Around the NFC North: 2025 Week 13

And you thought J.J. McCarthy was bad.

What has the world come to? The Bears are in first place in the NFC. The Vikings' offense is horrific. The Lions got dustbinned on national TV on Thanksgiving in their own house. Let's get the details. 

Bears

The Bears beat the Eagles 24-15. 

Game

Notes

  • We'll start with the Bears and get it over with. The stupid Eagles couldn't get it done (playing so badly on offense that the OC's house got egged) and now we have to deal with the Bears being first place in the NFC and their fans taking over for the Lions as the dumbest on twitter. Anyway, they definitely didn't win because of Caleb Williams who was 17/36 for 154 yards and a 56.9 QB rating. Williams has a few insane plays each game where he gets away from pressure and gets the ball downfield but he still isn't really cutting it as an NFL pocket passer. And don't just listen to me, here's what Ben Johnson said when asked about Caleb Williams poor completion percentage, "Everybody has a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up. It's not where it needs to be. We're winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it. And none of us are pleased with that."
  • The run game was gangbusters. D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai both had over 100 yards on the day. Swift hit 125 yards on 18 carries and Monangai had 130 on 22. We could be in for a long day this weekend. 
  • On defense, they gave up 10 receptions and 135 yards to AJ Brown but held Saquon Barkley to 56 yards on 13 carries. The low rush yards total, thanks to the Bears being in the lead for the whole game, moved the Bears to the fifth-worst run defense in the league from the third-worst. We could see a 400 total rush yards game between the two teams on Sunday. 
  • The pass defense relies on interceptions and Kevin Byard had his league-leading 6th of the year in the game. 

 

 

Vikings

The Vikings were destroyed by the Seahawks, 26-0. 

Game Notes

  • Everyone asked if the JJ McCarthy concussion that kept him out of this game was as fake as the ankle injury that kept him out of two months' worth of games earlier this season. At the very least, we now know that the injury was real (anyone who saw his head bounce off the ground on Sunday did already). Rookie UDFA back-up Max Brosmer was 19/30 for 126 yards and four interceptions. No TDs. The QBigami account said no one has had a stat line like that since the 1950s. Yikes. 
  • The run game wasn't materially better. Jordan Mason had 47 yards on six carries (pretty good) but Aaron Jones had three yards on six carries (really bad). The Vikings released Adam Thielen today. The team traded a fourth for the ancient wide receiver before the season, and then he had 8 catches in 12 games. He will supposedly sign with a Super Bowl contender. Maybe the Colts need a social media guy? Anyway, let's hope the Vikings do the right thing and release Aaron Jones so that he can sign with the Packers' practice squad. 
  • Justin Jefferson, recently the best receiver in the NFL, had six targets and came down with two catches for four yards. Unreal. 
  • Sam Darnold didn't even play that well in his revenge game, completing just 14/26 passes for 128 yards and taking four sacks. And the Seahawks barely had 100 rush yards. The offense was just that bad. How bad? According to DVOA, it was the worst offensive performance ever and the DVOA ratio was almost 50% worse than the previous worst. 

 

Lions

The Packers took care of the Lions, 31-24.

Game Notes

  • Finally, we're to the fun part. Jared Goff was fine in this game, completing 20/26 passes for 256 yards and two TDs. Just didn't make enough big plays. 144 of those yards came from Jameson Williams, who the Lions spammed crossing routes to after the Sun God got hurt. They even hit TeSlaa on a crossing route. Let's hope Ben Johnson wasn't paying attention because the Packers linebackers and Evan Williams will sure as hell be coming downhill fast against the Bears and the Bears have a few guys who can run away from Keisean Nixon. 
  • The linebackers and Williams were coming downhill hard in this one. Jahmyr Gibbs managed just 68 yards on 20 carries and another 18 yards on three catches. David Montgomery had 10 touches.
  • The Packers took advantage of the Lions' o-line again in the match-up. Micah Parsons had 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks and a few other Packers got in on the fun with their own pressures. Lions fans were rightfully enthused with the potential return of Frank Ragnow from retirement, which was announced the day before the game, but in one of the weirdest NFL storylines ever, Ragnow had a grade 3 hamstring tear and the Lions failed his physical, keeping him on the retired list. 
  • Dontayvion Wicks, who was drafted with the fourth-round pick that the Lions sent to Green Bay when they traded up for Brian Branch, had a brakout game, amassing over 100 yards and two TDs to go with a game winning fourth-down conversion with Branch in coverage. 

 

 

 

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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.

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Comments (16)

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T7Steve's picture

December 02, 2025 at 10:16 am

The Vikings are trying to play the spoiler this season. Too bad they screw that up and just spoil appetites. Watch out for the trap game at the end of the season. If the Packers are in a good place, they might want the Vikings to keep all their personnel in place for next season.

