The Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) were able to earn their second divisional win yesterday after beating the Minnesota Vikings (4-7) by a score of 23-6. The Packers didn’t do anything super impressive, but they dominated the time of possession, limited self-inflicted mistakes, and kept the Vikings’ offense in unfavorable situations. Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy was terrible all day. The Vikings are trending downwards, and fast. It was one of the Packers' more convincing wins of the season against a team that has been sputtering for weeks.

The rest of the NFC North is strong. After yesterday’s games, the Packers are still sitting in second place in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears (8-3) currently hold first place, while the Detroit Lions (7-4) occupy third place. Both won hard-fought games this weekend. The Bears were able to beat a Pittsburgh Steelers team that was without quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is 24-5 all-time against the Bears in his career, so his absence from the game was a huge break for the Bears. They still needed all 60:00 minutes to beat a Mason Rudolph-led Steelers offense. The Lions also won, but needed overtime to beat Jameis Winston and the New York Giants. The Giants were ahead for most of the game, but when all was said and done, it was Detroit that came away victorious.

The battle for the NFC North is shaping up to be a battle of three teams: the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions, and the Chicago Bears. All three teams have six games remaining, and the road ahead for all three teams is difficult, to say the least. The Packers are still in a great position to go and win it, and it starts this Thursday against Detroit. "We know that we have a tough stretch,” said Xavier McKinney. “These last however many games that we have, the majority of them are division games. So we know that we've got to be focused and locked in."

Three-horse race in the North. Massive game for the Packers in Detroit on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/5rLNB7TY1C

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) November 24, 2025

What Lies Ahead For the Packers

The Packers are in the midst of one of the most pivotal three-game stretches they’ll have all season, which includes three-straight divisional games, two coming at home. Overall, the final six games for the Packers are statistically the hardest in the league. The Packers have the toughest remaining strength of schedule (.636). All but one of the matchups are against teams with winning records. They have a combined winning percentage of .613 (34- 21). Luckily, Green Bay took care of business yesterday against a struggling Minnesota team.

After going 1-5 in divisional games last season, the Packers have won their first two division games this season. Four of Green Bay’s final six games are divisional games. They face Chicago twice, Detroit once, and Minnesota once. To kick things off, the Packers will play on Thanksgiving for the third-straight season. The Packers have won their last two Thanksgiving Day games. The downside is that the game will come on a short week. Both the Packers and Lions will be playing on shortened rest, but that scheduling does give Green Bay a mini-bye before hosting Chicago in Week 14.

Two of their remaining games come against AFC opponents - the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens. The Broncos currently possess the #1 seed in the AFC, and the Packers will have to face them in Denver. Traveling to Denver is never easy. In fact, the Packers are only 1-7 all-time in Denver. The lone victory came in overtime. Fortunately, the Packers will face the Ravens at home. Baltimore sputtered to start the season after losing Lamar Jackson for several weeks, but the team is back in playoff contention after winning five straight games. The Packers have fared pretty well against Baltimore over the years, holding a 5-2 advantage all-time.

The Packers will play four of their last six games on the road, including three of their last four games. On a positive note, there isn’t a ton of travel involved. Chicago, Detroit, and Minnesota are all very short trips. The only substantial trip is to Denver. Other than that, the Packers won’t have to spend much time on a plane. That said, none of the final four games will be easy. Denver, Chicago, and Baltimore will all be fighting for division titles or a better playoff seed. Minnesota could be out of the playoff picture by Week 18, but they would always love to play spoiler to a division rival.

The @packers really hit the Skol chant celebration after picking off McCarthy again 💀

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/cjTvR3cydJ

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 23, 2025

The Lions' Final Stretch

The Lions' remaining strength of schedule (.600) is the fourth-toughest in the NFL. In addition to being difficult, their rest-of-season schedule is unique. They play three of their final six games on Thursdays. There’s a chance they only have two Sunday games remaining. The Lions will kick off this final stretch of games on a short week by hosting the Packers on Thanksgiving Day. Detroit has only won one of its last eight Thanksgiving Day games. This matchup with Green Bay could end up being Detroit’s final noon game of the season. Detroit will then play the Cowboys the following Thursday.

