This season’s NFC North is shaping up to be unlike any prior year, featuring a truly unique scenario where the team that falls short of winning the division between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings will still qualify as a wild-card team. Both franchises are currently boasting impressive records of 14-2, making the NFC North likely the most successful division since the league’s realignment into eight divisions of four teams each way back in 2002. The division has accumulated a remarkable combined total of 43 victories, with two intra-division matches still on the calendar.
Historically, only two other divisions have reached 43 wins since realignment: the AFC North in the previous season and the NFC East in 2022. The NFC North is poised to surpass that record unless there are two ties in Week 18, which sees the Lions facing the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers taking on the Chicago Bears. In non-division matchups this season, the NFC North teams have collectively achieved a stellar record of 33-11, contributing to a .750 win percentage, currently ranking as the second-best in history, trailing only the .775 from the 1984 AFC West.
The upcoming Week 18 clash between the Lions and Vikings will mark the first instance in regular-season history in which two teams with at least 14 wins face off. Historically, only five playoff encounters have seen teams with 14 or more regular-season victories, with notable matchups including Kansas City’s recent triumph over Philadelphia in Super Bowl 57 and New England’s victory against Pittsburgh in the 2004 AFC championship game.
Whoever loses the tightly contested game in Detroit on Sunday night will tumble to the fifth seed and have to begin the playoffs on the road against a team with a significantly weaker record, expected to have a minimum of four losses. No wild-card team has ever achieved at least 14 wins, with the closest being the 1999 Tennessee Titans, who went 13-3 only to end up losing the AFC Central to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Should the Lions enter the playoffs as an away team, they can take solace in their perfect 8-0 record on the road this season. This achievement places them among only ten teams in NFL history to finish the regular season undefeated on the road, with three of those previous teams going on to win the championship.
Turning to other quarterback dynamics, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, who once shared a locker in Carolina during a tumultuous 2022 season, are now experiencing far greater success. Mayfield has thrown 39 touchdown passes in his second season with Tampa Bay, positioning the Buccaneers strongly to claim the NFC South. Meanwhile, Darnold has thrown 35 touchdown passes for the Vikings. This season, they have made history as only the second duo of quarterbacks from the same team to each throw at least 35 touchdowns for different teams afterward.
In coaching news, Jim Harbaugh’s latest success story is with the Los Angeles Chargers, who clinched a playoff spot after demolishing New England with a score of 40-7. This marks a significant turnaround from last season’s 5-12 record. Remarkably, this marks Harbaugh’s second successful charge leading a team from a losing record to the playoffs in his inaugural season, having previously turned around the San Francisco 49ers in the same way.
Harbaugh is now the first coach in the Super Bowl era to successfully guide two teams, both with losing records from the previous season, to the playoffs during his first year. His impact has also been felt in the collegiate realm, significantly improving programs like Stanford and Michigan in their respective initial seasons under his guidance.
Conversely, Caleb Williams, drafted as the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Bears, is facing a challenging rookie season. Williams is struggling, having lost 10 consecutive starts, drawing comparisons to Troy Aikman’s record of losing streak as a rookie when he went 0-11. He has been sacked 67 times, largely due to a shaky offensive line, which puts him close to entering the record books for the most sacks taken during a season.
The Bears are experiencing their second franchise history of losing ten straight games within a season, matching a similar streak from last year. In the midst of these statistics and stories surrounding the league, the complexities and narratives of the NFL season continue to evolve with each passing week.
