It was a boring week in the NFC North. The Lions got up big early and held on. The Packers made quick work of the Chiefs. And the Vikings and Bears were (mercifully) on bye. 

Vikings

Offense

The Vikings offense has been up and down all season and mostly down lately. They started off slow, before peaking with a healthy Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson, once those two got hurt, the writing was on the wall. Josh Dobbs was able to prop it up for a few miraculous weeks, but the offense is now mediocre at best and bad at worst. Jefferson is coming back, but it may be too late to matter. The run game sucks, Dobbs is turning the ball over nonstop, and Jordan Addison may have hit the rookie wall. If they're going to sneak into the playoffs, it will have to be via defense. 

The main question now for the Vikings is what do they do at QB next season? Do they stick with an aging Kirk Cousins coming off a torn Achilles? Do they reach on some like Michael Penix Jr or Jayden Daniels? If they can hit on a QB, they have a lot of other pieces. 

Defense

The defense has taken the opposite course. It wasn't great for the first few weeks and Brian Flores was blitzing at levels that would make Wink Martindale nervous, but then they settled down and are now one of the top defenses in the league running a scheme that no one else runs. They have the 8th-ranked defensive DVOA (19th offensive) and they're gaining steam each week. 

Bears

Offense

The Bears offense is meh to OK. They aren't the trash-fire-you-want-to-vomit offense they were last season. At least, they aren't every game. They've catered the offense toward Justin Fields when he's been healthy and they have a top run game thanks to that. They're still lacking in the pass game, and Bears fans might walk into traffic en masse if Luke Getsy calls another screen pass. They aren't good, but they've shown improvement. 

Like the Vikings, the Bears need to make a decision at QB this off-season. They will have the first overall pick or the ammo to get it. Do they trade down and build around Fields? Do they ditch Fields and take another QB destined to fail because he's on the Bears? 

Defense

The defense is even more meh to average, ranked 19th in DVOA. The defense has a few legitimately good players. TJ Edwards is the 11th ranked linebacker on PFF. Montez Sweat (who they traded a second-round pick for then immediately paid Rahsan Gary money) is one of the best run defending edges in the league. Jaylon Johnson is having a career year with 3 picks and a 90 PFF grade. 

Lions

The Lions held on against the Saints, 33-28.

Game Notes

• The Lions went up 21-0 almost immediately in this game and then slowly tried to give it away. Goff broke out of his turnover funk, with no picks or fumbles but didn't exactly light it up with 215 yards on 25 attempts. 
• The story of the day for the Lions offense was Sam LaPorta who had 9 catches for 140 yards and a TD and may already be a top-5 tight end. The Sun God also added a TD on 2 catches for 49 yards. 
• The defense was bad again. The Saints played Derek Carr (bad), Jameis Winston (worse), and Taysom Hill (tight end) at quarterback in this game and all three of them made plays. Derek Carr basically had the same stats as Goff plus a pick. Jameis hit an insane 30-yard pass. And Taysom had 13 (!) carries for 59 yards. The Saints, admittedly, didn't do anything super well in this game, but they're the Saints, they never do anything basic well and they put up 28 points. 
• Rookie Brian Branch had the best game statistically for the Lions with 7 tackles and a pick. 

Next Week

The Lions play the Bears again.