Chicago Bears:    The Bears once promising season came to a crashing end with a loss to the rival Detroit Lions in a battle to stay out of the NFC North cellar.

Changes will be abundant around Halas Hall this off season.  Head Coach John Fox will almost certainly lose OC Adam Gase who is a hot head coach prospect.  The Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns are said to be two clubs strongly pushing to hire Gase as early as this week.

DC Vic Fangio may also get consideration for one of the HC openings.  Several key players will probably be gone as well with Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett and perhaps even Alshon Jeffery leading the list.

The Bears are said to be looking to strike a long-term deal with receiver Alshon Jeffery. CSNChicago.com reports. The 6-foot-3, 216-pounder who finished the season on injured reserve totaled 54 catches, 807 yards and four touchdowns this year in just nine games. The soon-to-be 26-year-old is primed for a major contract be it with the Bears or someone else, having accumulated 228 receptions, well over 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns over the last three years (41 games).

Sports Illustrated reported that Forte, whose contract had expired after the season, left a message in his locker after departing for the offseason. The 30-year-old, who is set to become a free agent this offseason, left a shirt that reads “WORKHORSE” on the back of it, along with Forte’s No. 22.

 Last Week:   Lost vs. Detroit

This Week:   NA

Season Record:  6 - 10

Place in NFC North:    Last

Detroit Lions:  Head Coach Jim Caldwell may have saved his job with a strong end to the regular season including a win over arch-rival Chicago.  For now that is.

With Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford in the process of hiring both a president and general manager Caldwell may not make the cut going forward.  Even if Caldwell stays there may be a further shake-up on his coaching staff.  One person that QB Matthew Stafford would like to see stay is OC Jim Bob Cooter who took over from fired OC Joe Lombardi in mid-season and seemed to revitalize Stafford and a stale Lions offense.

Candidates for the General Manager position are rumored to be the Patriots Bob Quinn, Seahawks Trent Kirchner, and the Packers Eliot Wolf.  All come from highly respected and winning organizations.

Last Week:   Beat Chicago Bears

This Week:   NA

Season Record:    7 - 9

Place in NFC North:  Third

Minnesota Vikings:  The young upstart Vikings earned the NFC North title by defeating the Packers at Lambeau Field and now have the honor of hosting a Wildcard Playoff game at home to what is probably the hottest team in the league, the Seattle Seahawks.

Not only is Seattle hot but they are becoming healthier.  It was reported that star tailback Marshawn Lynch who had been out due to injury is again practicing with an eye toward playing against the Vikings.  Given the complexity of returning from hernia surgery his return this week is far from a certainty however.

Adrian Peterson once again won the NFL rushing title for a third time despite being held to only 67 yards vs. the Packers.  His 1,485 rush yards fell short of the 1,550 yards which triggered a de-escalator clause in roster bonus for 2016, from $5M to $4M.  The 1,485 was the lowest total for a rushing leader since 2007 when LaDainian Tomlinson tallied 1,474.

Cordarrelle Paterson led the league in kick return average bringing back two kicks for touchdowns. He might have finished with three had Mason Crosby not stripped him of the ball on Sunday night.  

As a team the Vikings finished 16th in points scored, 29th in yards gained, fifth in points allowed and 13th in yards allowed. They had the league's 31st-ranked passing offense, but the fourth-ranked running game led by Peterson.

Betting Line:  The Vikings are home underdogs to the Seattle Seahawks (-6.5)

Last Week:   Beat Green Bay

This Week:   Host Seattle Seahawks

Season Record:   11 - 5

Place in NFC North:    First

Green Bay Packers:   What a difference a year makes.  Last year the Packers had the lead and were just four minutes away from a trip to the Super Bowl when their season unraveled in spectacular fashion in the NFC title game.  This year the Packers are no longer the league’s leading scoring team, but instead have been in free-fall for most of the second half of the season and are limping into the playoff race.  Another epic fail at home against the upstart Vikings, in a game that should have been theirs to win, means they open the playoffs on the road with little momentum or confidence (despite what Mike McCarthy proclaims).

For head coach Mike McCarthy, his staff and players the question is simple:  How do you fix a sputtering offense that has mustered just four touchdowns in the past three games?  While the question is simple the answer apparently is not.

With an offense seemingly broken beyond repair, the Packers will be counting heavily on their defense in order to win and advance in this post-season.  That was also the thought by pro bowl guard Josh Sitton who said he felt bad for the defensive players because “they’re playing their ass off week in and week out, and we’re (the offense) going out there and not doing our job.”

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently pointed out that in 2014 the potent Packers offense put together 17 plays covering 40 yards or more good for (tied) third in the league.  This year they have seven, tied for last.  Missing are the explosive game-changing plays by the offense as well as a largely impotent running game.

For the season the Packers finished 15th in total defensive yards allowed, including sixth in fewest passing yards allowed and placing 12^th best in scoring defense.  The Packers offense ranked 23^rd in yardage and 15^th in scoring.

For their rivals this coming week the Redskins offense ranked 17^th in total yards and 10^th in scoring.  Their defense was ranked 28^th in total yards and 17^th in scoring.  Washington proved to be particularly vulnerable to the run where they ranked 26^th giving up a whopping average of 122.6 yards per game.

Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins had a breakout year where he ranked tenth in total yards at 4,166 and earned a respectable passer rating of 101.6.  Cousins notched 29 touchdown passes to only 11 interceptions.  Clearly stopping Cousins will be a key component for the Packers defense this coming Sunday.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers had a solid but merely-mortal year for Green Bay.  He ranked 17^th in total passing yards at 3,821 while throwing for 31 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.

Key injuries:  All eyes will be on left tackle David Bakhtiari (ankle) and CB Sam Shields (concussion) both of whom have missed multiple games. 

It is painfully obvious that the Packers have no one on their current roster who can adequately play left tackle other than Bakhtiari and Shields is their best corner.  Earlier this year this writer had proclaimed the young left tackle as the player the Packers could least afford to lose for any length-of- time other than Aaron Rodgers.  At the time, it was assumed that the receiving corps was talented and deep that they could cover for a Jordy Nelson injury which subsequently proved to be wrong.

Betting line:  The Packers are one-point underdogs on the road at Washington.

Last Week:   Lost at home to Vikings

This Week:   Wildcard game at Washington

Season Record:    10 - 6

Place in NFC North:    Second