Five Reasons Why Packers Can Win NFC North Next Season

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers were briefly in the driver’s seat in December to win the NFC North. Instead, they were in the ejector seat and lost their final five games.

The Packers haven’t won the NFC North since 2021. Since then, each of their rivals have won the division at least once, with the Chicago Bears going from worst to first in vaulting past the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions this season.

Here are five reasons to believe the Packers will climb back atop the NFC North and finally get that long-awaited home playoff game.

1. They Were Leading the North in 2025

The Packers looked like Super Bowl contenders at times this past season. Even with a bad loss at the Browns and a blown lead at the Cowboys, the Packers were 5-1-1 after Jordan Love completed 20 consecutive passes in a come-from-behind victory at the Steelers.

Tucker Kraft suffered a torn ACL at Carolina the following week, but the Packers recovered with a four-game winning streak to take a 9-3-1 record into a game at the powerhouse Broncos.

The season, of course, took an inextricable turn for the worse when Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL in that game. Green Bay lost – and didn’t win again. However, this team shouldn’t be viewed as the one that finished 9-8-1. It should be viewed as the team that was 9-3-1.

After the loss at Denver, the Packers were in control at Chicago – until they weren’t. Due in part to Romeo Doubs’ flubbed onside-kick recovery, the Packers were shocked in overtime. It was a horrendous loss that cost them a chance to win the NFC North, but even a team playing without its best playmaker on offense and its “Closer” on defense was good enough to be in control for 58 minutes.

The same is true with a colossal meltdown in the playoff loss to the Bears. Had any of these 18 plays gone in Green Bay’s direction, it might have finished off its rivals.

So, it doesn’t take much imagination to see the Packers being good enough to win the NFC North next season. For the most part, they were good enough this season.

2. Return of Best Players

The Packers without Tucker Kraft and Micah Parsons were good enough to win that playoff game at Chicago. Add those two back to the mix, and there’s no reason why the Packers can’t sweep past the Bears and everyone else next season.

Kraft was on a Pro Bowl or even an All-Pro trajectory when he was injured against Carolina. In his final healthy game against Pittsburgh, he caught 7-of-8 targets for 143 yards and two touchdowns with 128 yards after the catch. It was epic dominance. After that Week 8 win, he ranked 10th among tight ends with 32 receptions, second with 489 yards, first with 15.3 yards per catch and second with six touchdowns. He was No. 1 among all non-running backs in yards after the catch per catch.

Parsons was first-team All-Pro in his debut season with the team. Even while having a limited role to start the season and missing the final three-plus games of the regular season, he finished third in the league in pressures. Assuming he returns to Peak Parsons at some point in the season, the Packers will have the X-factor player capable of clinching big wins.

3. Jordan Love

In his third season as the starter, Jordan Love finished fifth in the NFL with a 101.2 passer rating. His 66.3 completion percentage and 1.4 interception percentage were the best of his career, with his interception count going from 11 in 2023 and 11 in 2024 to six in 2025.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As coach Matt LaFleur likes to say, it takes all 11 on offense. A potential 11 personnel group of receivers Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden, tight end Tucker Kraft and running back Josh Jacobs is strong.

Critically, Love was third in the NFL with four come-from-behind wins and fifth with four game-winning drives. The next step will be improving his consistency and avoiding the lulls that prevented the Packers from putting away the Bears in the playoffs.

4. Jonathan Gannon

Jeff Hafley had an excellent two-year run as defensive coordinator. However, the defense with Micah Parsons in 2025 was no better than it was without him in 2024. After Parsons’ injury, everything went to hell. When momentum went against his unit against Denver, Chicago and Baltimore, Hafley was powerless to stop the avalanche.

Maybe new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon will be no better. On the other hand, maybe fresh ideas in the playbook and on the practice field will restart the flow of takeaways that disappeared this past season.

5. Regression and Salary Cap

The Bears came out of nowhere to win the NFC North. However, there’s reason to believe they are due for some regression. Perhaps significant regression.

Last year’s Packers are Exhibit A.

In 2024, the Packers finished fourth with 31 takeaways and third with 17 interceptions. In 2025, they plunged to 26th with 14 takeaways and 29th with six interceptions. So, just because Chicago finished first with 33 takeaways, 22 interceptions and plus-22 in turnovers doesn’t mean it will dominate the turnover battle once again.

Meanwhile, Green Bay’s salary-cap challenges have been thoroughly documented.

However, while the Packers are $3.23 million over the projected salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com, that’s still better than the Bears ($9.49 million), Lions ($12.37 million) and Vikings ($45.19 million; better than only the Chiefs).

All four teams will have hard decisions to make. Green Bay’s maybe won’t be quite as hard, which puts it in a better position to avoid painful roster cuts and to potentially add some impact players.

NFC North Outlook

The NFC North team publishers got together to write about reasons for optimism (with the reasons for pessimism coming next week).

Roundtable
--- Caught Up With NFC North Publishers @BillHuberNFL @BearsOnSI @JoeyBrainstorm to Check In With Each Team
---2026 Detroit Lions Reason For Optimism
MORE: https://t.co/EAMFtnvIPP
— DetroitSportsPodcast (@DetroitPodcast) February 2, 2026

The Bears under first-year coach Ben Johnson not only won the NFC North but they almost beat the Rams in the wild-card round. With quarterback Caleb Williams, everything seems possible – so long as he improves upon his NFL-worst completion percentage.

“Johnson’s past in Detroit showed he could greatly improve the Bears offense. … He’ll have the opportunity in Year 2 to further shape that talent,” Gene Chamberlain of Bears On SI wrote.

Minnesota went from 14-3 with Sam Darnold to 9-8 with J.J. McCarthy.

“If they get growth from McCarthy or find a way to acquire someone like Mac Jones or Aaron Rodgers, they could quickly return to … a spot in the playoffs, Joe Nelson of Vikings On SI wrote.

While the Bears went from worst to first, the Lions went from first to worst. However, “the offense still is potent and chalk full of All-Pro talent,” John Maakaron of Lions On SI wrote.

Click here for more extensive analysis for the Packers’ rivals.

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