Here's one final look around the NFC North head into week 17 of the regular season.

Chicago Bears

The Bears enter week 17 with a disappointing 7-8 record and a meaningless matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

-That performance on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs was the sign of a Bears team that has completely given up. There was zero energy or fire at all coming from that team or its 2018 Coach of the Year. After getting pushed around by the Packers with their season on the line, the Bears came out and lay down for the Chiefs in prime time. 

-This week's game against the Vikings holds no meaning for the Bears, other than that 8-8 looks a little better on paper than 7-9. Really, though, this game gives a final scouting opportunity for the organization to see what they have on their hands. General Manager Ryan Pace, head coach Matt Nagy and starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky have all come under fire throughout this season, and rightfully so. The guess here is they'll all be given one more year to prove themselves; it would be unfair for the Bears to hire a new GM for a position in which he wouldn't have a first-round pick. You may as well give Trubisky one more year while he's under contract for cheap (and bring in some veteran competition), and give Nagy one more crack at it as well. But another performance like Sunday Night, and who knows--the Bears might get an itchy trigger finger and say goodbye to any or all of them.

-Beyond those three key individuals, the Bears have plenty of additional questions heading into 2019. Is Khalil Mack still capable of dominating defenses after a disappointing season? The franchise really bogged itself down with his contract, and he has not performed to expectations this year at all. Will the Bears be able to make offensive adjustments necessary going forward to create more balance in their attack, featuring the running backs more? Have the Bears found a long-term answer at receiver next to Allen Robinson? 

For a team whose fanbase pegged them as pre-season champions and the media frequently pushed ass contenders heading into this season, it's been a massively disappointing campaign. Still lacking draft picks, cap wiggle room and a franchise quarterback, the Bears' window may have actually closed on this regime.

Detroit Lions

The Lions enter the final week of the season with a chance to play spoiler against the Packers, who are playing for (at least) a first-round bye.

-The Lions announced within the last week that head coach Matt Patricia would be brought back for a third season. While it's somewhat understandable that he'd get a pass on much of this season given the injury to Matthew Stafford, this also seems to be like a guy who's completely out of his depth as a head coach. The last two decades have had coach after coach come out of the Belichick tree and attempt to install the "Patriot Way" elsewhere, only for it to backfire miserably. Patricia conducts himself with the demeanor of a coach who has accomplished far more than he actually has, and should feel fortunate to get another opportunity, especially when you consider the Lions fired Jim Caldwell after three winning seasons in four years, which was a first since the 1990s.

-The Lions have not won a football game since October 27 against the New York Giants, when Matthew Stafford was still playing. Two months without a win, on their third quarterback and playing with one of the league's worst defenses (under an apparent "defensive guru" at head coach, no less), this might seem like a cakewalk for Green Bay. But divisional games are always funky, and it's been several years since the Packers last won in Detroit. The Packers would be foolish to take this game for granted, even when the Lions seem to be completely dead in the water.

Look, there's not much else to say about the Lions. It's been a wasted season without Stafford for half of it, and the team is just plain bad. But you know darn well they'd love nothing more than to make the Packers' road to the Super Bowl a whole lot more difficult by ensuring they play on Wild Card Weekend.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings were thoroughly embarrassed by the Packers at home under the bright Monday Night lights, 23-10. 

-Woof. What was that offensive performance for the Vikings? The Vikings' offensive line may not be all-world or anything like that, but the performance they put up against the Packers' pass rush was absolutely pitiful and is a major cause for concern, when you consider the Vikings could very well have to play teams with a strong pass rush like the Packers or 49ers in the playoffs. Just shockingly bad.

-Kirk Cousins still has yet to prove he can win a game that's worth much of anything. At times this saeson he has looked like an all-pro, but these are the kinds of games that have defined his career so far, and until he's able to prove that he can excel in these big moments against high-caliber opponents, he will continue to prove that he's not worth the fully guaranteed contract he received from the Vikings. In fact, by getting that fully guaranteed deal and failing to live up to it, he may have actually damaged future players' union negotiations for more fully guaranteed deals.

-That handshake from Mike Zimmer at the end of the game was bush league stuff. You got straight up beat; there was no funny business, no taunting or running up the score. Your team went out and got their assess handed to them along both trenches. Suck it up, shake hands and move on. That moment encapsulated everything the Vikings have been under Mike Zimmer: a team with a paper-thin veneer of toughness that melts away the moment the team faces a challenge from a higher caliber of opponent.

And that's a wrap on Around the NFC North. It's great to be the champs again!