Breakout Pro Bowl QB Jordan Love and the Packers won six of their final eight games of the 2023 NFL season, then proceeded to compete with eventual NFC-champion San Francisco in the divisional round. Green Bay has high hopes ahead of Love's age-25 season, and it's easy to see why Lambeau Field serves as some pundits' pick for the site of the next NFC title game.
Of course, Jared Goff and the Lions might have something to say about that. Dan Campbell's squad just mounted Detroit's best NFL season in the Super Bowl era, finishing 12-5 and making it to the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history. The aforementioned Niners got the last laugh, winning by three just as it did against the Pack in the divisional tilt — but it's safe to say that Motown is back on the map in terms of NFL powerhouses.
Speaking of "back on the map," let's not forget that Chicago went from bad to quite good this offseason. The Bears drafted No. 1 pick Caleb Williams as their QB cornerstone, added Keenan Allen to a pass-catching corps that already included DJ Moore and Cole Kmet, and signed D'Andre Swift to bolster the backfield. This squad could be the 2024 version of the 2023 C.J. Stroud Texans.
What a division! Let's dive into the 2024 NFC North odds, and go over the best bet to win the division this NFL season.
MORE: Where Love, Goff, and Williams sit in SN's QB rankings
NFC North odds 2024: Lions favored over Packers
All odds courtesy of Sports Interaction.
| Team | Odds |
| Detroit Lions | +130 |
| Green Bay Packers | +210 |
| Chicago Bears | +325 |
| Minnesota Vikings | +1000 |
Coming off a 12-win campaign, the Lions serve as slight favorites over the surging Packers and the retooled Bears. The odds suggest that it will be a pretty close race, though — +130 translates to about a 44-percent win probability, while +210 and +325 equate to probabilities of 32.3 and 23.5 percent.
Minnesota, which lost Kirk Cousins in the offseason and then lost first-round QB J.J. McCarthy to injury this offseason, serves as the projected divisional long-shot.
The NFC North serves as one of the only two divisions that features three teams with a 40 percent chance of making the playoffs. The other such division is the AFC East (Jets, Dolphins, Bills).
NFC North odds 2024: Best bet to win the division
Packers (+210)
The Packers seem like a value not just to win the division but also to finish OVER their projected win total of 9.5. Love is coming off a fantastic campaign in his first full season as a starting NFL quarterback, having passed for the second-most TDs in the entire NFL behind only Dak Prescott.
The sky seems like the limit now that Love has a former rushing champ in Josh Jacobs and a corps of young receivers hopefully one year older and wiser. The Pack also features an underrated defensive front that just benefited from the free-agent acquisition of safety Xavier McKinney.
The Lions also make for a very strong pick to win the division. There's no denying the chemistry this squad has enjoyed under Campbell, and the young trio of wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, and tight end Sam LaPorta might be the best non-QB skill-position tandem in the NFL.
But QBs win divisions (and Super Bowls) — and as easy as it is to like Goff, it's even easier to love Love. He had nine games with at least two passing TDs and no interceptions last season, and he helped the Pack rank top five in points per drive and top three in yards per play from Week 10 on. Take the value with the strong plus odds while it's still there — a quick start for Green Bay could lead to an early-season leapfrog on the divisional odds board.