Just how good is the NFC North? (1 Viewer)

[Max Power]

NFC North Is Off to a Historically Great Start​

It’s easily the best division in football.

Six weeks into the NFL season, there’s no doubt about the best division in the league. In fact, the NFC North has been better to this point in the season than any division in the past two decades.

The Minnesota Vikings are in first place at 5–0, followed by the Detroit Lions at 4–1 and the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears at 4–2. That makes the NFC North the first division since the NFL adopted the current four-team division format in 2002 to have every team win at least four games through the first six weeks of the season.

As impressive as that stat is, it might not be the most compelling illustration of how strong the division has been. NFC North teams haven’t just been winning games—they’ve been winning them convincingly. The top four teams in the NFL in point differential are all NFC North teams: the Vikings (+63), Lions (+60), Bears (+47) and Packers (+41). No other division has more than one team ranked in the top 10 in point differential.

SI:AM | NFC North Is Off to a Historically Great Start

It’s easily the best division in football.

www.si.com

Second half of the season will be gauntlet for all 4 teams, but they deserve some recognition today!

 

[Wrigley]

CHI has won 4 games against teams that have a combined record of 4-18

 

[BobbyLayne]

CHI has won 4 games against teams that have a combined record of 4-18

I heard you have to play the games that [are] on the schedule….big if true.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Vikings are generally behind Detroit in most power rankings, but we need to start giving them credit that they are who the record says they are.

I think you have to say the Lions and Packers are also Top 6. Detroit gets some helium for having made the NFCCG but that doesn’t mean they’re automatically top 3. Last year means nothing.

Chicago has a legit defense, although the back end is nicked up atm. Probably top 12, offense is starting to hum. They realized you can’t run Swift up the middle, his vision sucks, but if you just run him outside & use Roschon for the hard yards, that’ll do. Great receiving corps and Caleb is the FIRST overall number one pick to start his career 4-2.

Best division in the NFL but nothing gets decided by what happens in the first third of the season. The power rankings will change a lot in the next 2-3 months.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Great topic @Max Power was just about to post the same thing

 

[MrSoup]

As a long time Bears fan, I haven’t felt this great on a Monday since the Bears beat Green Bay to clinch the division in 2018. It’s been hell since then.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

My Power Rankings for the North

Detroit 4-1
Minnesota 5-0...How good is Darnold?
Green Bay 4-2 and they could easily rise here with Love and the Packers just hitting their groove since his injury to start the season
Chicago 4-2 and the best last place team in the NFL, they technically are ahead of Green Bay with the same record

 

[RandyDB]

Was looking at the point diff. Here are the top 10 atm.
DIFF
Minnesota Vikings 63
Detroit Lions 60
Chicago Bears 47
Green Bay Packers 41
Pittsburgh Steelers 38
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37
Buffalo Bills 36
Kansas City Chiefs 33
Washington Commanders 33
San Francisco 49ers 32

1 - 4 are NFC North
5-10 are the leaders from the remaining divisions except for the AFC South

 

[rockaction]

For the most part it's been tomato cans and injury-riddled teams. That's what happens with an unbalanced schedule.

 

[Willy]

There have been zero divisional games. The records will come back to earth once they start playing each other, at least for some of the teams.

That said, Detroit and Minnesota look elite. GB looks like a playoff caliber team. Not sure what to make of Chicago yet.

 

[simey]

There have been zero divisional games.

Minnesota and Green Bay have played each other.

 

[Willy]

There have been zero divisional games.

Minnesota and Green Bay have played each other.

Sorry, yes. 1 divisional game for the division.

 

[IHEARTFF]

1. Vikings
3. Lions
6. Packers
15. Bears

 

[Team Chaos]

CHI has won 4 games against teams that have a combined record of 4-18

I heard you have to play the games that [are] on the schedule….big if true.

CHI has won 4 games against teams that have a combined record of 4-18

I heard you have to play the games that [are] on the schedule….big if true.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Remember not to penalize a team for beating a team on their schedule when looking at their opponents record. Remember that their opponents would have a better record if they won the game they played against each other.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Pretty good

 

[BobbyLayne]

The Lions, Packers, and Vikings are 28-3 against the rest of the NFL.

Outside of games against each other, none of these teams have lost since October.

 

[VikingFrog]

The Lions, Packers, and Vikings are 28-3 against the rest of the NFL.

Outside of games against each other, none of these teams have lost since October.

Hypothetical Lions and Vikings continue to win until they play. Vikings beat the lions in the last game.

Lot of football left… but the tiebreaker rules could get interesting. Lions have the toughest matchup so far this week.

 

[Gally]

The Lions, Packers, and Vikings are 28-3 against the rest of the NFL.

Outside of games against each other, none of these teams have lost since October.

Hypothetical Lions and Vikings continue to win until they play. Vikings beat the lions in the last game.

Lot of football left… but the tiebreaker rules could get interesting. Lions have the toughest matchup so far this week.

I believe (thanks to a different thread) it seems that Lions have the tie break over the Vikes due to the Lions beating the Rams and the Vikes losing to the Rams. So, Vikes need Det to lose one of their next three games regardless of beating Det in W18

 

[BobbyLayne]

The Lions are on an 11-game winning streak

The Eagles are on a 9-game winning streak

The Vikings are on a 6-game winning streak

The Seahawks are on a 4-game winning streak.

The Packers have won 7 of 9, and the Bucs have won 3 straight.

Some streaky NFC teams right now.