One thing the Green Bay Packers have in common with the rest of the NFC North is the sad fact that their season ended prematurely. After a year that saw this division look like one of the best in football, the three NFC North playoff teams went winless in this year's postseason.
Looking ahead to next season, though, there's definitely momentum building within the North. It's not just the Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, but now there is some steam behind the Chicago Bears after hiring Ben Johnson as their new head coach.
For years, we were used to watching the Bears do things the wrong way. It was precisely what Packers fans could count on. The Bears were hardly a second thought in the minds of this fan base, but maybe, just maybe, things could be changing.
For once, the Bears went out and hired the guy everyone else wanted to hire. Johnson comes to Chicago as the biggest name on this year's coaching cycle, and Packers players understand that this division could be getting even more difficult.
In a recent interview on NFL Spotlight, Packers All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney joined Ari Meirov and discussed just how tough his own division could be now.
Xavier McKinney singing the Bears' praises wasn't on the Packers' bingo card this offseason
"This is going to be a tough division. There's a lot of good teams ... Ben Johnson, he just went to the Bears. You got four teams that are playoff contending teams and Super Bowl contending teams, really," McKinney said.
McKinney talked about when he first joined the New York Giants, thinking that the NFC East was a tough division, but he called this current NFC North "way better."
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"I think the Bears are going to have a really good team, especially with him (Johnson) now," he continued.
Well, that's about enough of that. Let's not crown the Bears as anything more than they currently are, and that's a team which just went 5-12. Sure, they beat the Packers and backup quarterback Malik Willis in Week 18, but just barely.
Johnson might be the savior Chicago needs. He might not be. But, let's wait to see the evidence on the field before we're calling the Bears a "really good team," shall we?
McKinney did note that he and his teammates are ready for the challenge next year, assuming it's as tough a division as he's seen:
"But, we accept the challenge. We can't wait to compete with these teams."