Could NFC North have four playoff teams? After strong Week 8, it's looking more likely than ever — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- NFC North went 22-8 through eight weeks, the NFL’s best division mark and the third-best by any division since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, behind only the 2022 NFC East; its 17-3 record against nondivision opponents was also best since 1970, excluding strike-impacted 1982.
- SportsLine’s playoff odds combine to give the NFC North about a 36% chance to send all four teams to the postseason; if the playoffs began now, all four would qualify, something no division has achieved since the 2002 realignment.
- Bears throttled the reigning-champion Seahawks in Week 8; CBS Sports ties Chicago’s Super Bowl candidacy to the Jeffery Simmons trade and the ‘MNF’ win, while the Bears’ shaky secondary remains an open issue.
- Packers are 5-3 despite ranking last in the division, ahead of every NFC East and NFC South team and three of four NFC West teams—the best record by a last-place team since the merger.
- Packers average 60.6 rushing yards per game, on pace for the worst since the merger, leaving their passing game to carry such a heavy load, especially when the weather turns.
- Vikings entered Week 8 unbeaten, lost to the Lions, and are trying to keep winning with one of the NFL’s worst offenses.
- Seahawks hold a 58% SportsLine chance to reach the playoffs, just ahead of the Packers, while the Rams sit at 4-4 with Myles Garrett returning to practice; how Seattle and Los Angeles perform over the next few weeks is crucial to the four-team scenario.
Why it matters: All four NFC North teams would qualify under the current standings, producing the first division to send four teams to the playoffs since the 2002 realignment. Yet the modeled chance is only 36%, and the Seahawks’ 58% playoff probability leaves the Packers, Vikings and Bears facing established contenders rather than automatic berths.
Ask SkimNews
