Entering the 2024 NFL season, the AFC North held the crown as the league’s best division. But through six weeks, another quartet of teams have yanked away the crown.
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With the Detroit Lions’ utter domination of the Dallas Cowboys, all three active NFC North teams blew out their Week 6 opponents. While the Minnesota Vikings enjoyed their bye, the Lions (47-9), Green Bay Packers (34-13) and Chicago Bears (35-19) won by a combined 75 points on Sunday.
In the process, the NFC North accomplished something no other division has since the NFL-AFL merger.
The NFC North will be the first division since the 1970 merger in which every team has 4+ wins through the first 6 weeks of a season.
No division has ever had each team make the playoffs in the same season:
Vikings 5-0 #Skol
Lions 4-1 #OnePride
Bears 4-2…— Tony Holzman-Escareno (@FrontOfficeNFL) October 13, 2024
All three quarterbacks took starring roles in their teams’ Week 6 victory. Jared Goff orchestrated the Lions’ decimation of the Cowboys, throwing for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan Love amassed 258 yards and four touchdown passes for the Packers. And in the first game of the day, Caleb Williams recorded 282 total yards and four touchdown tosses.
Earlier today, all four NFC North teams held playoff spots
Before the Atlanta Falcons pulled away from the Carolina Panthers, every NFC North team was among the conference’s seven postseason teams. The Falcons’ 38-20 win propelled them into first place in the NFC South, and relegated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a wild-card spot. According to the NFL.com, the Bears are the lone NFC North franchise on the outside looking in.
- 1st – Minnesota Vikings (NFC North: 5-0)
- 2nd – Atlanta Falcons (NFC South: 4-2)
- 3rd – Washington Commanders (NFC East: 4-2)
- 4th – San Francisco 49ers (NFC West: 3-3)
- 5th – Detroit Lions (Wild Card: 4-1)
- 6th – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Wild Card: 4-2)
- 7th – Green Bay Packers (Wild Card: 4-2)
- 8th – Chicago Bears (First Team Out: 4-2)
It will be tough for the NFC North to maintain their overall presence in the playoff picture. So far, only the Vikings and Packers have played a divisional contest.
With 11 of the 12 pivotal matchups remaining, the squads will deal themselves losses and knock one another down the standings. But their collective accomplishment to this point is something other divisions can only revel in as they fight for playoff spots.
