McCarthy likely has enough talent—and definitely has enough weapons (Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson…yikes)—to thrive…but what if he really thrives.

Before last season, Darnold was considered to be, well, a bust. But with head coach/QB whisperer Kevin O’Connell at the helm—and with Jefferson and Addison doing Jefferson and Addison things—Darnold led an offense that delivered 4,043 passing yards, the sixth-most in the league.

With all of those pieces in place, McCarthy is poised for success. Which means Bears Nation is poised to be really, really angry.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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