Statistically, the Lions have arguably the easiest final six games. Of their remaining opponents, the Packers, Rams, Steelers, and Bears all possess winning records, but the Cowboys or Vikings do not. Detroit also has three divisional games remaining; two of them coming on the road. Similar to Green Bay, Detroit will finish the season by playing three of its last four games on the road. They have a longer trip to Los Angeles, but the other two games are in the same region, so it shouldn't be as daunting.

Detroit might not be having the season many were expecting, but they are still one of the strongest teams in the NFC. They have an explosive offense capable of scoring a lot of points quickly. Detroit’s offense put up almost 500 yards of offense on Sunday against New York, 264 coming from Jahmyr Gibbs. They have one of the best point differentials in the league (+76). They also have a strong defense, although they gave up over 500 yards to the Giants. Regardless, they still rank top ten in total defense, sacks, and third-down defense. Detroit’s final six games might not be a cakewalk, but they are certainly capable of winning all of their remaining games, allowing Green Bay no room for error.

Can the Bears Hold On?

Chicago’s final six games won’t be easy either. Cleveland is the only remaining opponent without a winning record, and Chicago faces them at home. All of their other matchups are against teams squarely in the playoff picture. Their remaining strength of schedule (.606) is the third-toughest. The final stretch kicks off by traveling to Philadelphia on a short week to face an angry Eagles team, which will be an extremely tough game for Ben Johnson and company. Following that matchup, Chicago will face Green Bay in two of their next three games, giving both teams an excellent opportunity to take hold of the division lead.

Unlike Green Bay and Detroit, Chicago will play three of their last four games at home. Their one trip during that final stretch is a trip out west to face the 49ers, a place the Bears haven’t had much success over the years. Since 1980, the Bears' record in San Francisco is just 3-11. The other three opponents (Cleveland, Green Bay, and Detroit) all have really strong defenses, which will be a difficult test for Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense, regardless of where the game is located.

Chicago has an excellent opportunity ahead. They’re currently in first place and in the driver’s seat. They have a new head coach, a promising quarterback, and talented players up and down the roster. Despite their success, the Bears were widely viewed as one of the more fraudulent teams competing for a playoff spot. They have one of the top offenses in the NFL, but they have a negative point differential (-3), and the defense is forcing turnovers at an unsustainable rate (22 turnovers in 11 games). The Bears have the weakest strength of schedule in all of the NFC (.365), and the second weakest in the NFL. Their stretch of victory (.304) is one of the weakest scores in the league, too. In fact, Chicago’s win over Pittsburgh yesterday was its only win against a team with a winning record. What the Bears have accomplished thus far is impressive, but the final six games will say a lot about this team.

Green Bay has allowed fewer than 20 points in all six home games this season, the first time that's happened since 1969. pic.twitter.com/lAyr8nVLx0

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) November 24, 2025

The North Is There For Green Bay to Take

The Packers control their own destiny. With two games remaining against Chicago and one against the Lions, they have an excellent opportunity ahead to take control of the division lead. It won’t be easy, but nothing in the NFL is easy. The Packers have an elite defense that will keep them in every game. They also have an offense capable of putting up a lot of points if they can stay out of their own way. But will they take advantage? That remains to be seen.

Green Bay might have a prime opportunity ahead of them, but so do the Bears and the Lions. The division is truly there for anyone to take. All three teams will want to win the division. A division title means a top-four seed in the playoffs and at least one home playoff game. Whoever wins the division is probably going to need to get to 11 or 12 wins, which means they will have to win at least four of their final six games. That’ll be easier said than done.

Brett Favre won the NFC North division title seven times. Aaron Rodgers won it eight times. Jordan Love still hasn’t won a division title. The last time the Packers won the NFC North was during the 2021 season. It’s time for that to change. “Obviously, the divisional games are absolutely critical,” Matt LaFleur said last week. “And you talk about this three-game stretch, but really, all that matters is this one game for us right now. We just have to focus on what’s right in front of us.”