The NFC North was supposed to be one of the NFL’s strongest divisions heading into 2026. Two weeks into the season, it looks more like a group still trying to find solid ground.
Chicago is already dealing with concern around Caleb Williams after a hamstring injury in a loss to Minnesota. Detroit has flashed enough offense to look dangerous, but its defense has been exposed.
Green Bay survived in overtime, yet the Packers still have plenty of questions hanging over them. And at the top of the division, the team nobody would have circled in advance is the one sitting at 2-0.
Here’s where the NFC North stands after Week 2.
Minnesota is the only unbeaten team in the division, and that alone changes the picture. The Vikings’ 9-3 win over the Bears was ugly, rainy, and shaped by injuries, so it may not tell the full story. But the result still counts, and so does the fact that Minnesota has opened 2-0 inside the division.
The offense still hasn’t fully clicked, but Brian Flores’ defense carried the load against Chicago. It smothered a Bears passing game that had looked dangerous a week earlier.
Flores has blitzed at a 75% clip so far, while the next-highest rate is just 48.1%. That approach may not hold up all year, but for now it has given Minnesota an early edge.
Chicago’s loss was bad enough on its own, but the Williams injury added another layer of worry. Per Tom Pelissero, Williams isn’t expected to miss extended time, and he could even be back for Week 3 against Philadelphia.
Still, the Bears’ issues started before he went down. The offense didn’t resemble the unit that erupted in Week 1.
Nobody expected Chicago to put up 59 again, but the group produced almost nothing against Flores’ defense. According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, the scoring drop from Week 1 to Week 2 was the second-largest in league history and the biggest in more than 50 years.
Detroit sits at 1-1, but the Lions have yet to put together a full 60-minute performance. If you blend the first half of their Week 1 win with the second half of their Week 2 loss, they’ve outscored opponents 42-14.
The problem is everything in between. Their Thursday night loss to Buffalo got away early and put a spotlight on the secondary.
The offense looks capable of being one of the best units in football. The issue is whether the defense can keep it from being wasted.
Green Bay escaped Week 2 with an overtime win over the Jets, but it didn’t do much to quiet the concern from the opener. The offense still looks shaky, and without a running game that can produce consistently, Matt LaFleur’s group has a hard time finding rhythm.
The Packers have a chance to reset quickly with what should be a favorable matchup against the Falcons on Thursday night. But after two weeks, this is a team that looks like it’s still searching for answers.
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Packers Fans Got Caught In Foxs Most Infuriating Broadcast Mess
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For Bears fans watching the NFC North rival Packers, the timing only added to the irritation as the Packers-Jets game hit overtime and FOX briefly lost the scorebug. The network had the audio issues sorted out by the time the primetime Cowboys-Commanders game kicked off, though not before one on-air comment from Tom Brady slipped through unfiltered and gave the night another awkward wrinkle. [Read more 🡒]