There isn't a single division in all of the National Football League that has mirrored this wild and wacky season better than the NFC Central.
Minnesota, the division champion of a year ago, started so slowly many wrote them off before the season was even one- quarter old. The Detroit Lions, without their franchise player Barry Sanders, started with a blast, but has two straight losses. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were expected to have their best season ever, has been so up and down one wonders whose roller coaster they jumped on.
And then there are the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The Bears, a team that everyone wrote off back in March, is wreaking havoc, not only in the division, but outside of it, too, while the Packers haven't been able to get either their offense or defense to play a complete game during coach Ray Rhodes' short tenure in Titletown.
Minnesota, Detroit, and Tampa Bay are tied for first place with records of 6-4, Green Bay is just one game behind at 5-5, and the Bears two games out of first place at 5-6.
So, who will win the Central Division? Which team will emerge from the heap over the next six weeks to take control. Maybe none of them. If parity's ugly head continues to rear, it may be difficult to try to predict a dominant team. But we will try.
Chicago is the only Central Division team to have a bye week from now until the end of the season, but how that will figure into the final standings is anyone's guess.
There is the argument that playing straight through at this point in the season is important in helping to maintain consistency and confidence, but others argue that it's a perfect time to allow the injured to heal their bodies heading into the surge for playoff seeding.
Only the Chicago Bears will be able to answer that question during the 14th week when they have their bye.
None of the other Central Division teams will have that luxury.
Take a look at each teams' schedule and see if you don't agree with my assessments at this point in the season.
Minnesota: The Vikings are at San Diego next week, the same Charger squad that took the Bears into overtime last week, only to lose when the Bears' Chris Boniol kicked the game winning field goal. It was just two weeks ago the Bears also took the Vikings into overtime, only to see Boniol miss the game winner, so go figure.
The toughest stretch for the Vikes will start in two weeks when they visit Tampa Bay, the only place they lost last season, and then travel to Kansas City, before hosting the Green Bay Packers on December 20.
The Vikings will close out their season at the New York Giants and, in the final week, a game at home against Detroit.
During this stretch, the Vikings will go 4-2 and finish with a 10-6 record.
Detroit: The Lions host Chicago in the annual Turkey Day brawl and then will get 10 days to recover for a home game against Washington. Then in their toughest stretch of games, the Lions will play their final three of four games on the road.
It begins when Detroit travels to Tampa Bay and Chicago, hosts Denver in their final home regular season game of the year, and then finishes out on the road at Minnesota.
The Lions will split their games against Chicago, home and away, will lose at Tampa Bay and fall at home to a much improved Denver team, before getting smothered by the Vikings in the Humpty Dome in Minneapolis. Their fast start will be ancient history by the time the season concludes and they will find themselves out of the playoffs and negotiating for Barry's return after they finish at 7-9.
Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers play three of its next five games at home, but with Trent Dilfer at quarterback, it won't matter.
The Bucs' downturn will begin when they travel to Seattle this week. Mike Holmgren's red-hot Seahawks will decimate them, before they host Minnesota and Detroit. The Vikings, a team starting to show signs of life with their new quarterback, will beat the Bucs on their home turf, but Tampa Bay will come back to take the Lions in two weeks. However, the losing will continue during a trip to Oakland and when they host Green Bay. By the time they travel to Chicago for their last game of the season, the wind will have died and their sails will be lifeless.
Tampa Bay finishes the season at 8-8 and may have an outside shot at the playoffs, but highly unlikely.
The Chicago Bears will give the Lions all they can handle when they invade the Silverdome this week on Thanksgiving Day. However, I see Detroit outlasting them. When Green Bay travels to Chicago for the 159th meeting between the two teams, the fireworks will erupt. This game won't come down to a final field goal this time. Both teams' offenses have been playing too well. I see Brett Favre's thumb not hurting so much and the Packers on a roll in beating the Bears.
The Bears will need the bye they have following the Packer game, but by then it will be too late. Detroit comes to the Windy City after the bye and then Chicago must play at St. Louis, before finishing the regular season with Tampa Bay at home.
I see Chicago also finishing no better than 8-8 and will probably be 7-9 at season's end.
Which brings us to the Green Bay Packers. Everybody had Ray Rhodes fired and the team in the tank after three straight demoralizing losses.
Last week's performance, although not great, has opened the door for Favre and the Packers. The confidence level has risen and the rest of the season will be a good one.
The Packers will start a series of wins this week when they travel to San Fran cisco for a Monday night game. The confi dence the team gains from a big win at 3Com Park will propel them to a tough, but convincing win over the Bears in two weeks, followed by a home game win against the Carolina Panthers. The biggest challenges will come during the 14th and 15th weeks when Green Bay hits the road for consecutive games at Minnesota and Tampa Bay. The Pack will split those games before beating Arizona at home on January 2.
So, Green Bay and Minnesota finish the season at 10-6, but the Packers win the division because of the tie-breaker with a better overall divisional record. Tampa Bay finishes at .500 with eight wins and Detroit and Chicago end up in last place with 7-9 records.