I wouldn't worry about the Seahawks

Accounts are that Hasselbeck is looking good.  Look, these aren't the days with Steve Hutchinson anchoring the left guard position, but they have to do better than last year.  And TJ Houshmanzadeh (I hope that's spelled right) will help Burleson, especially if he moves into the slot next to Housh. 

And Mike, let's just get this out in the open--you have an irrational love of all things Texas (someone still needs to explain what "Hook 'em" means) to even consider Jamaal Charles as an option, 12-team, 14-team, or 10-team league at this point until he pulls a Sproles.  He's not going anywhere with LJ still on the Chiefs.  They're going to air it out with Cassel for the first month anyway.

Did I miss the Earl Bennett hype?  Who is he?

NFC North--not sure what to say about Ryan Grant.  He had an amazing 1,000 yard season two years ago, duped me in to taking him in the 2nd round last year and then proceeded to all but demand that I (and thousands of others) waive him and admit they mussed up.  RBs in this league are becoming too flash-in-the-pan--LT (our generation's LT) was the last great consistent dominant RB.  If Peterson can be a top 5 back next year I'll be surprised.  Wear and tear just kills backs. 

That said, Chicago probably wins the division.  I'm highly skeptical of Childress's decisionmaking as the Vikings' coach, and not sure he'll really know how to effectively balance Favre's aggressiveness--read: limit it--when he has Adrian "Man Bear" Peterson (still trying to popularize it as a nickname, not working).  And if Minnesota goes south they'll go south hard.  Although Minny opens up against the Browns, which is as good a place to open as anywhere.  Chicago's slow-paced running attack and Lovie Smith's stern coaching style will keep Cutler in check.  I'm not sold on their receiving corps but you can't use receivers in Chicago in December/January.

Green Bay is interesting but I'm not sure why the love for Rodgers.  Excellent "rookie" season last year especially under pressure but they were still a 6-10 team.  I'm not shocked if Green Bay wins but they need to prove something first.

And Detroit?  C'mon.

(How great is it when an team is relegated to "c'mon" status--as in, really, we're discussing Detroit?)

So, I'd say, Chicago 11-5, Minny 9-7, GB 8-8, Detroit...ugh...3-13.  'Cause someone's gotta lose.