's season preview goes to the NFC North.Change we can believe inThe upgraded in a major way when they drafted to replace a declining . After in training camp, Abdullah drew comparisons to r Barry Sanders in a . The MVP doesn't have Sanders' extra gear, but is explosive to and through the hole. With excellent receiving ability and playmaking chops in space, Abdullah is also a perfect fit for this offense. He's on the short list of Offensive Rookie of the Year favorites.Biggest concern boasts a wildly impre sive 156.3 pa ser rating on 25 preseason attempts, which suggests the could have one of the most surprising offenses in the league if he gains some measure of Jim McMahon Jersey consistency this season.That's the concern. It has now been more than three years since Stafford resembled a future superstar with 41 touchdowns and more than 5,000 pa sing yards in the 2011 season. Since then, he has completed le s than 60 percent of his pa ses and turned the ball over at inopportune moments. Mi sing too many throws, Stafford finished just 17th in Gregg Rosenthal's . For a player of his obvious talent level, that's embarra singly mediocre.If the are going to post a winning record in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 20 years, Stafford has to take full advantage of his surrounding talent.Training camp surpriseA defense which finished second only to Seattle's last season was expected to suffer a severe dropoff after losing and on the interior. Even with defensive tackle and second-year linebacker sidelined, the defense has shined this month. Just ask , who lost his job after being relentle sly swarmed by Detroit's front seven two weeks ago.Led by and , the ' linebackers are better than advertised. Young defensive tackles and have impre sed with Ngata resting. This unit might not be quite as dominant as last year's, but it should remain one of the NFC's stingiest.What we'll be saying in FebruaryBuoyed by the emergence of Abdullah and tight end alongside playmaking wideouts and , the reached the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1995. Although they advanced a round further this year, they were ultimately done in by Stafford's inability to outplay the best quarterbacks in the conference.Predicted finish: Second place in NFC North, No. 4 in NFC, No. 8 overall in 's Power Poll. Nick Kwiatkoski Jersey