The Lions came out of their Week 6 bye and somehow found themselves back in last place in the NFC North without taking a snap.
Detroit and Minnesota both had the week off, and both were hoping the rest of the division would give them a little breathing room. Instead, Green Bay and Chicago kept rolling, leaving the entire North with every team above .500.
Chicago made the loudest statement first. The Bears jumped on the Atlanta Falcons early and built a 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter behind Caleb Williams, who returned at quarterback and completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown. Chicago’s defense added five sacks of Michael Penix Jr., and the special teams unit forced two Zachariah Branch fumbles that handed the Bears short fields.
Atlanta did make things interesting after that. Chicago allowed the Falcons to claw back by getting outscored 16-0 after the Bears’ early fourth-quarter field goal, but the fifth and final sack of Penix Jr. turned into a fumble with three minutes left. From there, the Bears held on and ran out the clock.
Green Bay didn’t need nearly as much drama on Sunday Night Football. The Packers handled the Dallas Cowboys in a 23-13 win, even though six of Dallas’ points came only after a six-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Ryan Flournoy with a little more than two minutes left. The Cowboys’ effort was described as “embarrassing,” and the numbers backed that up.
Green Bay’s defense forced two second-quarter interceptions and kept Prescott under control for most of the night. Dallas did get a rushing touchdown early in the third quarter, but the offense never found balance after that. The Cowboys ran the ball just once in the final roughly 24 minutes, including 27 straight pass plays.
The Packers’ recent stretch on defense has been sharp. Since giving up 242 rushing yards to Bijan Robinson and the Falcons in Week 3, Green Bay has allowed just 270 rushing yards total during its three-game winning streak. Over that same span, the Packers have surrendered no more than 14 points in any game and have allowed only 601 passing yards.
That sets up a much different challenge for Detroit. The Lions’ offense enters Monday Night Football as the league’s second-highest scoring unit and brings a balanced attack built around Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs, both MVP candidates. With the bye week behind them and more time to get healthy, the Lions now get their first real division test when they face the Packers this Sunday in the late-afternoon window.
There is at least one reason to believe this matchup will look different for Detroit than what Green Bay faced against Dallas. The Packers only managed 23 points against one of the league’s few defenses that can even make a case for being worse than Detroit’s. Jordan Love completed 56.1% of his passes for 276 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Green Bay’s ground game produced just 57 yards, with Love accounting for 12 of them.
The Packers could also get a boost on offense. Josh Jacobs was taken off the commissioner’s exempt list on Monday and will be eligible to play against the Lions this Sunday. He has four rushing touchdowns in four games against Detroit with Green Bay and is averaging 77.5 yards on the ground in those matchups.
The bigger picture is simple: the bye week did not help Detroit’s place in the standings, but it did underline how tight this division has become. All four NFC North teams are above .500, and there are only three other NFC teams in that category right now, all of them division leaders. If the playoffs started today, every team in the NFC North would be in.
In that setup, the Lions would be the No. 7 seed and would open their postseason path in Minnesota against Brian Flores’ defense. But the next two weeks could change everything. Detroit hosts both the Packers and Vikings, and if the Lions win both, they could move right to the front of the NFC North race.
In Other News...
Lions May Have Found The Real Key To Containing Packers Deep Shots
The Packers deep-ball game has been one of the more revealing parts of their offense so far, and the numbers point to a pretty clear pattern. Green Bay is far more willing to take those high-risk shots when the game is already tilting in its favor, especially in comfortable down-and-distance spots, while Detroits own deep passing has not shown the same kind of situational split.
For the Lions, that makes the early minutes feel especially important. If they can get on the board first and force Green Bay out of its preferred script, they may be able to blunt one of the Packers most dangerous weapons before it starts to snowball. The challenge is easier to identify than to solve, but the path is there if Detroit can control the scoreboard and make the Packers throw with more pressure on them. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Just Got A Real Opening In The NFC North Race
The NFC North race has suddenly opened up a bit for Detroit, and the reason has as much to do with the calendar as it does with what the Lions have already done on the field. Even though Minnesota is still ahead in the standings, Tankathons strength-of-schedule rankings point to a more favorable path for the Lions down the stretch, with several upcoming games that should give them a chance to keep stacking wins after the bye week.
Detroit still has plenty of work to do, but the matchup mix ahead looks friendlier than what Minnesota is facing. The Lions have divisional games and a handful of contests against teams with losing records on the schedule, while the Vikings are set to deal with a tougher closing stretch against stronger opponents, a setup that could swing the division race before long. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Post-Bye Ceiling May Hinge On One Defensive Starter
The Lions have plenty to like after three wins to open 2026, especially on offense, where the scoring has been rolling along at nearly 33 points per game. The defense has been a different story, giving up almost 30 a night and leaving some real work for the stretch after the bye. As the conversation turns to who can help stabilize things, Jack Campbell is one of the names drawing the most attention after a breakout 2025 season raised the bar for what he can be in the middle of this unit.
Campbell is not the only player the Lions need more from, with Jameson Williams and Isaac TeSlaa also part of the broader push to keep the offense carrying its share while the defense catches up. But the spotlight on Campbell feels especially sharp because the teams post-bye ceiling may depend on a defensive starter who was supposed to be one of its tone-setters. If Detroit is going to turn a good start into something sturdier, the next few weeks should tell the story. [Read more 🡒]