A midseason look at the Bears and NFC North

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The NFL season is about half over, so now would be a good time to take a quick overview of where some teams stand. I'll naturally start with the Bears. Sitting at 3-5, the Bears are about as good as I hoped they would be. Mike Glennon was clearly a bust, but Mitch Trubisky looks like he'll be good long term. Short term he's better than Glennon right now. The Bears defense is one of the best in the NFL. Akiem Hicks has emerged as a beast on the defensive line and Leonard Floyd continues to develop as an edge rusher. Hicks has 6 sacks and Floyd has 4.

Nice makeover

The overhauled defensive secondary has been outstanding. Eddie Jackson seems to have plugged a seemingly never ending hole at free safety. Prince Amukamara has been a nice free agent signing at one corner, and Kyle Fuller has looked completely rejuvenated at the other corner. 

Reasons for optimism

The Bears schedule was extremely difficult in the first half, but gets considerably easier in the second half. The Bears have a legitimate shot at 8 wins. The bye week hits the Bears at a good time. Recently acquired wide receiver, Dontrelle Inman, will have a chance to assimilate into the Bears offense. Help at the wide out position is desperately needed.

Jordan Howard continues to be a force in the Bears running game and Tarik Cohen has been a nice change of pace for the offense. If the Bears passing game would improve, it should open up the running game more.

Barth makes me want to barf

The Bears kicking game could use an upgrade over Connor Barth. For a defensive team without a lot of offense, the Bears can't afford to give away points via Barth missed field goals. The bye week will give the Bears an opportunity to look for another kicker.

Advance to the rear

The Bears are gaining on their division rivals. Or maybe their division rivals are coming back to them. The loss of Aaron Rodgers negates the biggest edge the Packers had over over the Bears. The Bears figure to have an excellent shot at picking up a win over the Packers when they come back from their bye week.

The Lions are are to figure. Whenever I start to buy into them as being the best team in the NFC, they go into the tank. It seems like it's systemic to the Lions. Matt Stafford hasn't made the next step to being an elite NFL quarterback. Possibly because he's been sacked 25 times this season. It's hard to take the next step when you're on your back.

And the Vikings continue tp pillage

Meanwhile, the Vikings quietly go about their business of winning. Their record stands at 6-2. Case Keenum has taken most of the snaps at quarterbacks for the Vikes and has been fairly effective. His passing rating sits at 88.8%. That's almost dead even with Matt Stafford. The Vikings don't have a lot of high profile guts, but they are well coached and have a good defense. In the NFC North, that's good enough.