The NFC North achieved a historic regular season in 2024, but surprisingly, that didn’t translate into any playoff wins.
The division’s four teams combined to finish 45-23 in the regular season, giving the NFC North the highest winning percentage (.662) of any division since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, but Somehow, the Lions (15-2), Vikings (14-3) and Packers (11-6) ended up crashing and burning in the postseason.
The playoff failures began in the wild card round, when the Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-10. This was the only loss in the division that wasn’t a total surprise. Although the Packers went 10-1 this season against non-division opponents, that loss went to the Eagles. The Packers were also 0-5 against teams that won 11 or more games in the regular season, which is a big reason why they were 5-point underdogs against the Eagles.
The Vikings also fell in the wild card round and, like the Packers, were stuck facing an opponent they lost to during the regular season. The Vikings were 10-1 in 2024 against non-division opponents, but that lone loss came to a Rams team that ended up beating them in the playoffs, 27-9. The Vikings, who became the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs as a wild card team, were favored by 2.5 points in the game.
The most surprising loss came from the Detroit Lions. Not only were they the top seed in the NFC, but they were favored by 9.5 points against the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. The Lions have been dealing with defensive injuries all season and those injuries finally caught up with them in a shocking 45-31 loss to Washington on Saturday night. Although the defense struggled, so did Jared Goff, who threw three interceptions, including a pick-six.
Overall, the Lions, Packers and Vikings combined to achieve:
- 29-4 against non-division opponents in regular season
- 0-3 against non-division opponents in playoffs
The NFC North’s 0-3 finish made it just the second division since the merger to place three teams in the playoffs without winning a single game. The only other time that happened was in 1982, when the AFC Central fielded three teams, but that was a strike-shortened season in which 16 teams made the playoffs (the Browns made the postseason that year as a No. 4 team). -5, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that the AFC Central was swept.)
The NFC North is the only division in NFL history to go 0-3 in the playoffs in a non-strike season, which was an unfortunate ending for a division that made history in 2024.
The ending was so ugly for the NFC North that the Bears will finish the 2024 season as the only team in the division to go undefeated in January.