NFC North Roundtable: Lions' Regular Season MVP

Who is each NFC North team's MVP?

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16). / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Everything is on the line in the Week 18 matchup between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.

The winner of this game will claim the NFC North title, along with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Meanwhile, the loser will be forced to go on the road as a wild card team.

Three NFC North teams will participate in the playoffs, as the Lions, Vikings and Packers have all clinched spots. However, there's still plenty up for grabs from a seeding perspective.

Here's a look at where each of the NFC North teams stand heading into the final week of the regular season, with input from OnSI team publishers across the division.

Detroit Lions

Week 18: Lions vs. Vikings (8:20 p.m. Sunday, Ford Field)

Rankings: Lions, Vikings, Packers, Bears

Regular season outlook: By many measures, the 2024 regular season will be looked at as a historic one for the Lions. They set the franchise record for wins along with numerous others for offensive production, won 11 games in a row at one point, and finished undefeated on the road. They did all this with a defense ravaged by injuries. However, thanks to the success of the Minnesota Vikings, they still haven’t locked up a division championship or a first-round bye. A win Sunday would cement this year’s team as the best in franchise history, but a loss would leave them without a division title and send them on the road for the first round of the postseason. It would by no means make it a failure, but you’d have to imagine the taste wouldn’t be as sweet without the division title and a first-round bye. 

Team MVP: Quarterback Jared Goff has been stellar throughout the year, and as a result warrants the MVP award on an offense that is full of deserving candidates. He has already set a new career-high in touchdown passes and enjoyed a stretch in the middle of the season where no quarterback was more efficient. He has done an excellent job distributing the ball and has also shown the ability to push the ball downfield. Goff has been everything the Lions have needed and more, and he’s been the perfect fit for the offensive style that they deploy. — John Maakaron, Lions OnSI.

Minnesota Vikings

Week 18: Vikings at Lions (8:20 p.m. Sunday, Ford Field)

Rankings: Vikings, Lions, Packers, Bears

Regular season outlook: There have been improbable seasons in Vikings history, but nothing quite like this. Nobody thought the 1998 team would be good but rookie Randy Moss quickly changed those opinions. The 2017 Vikings weren't supposed to be good with Case Keenum, but they came within a game of playing the Patriots in the Super Bowl at their home stadium. Even the 13-win first season under head coach Kevin O'Connell blew away expectations, but again, not like this. The Vikings are a bonafide juggernaut, dangerous on both sides of the ball thanks to high-end talent and elite coaching. Nobody thought a 15-win season was possible, but here we are and the Vikings have a real chance to show the world on Sunday night that they are the scariest team in the NFL. 

Team MVP: Sam Darnold is the unquestioned MVP of the Vikings. He's put together one of the greatest QB seasons in franchise history, perhaps surpassing the incredible performances by Randall Cunningham in 1998 and Brett Favre in 2009. Doing so while shedding the "bust" narrative from poor seasons with the Jets and Panthers has been a remarkable thing to witness. Even more impressive is that he keeps getting better, coming up with big-time throws when games are on the line. Sunday night in Detroit will be the newest, ultimate test for the 27-year-old before the stakes are raised further in the playoffs. — Joe Nelson, Vikings On SI

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Green Bay Packers

Week 18: Packers vs. Bears (1 p.m. Sunday, Lambeau Field)

Rankings: Vikings, Lions, Packers, Bears

Regular season outlook: An 11-5 season would be really good for most teams. Coaches would be getting contract extensions, and the fans would be filled with anticipation for the playoffs. Not so much in Green Bay, where the Packers are always good but haven’t been good enough since 2010. The Packers have played five games against the best teams in the NFC and lost them all: 0-2 against Detroit, 0-2 against Minnesota, including on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, and 0-1 against Philadelphia, with the potential rematch in the wild-card round. Jordan Love has been good but not $220 million great, and the continued absence of former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander has left them vulnerable against the quarterbacks who fill the NFC playoff bracket.

Team MVP: The Packers were a pass-first team with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. The addition of Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs has changed everything. The Packers run the ball more than half the time, and for good reason. Jacobs is fifth in the NFL in rushing, second in rushing touchdowns and third in broken tackles. He’s among the physical runners in the NFL, and the rest of the team has followed suit. The Packers might be 0-5 in those aforementioned big games, but it’s not because of a lack of physicality. Every free-agent running back from now until the end of time should give 1 percent of their contract to Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. — Bill Huber, Packers OnSI.

Chicago Bears

Week 18: Bears at Packers (1 p.m. Sunday, Lambeau Field)

Rankings: Lions, Vikings, Packers, Bears

Regular season outlook: By all measures this was a complete and utter disaster. When they seemed at the brink of competing for bigger things at 4-2 and with nine wins in 14 games, they lost 10 straight and Matt Eberflus was launched. Players complained about the way they were coached since early in the season and now reports have surfaced about lack of attention to detail in training camp. It was the dysfunction they could least afford with Caleb Williams starting at QB as a rookie, and now he'll have to do what Justin Fields and Mitchell Trubisky did -- go through a second season with a new coach and new system. It's really a concern whether this coaching staff and offensive line have combined to ruin Williams, even if he doesn't want to blame his line for all of his 67 sacks. The future here looks darker than bleak.  

Team MVP: The MVP should be punter Tory Taylor for 32 punts downed inside the 20 and a 48.1-yard average, which currently would be a franchise record. However, they wasted field position he provided. The numbers aren't impressive to most teams but Caleb Williams has to be team MVP because only four times in franchise history has someone thrown for more yards than his 3,393, and he has done it with only six interceptions and a team rookie record of 19 TD throws, two more than Justin Fields' career best. Sadly, more was expected in terms of leading the team. — Gene Chamberlain, Bears OnSI.