Week 2 NFC North Power Rankings and Previews

The Green Bay Packers dropped to No. 3 in the latest On SI NFC North power rankings. The Detroit Lions were the obvious and unanimous No. 1.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (11) was the Week 1 star against the Eagles. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Detroit Lions remain the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest NFC North power rankings.

Here’s a look at the rankings and this week’s NFC North games.

On SI NFC North 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: The Lions, coming off an overtime victory over the Rams on Sunday night, were the unanimous choice as the No. 1 team. The Lions are No. 3 in Packers On SI’s Consensus NFL Power Rankings and are the only NFC North team in the top 10.

2. Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings, coming off a blowout road win over the Giants, were the No. 2 team on three of four ballots but No. 4 on the fourth. They’ll face a huge step up in competition when they host the 49ers on Sunday.

3. Green Bay Packers: The Packers were the No. 3 team on three of four ballots (and No. 2 on the other) after losing to the Eagles. Jordan Love’s knee injury could put the team in an early hole.

4. Chicago Bears: The Bears, as expected, beat the Titans in Week 1. How they won – a completely ineffective Caleb Williams but big plays by the defense – made the difference. They are last on three ballots and fourth on the other.

Bill Huber’s NFC North Rankings

1. Detroit Lions: The Lions’ took the Rams’ best shot on Sunday night and survived. They win where it matters, in the trenches, because of a powerhouse offensive line and a relentless pass rush. That style wins any day of the week, in any stadium and against any opponent.

2. Minnesota Vikings: OK, the Vikings beat Daniel Jones, which is no great feat, but it was a commanding victory on the road. Sam Darnold isn’t bad. Neither are Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones.

3. Green Bay Packers: The Packers delivered a dreadful Week 1 performance against the powerful Eagles. Jordan Love wasn’t on top off his game, the offense misfired in the red zone and the defense couldn’t get a stop in the final moments. And yet, they had a puncher’s chance.

4. Chicago Bears: The Bears didn’t beat the Titans in Week 1. The Titans beat themselves. The pick-six thrown by Will Levis is one of the worst plays I’ve ever seen. As I wrote last week, the hype train on Caleb Williams was out of control.

Best team in the NFL: Kansas City Chiefs.

Worst team in the NFL: Carolina Panthers.

NFC North Week 2 Games

As written by our NFC North team publishers.

Buccaneers at Lions (noon Sunday)

Key lessons learned from Week 1: The 2024 Lions can win ugly. After enduring a second-half lull that saw the Rams score 17 unanswered points, the Lions mounted a late game-tying drive, then left no doubt with their physicality on a game-winning drive featuring seven run plays. With the Rams keeping All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown contained, the passing attack survived thanks to Jameson Williams’ breakout performance. Meanwhile, the defense got key stops and showed it can get after opposing quarterbacks. It was impressive to see the Lions find the resolve to win, as they have so many times under Dan Campbell. 

Biggest improvement needed in Week 2: The Lions were able to run the ball with success for most of the might, but the passing game left more to be desired. Without St. Brown making a significant impact, the Lions relied on Williams for the bulk of their production. Moving forward, the Lions will have to continue finding ways to get St. Brown involved in the offense. 

Colts at Packers (noon Sunday)

Key lessons learned from Week 1: Good things happen when the ball is in Jayden Reed’s hands. The whole “No. 1 receiver” story line this offseason was so stupid. Reed is a stud. If not for a 12-man penalty, Reed would have had more than 200 total yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles. Meanwhile, Green Bay’s safeties are infinitely improved with Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard, both of whom had strong debuts.

Biggest improvement needed in Week 2: Especially without Jordan Love, the run game needs to be better. By the numbers, it was fabulous against Philadelphia with 21 carries for 163 yards. However, runs of 33 yards (for a touchdown) by Reed and 33 and 22 yards by Josh Jacobs skewed the final stats. Jacobs had six carries for 4 yards in the first half before finishing with 16 carries for 84 yards. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry. If he can consistently get 5 yards rather than 0, 0, 1, 22, the offense will be good enough to survive for at least a couple games.

49ers at Vikings (noon Sunday)

Key lessons learned from Week 1: Minnesota's offensive line is three parts good-to-great and two parts meh-to-awful. The good-to-greats include tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill and left guard Blake Brandel. Darrisaw and O'Neill made non-factors out of Giants edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, while Brandel was the second-highest graded guard in the NFL in Week 1 (per PFF). Earning the “meh” designation is center Garrett Bradbury and the “bad” tag goes to right guard Ed Ingram. Both were bullied by Dexter Lawrence and are at the point in their careers that expectations shouldn't be very high going forward.

Biggest improvement needed in Week 2: If Ingram isn't better against Javon Hargave and the interior D-line of the 49ers on Sunday, Sam Darnold could again find himself trying to slide away from big-time pressure up the middle. Perhaps the more important development, however, will be the rise of a No. 2 receiver if Jordan Addison (ankle) isn't able to play. Justin Jefferson will get all of the attention, giving Jalen Nailor, Brandon Powell and Trent Sherfield an opportunity to prove Vikings brass right that they made the correct decision by not signing a free agent receiver during training camp. 

Bears at Texans (7:20 p.m. Sunday)

Key lessons learned from Week 1: Caleb Williams is a rookie quarterback and as such will go through struggles. He also isn't in college anymore, where each of his attempts to move out of the pocket used to mean something good, because defenders are bigger and faster now. Also, the Bears actually may have an answer at defensive end as an extra pass rusher in Darrell Taylor, who had two sacks, eight tackles and one forced fumble vs. Tennessee.

Biggest improvement needed in Week 2: Williams needs to find more receivers when they're going to be open, not when they actually are open. The offensive line must avoid total breakdowns blocking the run and pass both, but offensive coordinator Shane Waldron can't ignore the running game like last week, with 14 carries by backs, and can't ignore tight end Cole Kmet, who had only 27 offensive snaps.

More Green Bay Packers News

“I asked if we could bring out a JUGS machine on some pass plays and launch them up. I don’t know many people that can throw the ball that far.”

On Colts QB Anthony Richardson, Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary at Detroit and Sunday's #Packers-Colts game. ⬇️https://t.co/Km1K5sdVQh

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 13, 2024

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