Week 18 NFC North Power Rankings and Previews

The Green Bay Packers will wrap up the regular season when they host the slumping Chicago Bears on Sunday. That will be the appetizer before the enormously important Minnesota Vikings-Detroit Lions showdown.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) is sacked by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Given two chances last month to earn a statement victory, the Green Bay Packers utterly failed in losses at the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.

The Packers remain No. 3 in our NFC North power rankings, as chosen by our team beat writers. The Lions and Vikings remain tied for No. 1.

The Packers will host the lowly Chicago Bears on Sunday while the Lions will host the Vikings for the No. 1 seed on Sunday night.

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.

T-1. Detroit Lions (14-2): The Lions, coming off back-to-back wins despite an injury-ravaged roster, will host the Vikings on Sunday night for the right to earn the No. 1 seed. They are No. 3 in the Packers On SI Consensus Power Rankings. They received two of the first-place votes.

T-1. Minnesota Vikings (14-2): The Vikings have won nine consecutive games, including riding a dominating start to beat the Packers to stay in position for the No. 1 seed. They are No. 4 in the Consensus NFL Power Rankings.  They received the other two first-place votes.

3. Green Bay Packers (11-5): The Packers are 11-0 against teams not named the Lions, Vikings and Eagles. Unfortunately for the Packers, those teams stand between them and the Super Bowl. They are No. 7 in the Consensus NFL Power Rankings. They received all the third-place votes.

4. Chicago Bears (4-12): The Bears have lost 10 in a row entering Sunday’s finale at Lambeau Field. Incredibly, they’ve lost the turnover battle in only two of those games. Chicago swept the fourth-place votes.

Bill Huber’s NFC North Rankings

1. Minnesota Vikings: It was total dominance for most of their victory over the Packers, which cemented their spot at No. 1 on my ballot. Sam Darnold, the long-ago first-round bust, set a career high for passing yards against Green Bay. He is fifth in passer rating and touchdowns and fourth in yards and yards per attempt. Kevin O’Connell deserves to be Coach of the Year.

2. Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell also deserves to be Coach of the Year. What the Lions have done through all those injuries is remarkable. The play of Jared Goff, who the Rams no longer wanted, is a big reason why. He’s second in passer rating and passing yards, third in completion percentage and fourth in touchdowns.

3. Green Bay Packers: The Packers are still looking for a statement victory after their comeback effort fell short at Minnesota. Will that come in the wild-card round – probably against the Eagles but perhaps against the Rams – or will it come in 2025?

4. Chicago Bears: Maybe Matt Eberflus should be Coach of the Year. Sure, the Bears were only 4-7 when they fired Eberflus after the clock debacle against Detroit, but at least they were competitive. Since firing Eberflus, they’re 0-4. Under interim coach Thomas Brown, who had been the interim offensive coordinator, they’ve scored 45 points.

Best team in the NFL: The Chiefs are 15-1 and have won six in a row. It hasn’t always been pretty but there is no column for “Style Points” in the NFL standings.

Worst team in the NFL: Four teams are 3-13. One of those teams, the New England Patriots, lost 40-7 at home against the Los Angeles Chargers. They’ve lost six in a row since beating the Bears and have topped 21 points only three times.

Around the NFC North

As written by our NFC North team publishers.

Green Bay Packers

Bears at Packers (noon Sunday)

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.

Chicago Bears

Bears at Packers (noon Sunday)

Regular-season outlook: By all measures, this season was a complete 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 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 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.

Minnesota Vikings

Vikings at Lions (7:20 p.m. Sunday)

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 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 with the Vikings having 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. 

Detroit Lions

Vikings at Lions (7:20 p.m. Sunday)

Regular-season outlook: By many measures, the 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, and finished undefeated on the road. They did all this with a defense ravaged by injuries. However, thanks to the success of the 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 set a 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 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 they deploy.

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