Pros vs. Joes: A Tale of Two Divisions

Matching-up the NFC North and NFC West divisions isn't really a match at all. By Eugene Lanzoni 

Parity is a rare commodity in professional sports nowadays; frequently sought after, but oh so rarely achieved. The National Football League arguably comes the closest to reaching this utopic state of affairs, but unfortunately there will always be a Kansas City Chiefs for every Buffalo Bills. As far as divisions are concerned, the most staggering imbalance manifests itself in the contrast between the highly contentious NFC North and the woefully inept NFC West. If these two divisions were ever pitted against one another in an eight team tournament, the results would be far from pretty. Even if we were to take the top tier talent from both divisions and aggregate them on two divisional all-star teams, the talent disparity would be glaring to say the least. And so, without further ado, that’s exactly what we’ll do.  

NFL Pros vs. Joes Tourney	NFC North Divisional All-Stars	NFC West Divisional All-Stars
QB	Aaron Rodgers----GB	Kevin Kolb----ARI
Backup QB	Matthew Stafford----DET	Sam Bradford------STL
RB	Adrian Peterson----MIN	Beanie Wells*-----ARI
Backup RB	Matt Forte----CHI	Frank Gore*------SF
WR	Calvin Johnson----DET	Larry Fitzgerald-----ARI
WR	Greg Jennings----GB	Sidney Rice----SEA
TE	Jermichael Finley----GB	Zach Miller------SEA
O-line	Green Bay Packers	Saint Louis Rams
D-Line	Detroit Lions	San Francisco
LBs	Chicago Bears	Saint Louis Rams
DBs	Green Bay Packers	Seattle

   Lining up the cream of the crop offerings from both of these divisions really highlights the stark drop-off in talent. In the quarterback battle, Rodgers and Stafford have combined for 1894 yards and 17 touchdowns in three games vs. Kolb’s and Bradford’s 1497 yards and 7 touchdowns. The North signal callers have also combined for 5 fumbles and interceptions vs. the West’s 12 picks and fumbles. 

Kevin Kolb just doesn't measure up to Aaron Rodgers (AP Photos)

   Now in the North corner, at running back, we have Adrian Peterson, one of the most physical runners the league has seen since the days of Emmitt Smith. Peterson has a bruising, bowl you over style of rushing, a nod to the days of yore. And Matt Forte is a great complementary receiving back because he tends to be the focal point of Cutler’s passing attack up in Chicago. In the West, however, the competition is not quite so stellar. This is mostly because backs like Wells, Gore, and Stephen Jackson have seemingly caught the Bob Sanders perpetual lingering injury bug. This means they can virtually never be counted on to play (at least not well).

FYI: Don't stand in front of Adrian Peterson; he'll steamroll you. (AP Photo)

   At the wide-out and tight end positions, the West and North divisions are much more comparable in their elite players. For the West, Larry Fitzgerald has posted 259 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns while Calvin Johnson has amassed 225 yards and 6 touchdowns for the North. Jennings has racked up 263 yards and 2 touchdowns through three games while Sidney Rice has 109 yards in just one game with Tavaris Jackson as his quarterback (translates to 337 yards with any mildly competent QB).

    Clearly there is a major imbalance of great players between these two divisions. And luckily for all you fans of gigantic, lopsided victories, there are four showdowns between NFC North and NFC West teams scheduled for this season. So mark your calendars, the NFL Pros vs. Joes tournament is about to begin. (The NFL was also generous enough to give the North teams home field advantage in every game.)

The match-ups and dates are:

Week 5 (10/9): Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings 

Week 6 (10/16): San Francisco 49ers at Detroit Lions 

Week 6 (10/16): St Louis Rams at Green Bay Pacers 

Week 15 (12/18): Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears

So get your popcorn ready for these. It may be the only thing that grabs your attention.