Grading Each 2012 NFL Team: NFC North Edition

Since it's a little too early to look forward--and don't let all this combine and draft talk fool you--let's look back at how all 32 teams did in 2012.  These grades are quite obviously subjective, but I assessed a few things in my mind: 1) Did this team improve, maintain or decline in performance from previous years?; 2) Did this team maximize the talent level on its roster?; and 3) What does the quality of wins and losses say about these guys?

We now continue our series with the NFC North:

Chicago Bears, 10 - 6

Overall Grade: B
The Bears--and Lovie Smith in particular--really got the short end of the stick as far as 10 - 6 teams go this year.  Even so, it's hard to say which team was the real Chicago in the end: 1) the 7 - 1 half that had an astounding 23 turnovers and 6 TDs on defense; or 2) the 3 - 5 half that looked toothless once its defensive opportunism dwindled and its offense had no answers.  I go with a little Column A and a little Column B.

High Points: This was a historic defensive season for the Bears.  The Chicago collection agency racked up 24 INTs and 20 recovered fumbles over the course of 2012 and also led the league in turnover differential (+20) and defensive scoring (9 TDs).  Jay Cutler also had a decent run BC (before concussion) with 11 TDs to 4 INTs, save one ugly 4 interception outing in Green Bay.

Low Points: The second half of 2012 was rough on the Bears, who plummeted from the 2nd seed in the NFC and #1 in the North to staying home altogether in January.  The defensive fireworks of the first half of the season proved unsustainable and exposed a lack of balance on offense.  Even so, I think the lowest point for the Bears had to be firing Lovie Smith and--Rooney Rule, what?--replacing him with a freaking CFL coach after interviewing everyone else and their mom.  Smith made it clear from the get go he was defensively-minded, and his defense had a banner year.  I think the Chicago front office is going to feel some serious regret next year after scapegoating Smith for a lackluster offense, late season injuries, and a freakish underdog run from the Vikings that pushed the Bears out of contention in Week 17.

Homework for 2013: Determine a new long-term identity.  The Bears are going all in on offense in their coaching corps while their greatest defensive assets are getting up there in age.  That means Coach Trestman is going to have to prepare the organization from top to bottom for changes that will suit the Bears' future strengths without selling out what has made them successful in the past.

Detroit Lions, 4 - 12

Overall Grade: D+
For all the Cinderella stories for other teams this season, the Lions were the riches to rags counterpart.  After an impressive 10 - 6 season and wild card berth in 2011, Detroit fell swiftly back to Earth in 2012.  A 4 - 12 record might merit a lower grade than this in some books, but bear in mind that the 2012 Lions, while certainly disappointing, lost 9 of those 12 games by one possession.  That's gotta hurt, but it's just the other side of a stats anomaly like the Colts, who won 9 of 11 games by one possession.  The game clock is a frenemy.

High Points: There isn't much to write home about with the 2012 Lions, but credit Calvin Johnson for avoiding the [individual] Madden curse and breaking Jerry Rice's long-standing single season record with over 1,960 receiving yards.  There's no question that Megatron did his job when there were so many bumbling mortals around him.

Low Points: The leadership of this team has been in question since Day 1 of the 2012 season after a summer filled with player crimes and misdemeanors.  On the field, the Lions went from meh to worst by starting the year 4 - 4 and then ending on an 0 - 8 slide, though to be fair, 6 of those last 8 games were against playoff teams and 7 out of 8 were against teams that would end up with 10 or more wins.  Yikes.  Few expected the Lions to match their surprising 2011 playoff run, but Detroit fans have to be disappointed with the results of a team whose postseason window may be shrinking more rapidly than they first realized.

Homework for 2013: It may be a long shot under the current coaching regime, but these Lions are in need of a serious cultural turnaround after last summer's thrills and DUIs, more dirty play from a boy named Suh, and Titus Young's recent very public ouster.  Locker room discipline isn't everything, but it might say more than you think about the different levels of composure that we saw in the Lions and Colts in the fourth quarter this year.

Green Bay Packers, 11 - 5

Overall Grade: B+
Oh to live up to impossible expectations.  The Packers nearly did it in the regular season with another excellent performance from Aaron Rodgers and an improved running game.  Plus, we all know they really should have gone 12 - 4 vis a vis Fail Mary that would have given Green Bay a first round bye and home field advantage against the 49ers in the divisional round.  Even so, questions of balance remain, especially on the defense that looked very Division II in January when it mattered most.

High Points: Like the Patriots and Broncos, the Pack had a very respectable regular season with blowout wins against the then-undefeated Texans, almost playoff-worthy Bears, and... okay, the Tennessee Titans, but 55 points is 55 points.  Aaron Rodgers spread the love as well as ever with big performances from Randall Cobb, James Jones and Jordy Nelson.  Even with Donald Driver retiring and contract question marks for Jermichael Finley and Greg Jennings, Rodgers is a proven king-maker.  This squad will be just fine for a while.

Low Points: Find me a soul in Wisconsin who isn't still seething from Fail Mary.  But for the things Green Bay had control over, this team really had trouble with eventual Super Bowl contender San Francisco.  The 49ers dominated the Packers at Lambeau in Week 1 with Alex Smith and then dominated them harder in the divisional round with Colin Kaepernick.  Unless Dom Capers has a Memento-like condition we don't know about, it's hard to fathom how these pros could be so obviously underprepared for the read option, letting Kaepernick and Frank Gore combine for over 320 yards on the ground that day.

Homework for 2013: Like every team in the NFL, the Packers will need to overprepare for the read option--and really any decent running attack--now that more than a few teams will try to take advantage of them for that Candlestick playoff performance.  I think Aaron Rodgers could also use a day or two tripping peyote in the desert to stop getting so whiny about rich people problems like his abridged primetime news magazine interviews.

Minnesota Vikings, 10 - 6

Overall Grade: A+
Second only to the Indianapolis Colts in zero-to-hero status in 2012 (and maybe actually first), the Vikings shocked everyone this season with ingenious coaching adjustments and the rushing performance of a generation from Adrian Peterson.

High Points: Other than AP, the Vikings' performance wasn't always pretty, but Rudy himself would have shed tears at the sight of Minnesota shaking off the divisional bully Packers in Wek 17 at home to win the final NFC playoff spot and put Peterson within 9 of the all-time season rushing yards record.  This was a spectacular individual and collective effort for the team that played to its own strengths arguably better than any other team in the league this year.

Low Points: Poor Joe Webb already looks like he'll be finding a new calling after one of the worst backup QB performances in recent memory in the wild card round.  In a game-time decision, starter Christian Ponder--who carved up the Green Bay secondary the week before--was benched with a bruised arm, leaving the Vikings faithful to watch Webb struggle to reach a 30% completion rate.  There are no guarantees that this dome team would have otherwise thrived at wintry Lambeau, but it was a disappointing end for an otherwise exceptional year of comebacks.

Homework for 2013: Assuming that Adrian Peterson's career year will have been just that and nearly impossible to repeat, Minnesota is going to have to diversify its offensive talent big time next season.  Especially with Percy Harvin on the chopping block, the inconsistent Christian Ponder is going to need to stretch his talent and build some quick chemistry with whatever receiving corps remains.  Leslie Frazier may just have the coaching chops to do it too.