The NFC North has been the best division in football this season. All four teams reside above .500 and carry a combined 19-7 record (.733 winning percentage) that far outpaces the other seven divisions’ marks.
If the season ended today, all four NFC North teams would make the playoffs, which would be the first time an entire division qualified for the postseason since the NFL added a third wildcard in 2020 (it was impossible for this to occur from 2002-19). But each team will be aiming to win the division, which would guarantee home-field advantage in the wild-card round and potentially beyond.
The Lions finished Week 7 atop the division at 5-1 with a plus-62 point differential that leads the NFC. Jared Goff is playing at an MVP level after signing a massive extension in May, leading an offense that ranks second in the league with 6.4 yards per play. Detroit has largely carried over its success under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson from last season after spending most of their money this offseason on internal extensions for Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell, and Taylor Decker. A two-game suspension for Jameson Williams will force other playmakers to step up in the coming weeks, but the backfield duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery has churned out almost 200 yards from scrimmage per game this season.
The Lions focused on defense for their external additions in the offseason, trading for Carlton Davis and signing D.J. Reader and Marcus Davenport in free agency. After giving up 24.3 points per game in 2023, the seventh-most in the league, Detroit has surrendered just 20 points per game this year, the ninth-fewest. Injuries have plagued the unit, however, with Davenport and Derrick Barnes suffering season-ending injuries and Aidan Hutchinson‘s Defensive Player of the Year campaign coming to a screeching halt with a broken tibia and fibula in Week 7.
Hutchinson does have an outside shot to return if the Lions make the Super Bowl, but he won’t play again in the regular season, depriving the defense of its most impactful pass rusher and run defender. Detroit has the third-hardest strength of schedule remaining; its remaining opponents have a combined .581 winning percentage. The Lions may need to look for edge-rushing help at the trade deadline to withstand the losses of Hutchinson and Davenport. They checked in with Haason Reddick‘s camp, before he ended his Jets holdout, and are believed to be interested in Za’Darius…