Why the Detroit Lions Will Collapse in the 2025 NFL Season: Hot Takes on Football's Toughest Division, NFC North

The NFC North produced three playoff teams last season, and on paper, it still looks like the best division in the NFL.

All four teams went through some significant changes this offseason, and all seem to be on a positive trajectory going forward. Two of our writers here at A to Z Sports, Destin Adams and Kyle Crabbs, took a close look at each of these teams and came away with some blazing hot takes. Let's see what they had to say and see if they even agree with each other.

NFC North Hot Takes

Green Bay Packers

Hot Take: Matthew Golden finishes fifth or lower on the team in receptions & receiving yards in 2025.

There's a lot of mouths to feed for the Packers' passing offense in 2025 and the team's first-round draft choice, Matthew Golden, may be assumed to be near the top of the pecking order. I'm not so sure. Tight end Tucker Kraft has emerged as a prominent weapon and might be a year away from being considered one of the best tight ends in football. But at wide receiver, names like Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and the eventual return of Christian Watson leaves a lot of hurdles for Golden to pass on the depth chart.

Golden's impact long-term should be considered exciting. But his place on the totem pole in 2025 feels like one that will not afford him a volume of targets. - Kyle Crabbs

Buying or out on this take: I'm Out

I wasn't the biggest fan of Golden through the draft process, but I can see the upside that the Packers and many see in him, which led him to be a first round pick. I agree there are a lot of mouths to feed in the Packers offense, but they finally drafted a WR in the first round, and I expect them to try and get the most out of that investment. I think the only player that finishes ahead of him in receptions will be Jayden Reed, and if that comes true, he should for sure finish ahead of fifth in receiving yards as well. - Destin Adams

Detroit Lions

Hot Take: Lions will not finish as a top two team in the NFC North

The Lions saw offensive coordinator Ben Johnson finally take a head coaching job this offseason, but he didn't go too far. They will now see him twice a year as he is running the show with their NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears. Johnson ran one of the most successful offenses in the NFL in Detroit and is viewed as one of the most creative play callers. I think the Lions will feel his absence in a big way, with QB Jared Goff being the person hurt the most by Johnson's leaving. I believe Goff will have his worst season since coming to Detroit this year, and it will affect their entire offense. On top of all that, they also lost defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who is now the head coach of the New York Jets, which could lead to the Lions getting off to a much slower start than they've been accustomed to in recent years. The NFC North is arguably the toughest division in football, and I don't think the Lions' offense will be good enough this year to finish as a top two team in the division. - Destin Adams

Buying or out on this take: Buying (reluctantly)

I am inclined to buy here. The Lions have had a ton of interruptions to their infrastructure this offseason, only to then see Frank Ragnow hang up the cleats and prominent members of the defensive front working their way back from injury. Detroit is going to be a tough out, but the schedule is unforgiving. Road games in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Green Bay in the first six weeks before drawing Tampa Bay at home and then the bye?

I see Detroit as a winning team this season — I expect double digit wins. But I see Green Bay and Minnesota as teams that got better in more spots without losing both coordinators this offseason. - Kyle Crabbs

Minnesota Vikings

Hot Take: Justin Jefferson passes Randy Moss for second-place all-time in Vikings receiving yards.

Randy Moss finished his career with the Vikings with 9,316 yards before continuing his career elsewhere. It took him 113 games to get there. Hear me out — Justin Jefferson has played in 77 career games in Minnesota but is less than 2,000 yards behind Moss on the Vikings' all-time list. Jefferson, who has 7,432 receiving yards, needs 203 to move past Anthony Carter for third place on the all-time list. That's one good day at the office for Jefferson.

Jefferson needs 1,885 yards to pass Moss for second place in Vikings history. He nearly did that in 2022 despite posting just five receptions for 53 yards across Minnesota's final two games that season. - Kyle Crabbs

Buying or out on this take: I'm Out

I went back and forth on this, and the only doubt I have has nothing to do with Justin Jefferson himself, but rather the mystery surrounding QB J.J. McCarthy. Ultimately, even if McCarthy has his fair share of personal struggles during his first year as an NFL starter, I expect him to lean heavily on Jefferson, who has become one of the best in the NFL at getting open no matter the attention defenses throw his way. So even with multiple talented options in the offense, if McCarthy relies on Jefferson as much as I think he will, him setting a new career high for targets and receptions doesn't seem out of the question. And if he starts to get close to passing Moss near the end of the year, that seems like the type of record the Vikings would start to make a conscious effort to have Jefferson pass him. - Destin Adams

Chicago Bears

Hot Take: Caleb Williams will finish with more passing yards and touchdowns than Jayden Daniels this season

Bears QB Caleb Williams and top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was outplayed by second pick and Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels during their rookie years. While the Bears and Williams struggled during his rookie year, Daniels went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year and took the Commanders to the NFC Championship. I think the addition of Ben Johnson as the Bears' head coach is going to pay off in a big way for their offense, but no one is going to benefit more than Caleb Williams. Johnson will put Williams in a much better position to succeed than what we saw in 2024. His TE duo of Cole Kmet and rookie Colston Loveland, paired with WRs DJ Moore and second-year WR Rome Odunze, will be a fun nucleus of weapons for Johnson to scheme up possibilities for. I think this will lead to Williams finishing with more yards and touchdowns than Daniels during their sophomore seasons, and by the end, both will be spoken of as elite young QBs in the NFL. - Destin Adams

Buying or out on this take: I'm Out Ben Johnson needs to tame the wild parts of Caleb's game, which got the better of him at times in college, too. That unpredictable nature may emerge, based on Chicago's investments, by leaning more on the ground game. I think they take the air out of the ball some, which will lead to a more efficient Caleb, but not necessarily a high volume passing attack. Meanwhile, Daniels got pass protectors like Laremy Tunsil and Josh Conerly added to the line, and investments in the skill group included trading for Deebo Samuel and drafting Jaylin Lane. Washington wasn't a great run offense last year, and they leaned heavily on Daniels in that regard — I think they'll continue to be more emboldened to put the ball into Daniels' hands even more in 2025. - Kyle Crabbs

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