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splitpea1's picture

December 02, 2025 at 10:34 am

Vikings: Already the rumor mill is starting about trading Jefferson. If they want to rebuild, it might be helpful; but they have all their draft picks and will be getting probably a third-round comp pick for Darnold. I wouldn't trade him unless he makes a fuss and proves to be a locker room distraction.

Other NFC: The Jekyll and Hyde Panthers outlasted the Rams. For all the grief Bryce Young has probably been getting, that's the second clutch throw he has made (the first coming against the Packers) to ice a game....Seattle has mostly beaten a bunch of bad teams...Eagles: Unbelievably have not made a play-caller change. That's a very high-priced offense that consistently doesn't do squat...My point is that the NFC is wide open and the Packers need to take advantage by taking care of home business here.

AFC: Couldn't resist mentioning the textbook Elliss hit on Dart last night. Both players slid and popped right up after the action with no injuries and no penalties except for the ensuing fight. Football at its finest!

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Bitternotsour's picture

December 02, 2025 at 11:48 am

Dart's going to end up as brain scrambled as Brett Favre.

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Brewcity_BearsFan's picture

December 02, 2025 at 11:13 am

A few weeks ago I said five games is too early to decide on McCarthy. I will still say the same about 6 games, but man has he looked bad. The O Line has done him no favors.

Brosmer looked even worse. I don't think Minnesota has a lot of cap space, so they could be in a tough spot.

I don't see a trade for Kyler Murray happening. Would they try for Russel Wilson on a 1 year "Prove it" deal? Even if he accepted, would he really be an improvement? Justin Fields? Three teams have already seen that doesn't work.

A Jefferson trade would bring back a lot in return, but with all their current draft capital, they may focus on O line. Defensively, they seem to be okay.

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Bearmeat's picture

December 02, 2025 at 11:41 am

Lions: This terrible 10 days couldn’t happen to a nicer fanbase. And the bonus/ironic moment of the day? Kerby Joseph has chronic knee problems. Good. Screw that guy.

Bears: They looked good last week. That would be the very first time all year they’ve been impressive. And their pass rush is poor and their QB still is mid. I envy that OL though.

Vikings: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

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Racingdad's picture

December 02, 2025 at 12:40 pm

With the number of knees Kirby Joseph has taken out it’s karma that he has his own problems now

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bjkdad44's picture

December 02, 2025 at 07:17 pm

🙏🏻🤞🏻

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WorseWisconsin's picture

December 05, 2025 at 05:30 pm

"their pass rush is poor"

I mentioned something similar in another post. The D-line is the Bear's biggest weakness. They have 2 quality d-linemen (Sweat & Dexter), 2 with potential (Booker & Turner), and the others are under performing or past their prime. Even if the under-performing ones played at their peak, that group is middling at best.

"their QB still is mid."

Caleb Williams: 6263yards 37TDs 11Ints
Jordan Love: 606yards 3TDs 3Ints

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WorseWisconsin's picture

December 05, 2025 at 05:33 pm

OOPs, I made a mistake on the stats:

Caleb Williams: 6263yards 37TDs 11Ints
Jordan Love: 411yards 2TDs 3Ints

Fixed. You're welcome.

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dblbogey's picture

December 02, 2025 at 12:31 pm

Good news is Royce Newman may be Chicago's starting guard due to injuries.

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barutanseijin's picture

December 02, 2025 at 03:29 pm

Hello Newman.

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coolhand's picture

December 02, 2025 at 01:20 pm

The Bears Eagles game was closer than it seemed until Hurts got the ball ripped out of his hands and fumbled on a tush push of all plays. The Eagles looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but playing that game.

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Coldworld's picture

December 02, 2025 at 01:56 pm

The Eagles look like they don’t want to be around each other any longer than they have to.

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Starrbrite's picture

December 02, 2025 at 07:12 pm

Right Coolhand. Looking at the Eagles bench was a dismal uninspiring scene. Hurts looked to be dreaming about a bad roast beef dinner and I can imagine what Barkley was thinking…

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LetsGoPack's picture

December 02, 2025 at 05:13 pm

The Bears have a well designed run game, particularly in terms of the creativity. The primary issue for them is that quite frankly the Bears QB is not a top tier QB in terms of throwing ability. He gets happy feet and misses wide receivers.

If we want to beat the Bears, thus, the key will be DISCIPLINE. Eye discipline, filling the gaps well, and having hard edges. Not letting the Bears get around the corner. Not getting fooled by trick plays.

I am not the DC, however my recommendation would be to sit in two high shell and play aggressive against the run. Force Williams to play from the pocket and beat us.

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Starrbrite's picture

December 02, 2025 at 07:12 pm

I like it!

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