Week 15 NFC North Power Rankings and Previews

Here are the latest NFC North power rankings and a look at this week’s matchups, which includes the Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions.

Bill Huber | 16 Hours Ago

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney is tied for the NFL lead with seven interceptions. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will play at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in what could be a playoff preview. The Detroit Lions will host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in what could be a Super Bowl preview.

With 11 consecutive wins, the Lions are the No. 1 team in the On SI NFC North Power Rankings.

Here’s a look at this week’s rankings and matchups.

On SI NFC North Power Rankings

As selected by the On SI team publishers: Bill Huber from Green Bay, John Maakaron from Detroit, Gene Chamberlain from Chicago and Joe Nelson from Minnesota.

1. Detroit Lions (12-1): The Lions are the unanimous No. 1 team in the NFL, at least according to the power rankings – including the Packers On SI Consensus Power Rankings. They swept the four first-place votes.

2. Minnesota Vikings (11-2): The Vikings have won six in a row and are the unanimous second-place team in these rankings.

3. Green Bay Packers (9-4): The Packers, who squandered a chance to beat the injury-plagued Lions, are third in the division rankings.

4. Chicago Bears (4-9): Once upon a time, the Bears were 4-2 and being discussed as a Super Bowl contender. Instead, they’ve lost seven in a row and are the unanimous last-place team in the division rankings.

Bill Huber’s NFC North Rankings

1. Detroit Lions: The Lions are first in points scored and second in points allowed. With a sweep of the Packers and wins over the Vikings and Texans, they are the only team in the NFC whose strength of victory is over .500. To beat the Packers with so many key defensive players out of the lineup was incredibly impressive.

2. Minnesota Vikings: Of the eight teams in the NFC with a winning record, the Vikings’ strength of victory is the second-lowest. After hosting the Bears on Monday, they’ll wade into the deep end of the pool with games at Seattle, home against Green Bay and at Detroit to close the regular season.

3. Green Bay Packers: Only the Falcons, Cardinals (both .592) and Raiders (.574) have a more difficult strength of schedule than the Packers (.562). Green Bay has played four games against the elite teams (Lions twice, Vikings and Eagles) and lost them all.

4. Chicago Bears: The Bears fired their offensive coordinator and promoted Thomas Brown. Then, the Bears fired coach Matt Eberflus and promoted Brown again. The result? They trailed the 49ers 24-0 at halftime and were outgained 319-4 in Brown’s debut. No, that’s not a typo. They had minus-3 net passing yards in the first half.

Best team in the NFL: If they get even half of their injured defensive players back for the playoffs, can anyone derail the Lions’ march to their first Super Bowl win?

Worst team in the NFL: The Giants and Raiders are tied for the worst record in the NFL. At least New York won at Seattle – the Packers’ opponent on Sunday night. The Raiders are minus-125 in scoring differential. By comparison, the Giants at minus-99 look like a powerhouse.

NFC North Week 15 Games

As written by our NFC North team publishers.

Green Bay Packers

at Seattle Seahawks (7:20 p.m. Sunday)

Most impactful player on defense: Last season, Green Bay’s starting safeties had zero interceptions and the team finished with seven. Xavier McKinney, who was signed away from the Giants in free agency, has seven by himself. He has played excellent overall coverage, tackled well and led the group. It’s hard to say a player can be underpaid with a four-year, $67 million contract. So, let’s just say McKinney has been worth every penny.

Keys to victory: The Packers have two large advantages over the surging Seahawks. On paper, anyway. One, it’s running the football. Josh Jacobs is third in the NFL in rushing and has scored seven times in the last three games. He’ll go against one of the weaker run defenses in the NFL. Success running the football will give the Packers more plays; they had 30 fewer snaps than the Lions last week. Second, it’s turnovers. The Packers have the third-most takeaways and the Seahawks have the ninth-most giveaways. Green Bay is No. 1 in the NFL in turning takeaways into points. If the Packers can take advantage of those advantages, they’ll have their 10th win and be on the threshold of the playoffs.

Detroit Lions

vs. Buffalo Bills (3:25 p.m. Sunday)

Most impactful player on defense: It’s hard to narrow down the defense to a single most impactful player. With all the injuries to key players such as Aidan Hutchinson and Alex Anzalone, several role players have been asked to step up. Two constant forces have been the safety tandem of Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. They’ve combined for 11 interceptions this year, with Joseph being tied for the league lead with seven. If there has been a single most-impactful player, Branch likely deserves the nod because of his ability to stand out both in coverage and against the run.

Keys to victory: The Lions have to be able to contain Josh Allen. Detroit’s offense has been able to score with anyone, so putting up points won’t be the issue. However, the defense will need to get enough stops against the prolific Bills offense. Detroit can navigate this by creating takeaways defensively and controlling the time of possession on offense, which they did against the Packers. Avoiding three-and-outs and winning the time of possession will be massive factors for the Lions’ chances of extending their winning streak.

Minnesota Vikings

vs. Chicago Bears (7 p.m. Monday)

Most impactful player on defense: I've argued before that linebacker Blake Cashman is the lynchpin to the overall success of the defense, but defensive end Jonathan Greenard's impact cannot be ignored. He's racking up pressures at an All-Pro level and the number of times he's made life distressing for quarterbacks has made Vikings fans forget about Danielle Hunter. Heck, Greenard might be playing the best defensive end in Minnesota since Jared Allen had the horns on his helmet.

Keys to victory: Noise. U.S. Bank Stadium is going to be rocking on Monday night and it will arguably be the loudest environment Caleb Williams has played in as a professional. If the fans can make it deafening for Williams, the rookie could be thrown off his game and be prone to make mistakes. As big as the noise factor is, keeping him in the pocket will be equally as important. Williams made plays out of the pocket when these two clubs met at Soldier Field and that's when he made the Vikings pay.

Chicago Bears

at Minnesota Vikings (7 p.m. Monday)

Most impactful player on defense: While everyone on defense has tailed off and injuries set in, their Pro Bowl cornerback, Jaylon Johnson, has at least given them a chance to take away one weapon from opponents. He was critical in holding Justin Jefferson to two catches in the first Minnesota game at Chicago. Like everyone else on defense, Johnson's productivity has waned but it's still at a high enough level to challenge opposing receivers.

Keys to victory: Proving they haven't mailed it in for the year is one key. After the performance in San Francisco, Thomas Brown's candidacy for the head coaching job must be looked at with skepticism. Is there pride left in the locker room to get them through an apparent lame-duck situation for a full four games? The short passing game is critical against Minnesota because what they really have lacked is a running game, as D'Andre Swift has failed to hit 60 yards five of the last six games.

Latest Green Bay Packers News

Here are your #Packers-Seahawks keys to the game from @hibbard_casey. If you thought the Packers had penalty problems ... ⬇️https://t.co/mIYhF3vB68
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 13, 2024

Published 16 Hours Ago

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.