There is just one way the Lions may miss out on the NFC North championship.
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The Detroit Lions are about to capture the NFC North division title for the first time ever. The results of Week 15’s division made it all but certain.
Not exactly a mathematical certainty, though. The Lions can still fail to win the divisional championship. But with the losses suffered over the weekend by both Minnesota and Green Bay, it seems unlikely that anything other than the Lions winning the division will occur.
With Detroit’s convincing victory over Denver, the Lions improved to 10-4. The Vikings’ record was 7-7 after their earlier Saturday loss to the Bengals. Detroit’s victory knocked Green Bay from the divisional competition, but the Packers’ blowout loss to the Bucs sealed Green Bay’s doom. The Packers have a 6-8 record. Chicago dropped to 5-9 on Sunday after suffering a painful loss in Cleveland.
There are two meetings between the Lions and Vikings in Weeks 16 and 18. The Vikings must win all three of their remaining games in addition to the Lions losing all three of Detroit’s games in order to win the division. When they aren’t playing each other, the Lions travel to the Cowboys in Week 17 and the Vikings take on the Packers. For their Week 16 matchup in Minnesota, Detroit is the early favorite on the road.
With the exception of a 3-0 blowout victory over the Raiders in Week 14, Minnesota has dropped three of its previous four games. In the NFC wild card battle, the Vikings and Packers are still very much in the running.
Before Eddy Pineiro’s 23-yard field goal went through the uprights, the Panthers interim head coach saw quarterback Bryce Young lead a 17-play drive that consumed the last 7:35 of regulation time. The Panthers’ 9-7 victory is their second of the year and their first since firing Frank Reich earlier in the campaign.
For the majority of the rainy afternoon in Charlotte, Young struggled to move the Panthers, but on the game-winning drive, he connected well with wide receivers DJ Chark, Jonathan Mingo, and tight end Tommy Tremble for large gains. Shortly after the two-minute warning, running back Chuba Hubbard gained a final first down of six yards, and the Falcons would have been better off if they had allowed him to cross the end zone.
Additionally, they would have benefited more in the fourth quarter had quarterback Desmond Ridder tucked the ball and run on a second down from the Panthers’ 18-yard line. Rolling to his left, Ridder attempted to pass to Panthers safety Xavier Woods instead of running back Cordarrelle Patterson. The fumble was also lost by Bijan Robinson, making it the Falcons’ second of the half, and it ended any chance of them raising their record to 7-7.
Additionally, it severely hurt their chances of qualifying for the playoffs. The Buccaneers and Saints’ victories put them ahead of the Falcons in the NFC South title contest; therefore, the Falcons might now need to win out to qualify for the tournament. Next Saturday, against the Colts, that process will begin.
Even though the Panthers won’t be making the playoffs, there are still reasons to be happy despite the terrible season. They had the ball for over 33 minutes during the afternoon thanks to the performances of Hubbard, who ran 22 times for 87 yards, and Young, who was 18 of 24 for 167 yards. Next Sunday, they will play host to the Packers, giving them another opportunity to throw a wrench in the plans of an NFC team hoping to advance to the playoffs.
