Clay Matthews knows the inner workings of the rivalry between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers as well as anyone. This makes instances where he outwardly praises Detroit worth paying attention to, as it has to be one of the least pleasurable aspects of the media career he has moved on to in retirement.
While saying positive things about the Lions can't be enjoyable for Matthews, he did just that during Monday's appearance on Bussin' With The Boys as he made it clear the NFC North runs through Detroit until someone proves they can stop the Lions.
"I think Detroit (will win the division)," Matthews said. "I'm interested to see how buddy from Michigan (J.J. McCarthy) does for Minnesota. They've obviously got a great team, the Vikings, but Detroit, they've just got that it factor right now until someone dethrones them. The Packers are right there. I think that'll be the best division."
One thing that Lions and Packers fans can agree on is that the NFC North has established itself as the best division in football. Each of the four teams in this division can win every Sunday they take the field. While that means the path the Lions must navigate is tougher than most, they are also more battle-tested than their opposition once the stakes are raised in the playoffs.
With Detroit having its sights set on bringing the first Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Motor City in franchise history, these NFC North battles they will go through during the regular season cannot be discounted in any way.
If Matthews is right about his prediction, the Lions will have navigated that path well and will set themselves up nicely to make a deep postseason run once their 17-game schedule is completed and bring home that first-ever Super Bowl title.