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Before the season gets underway, we need to make sure that Windy City Gridiron follows along with the cavalcade of media predictions about the 2012 NFL season. We've already shared our week one winners with you, and later we'll be giving you our postseason and Super Bowl predictions. For now, we're going to predict the regular season standings of all four NFC North teams.
Our 2012 NFC North final standings (playoff teams in bold):
| First | Second | Third | Fourth | |
| Kev | Packers 11-5 | Bears 10-6 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 4-12 |
| Sam | Packers 12-4 | Bears 10-6 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 4-12 |
| Les | Packers 12-4 | Bears 11-5 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 4-12 |
| Dave Gilbert | Packers 12-4 | Bears 11-5 | Lions 10-6 | Vikings 5-11 |
| David Taylor | Packers 12-4 | Bears 10-6 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 6-10 |
| TJ | Bears 12-4 | Packers 12-4 | Lions 6-10 | Vikings 5-11 |
| Steven Sch. | Packers 12-4 | Bears 10-6 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 6-10 |
| Ronk | Bears 11-5 | Packers 10-6 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 6-10 |
| Dane | Packers 12-4 | Bears 11-5 | Lions 9-7 | Vikings 5-11 |
As you can see, there is very little discrepancy amongst the group (call it the blind following the blind, if you want). Only Ronk and I wavered at all from the standard order of Pack/ Bears/ Lions/ Vikings. He had the Bears edging the Pack by a game, I had the Bears winning a tiebreaker with the Packers. Regardless, everyone picked the Packers and Bears to make the playoffs, and no one chose the Lions. The Vikings, sadly, were never picked to escape the basement.
The Packers were predicted to win between 10-12 games, as were the Bears, while the Lions had anywhere from 6-10 wins. They were picked five times to finish 9-7, and my 6-10 final record for them was because I envision a significant injury to someone that really hurts their season. I'm not hoping for it, just saying I think it happens. The Vikings were never predicted to win more than six games, and Les gave them the low pick of three wins.
So, those are the WCG predictions for the NFC North division. Make your predictions in the comments section and let us know if you think the Bears can unseat the Packers for the division title, or if the Lions can find their way into the playoffs.