Episode 22: The NFC North's Thrilling Finale Awaits

Get ready for the ultimate showdown in the NFC North as the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings prepare to battle it out for division supremacy and a potential top seed in the conference. Will the Lions' grit and determination, led by Coach Dan Campbell, be enough to claim victory in this pivotal clash? Discover how the Lions' recent victory over the 49ers and the Vikings' triumph against the Packers set the stage for this high-stakes matchup. We'll also unravel the implications for the Chicago Bears' prideful end to the season and the Green Bay Packers' quest for better playoff positioning.

The final week of the regular season promises to be unforgettable, with the Lions poised to solidify their status and the Packers eager to maintain their dominance over the Bears. Join us as we break down the thrilling scenarios unfolding in the NFC North, offering predictions on the outcome of these crucial games. Experience the excitement and anticipation of a season finale that could redefine legacies and reshape playoff paths. Don't miss out on the drama, the strategy, and the passion that make football the sport we love. Tune in for an episode that captures the essence of what makes the NFL so exhilarating.

Table of Contents
0:00-1:18 Intro
1:19-1:38 www.OffRacksShop.com (Ad)
1:39-3:00 2 Minute Warning (Week 17 Recap)
3:01-10:57 Week 19th Scenarios

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Chapters

• 0:00 NFC North Playoff Scenarios Week 18
• 9:27 Lions vs Vikings

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Are you still talking about football? Yeah, but without NFC North, the list of football. Welcome back everybody. This is Headin' North, an NFC North podcast, and I'm your host, d-tron. And are you ready for this? One more game to decide it all in the regular season.

Speaker 1: 0:20

This week is like the height of excitement, anticipation, and if you enjoy football like me, this is perfect. Well, except for the fact that one of these teams is going to have 14 wins and still end up as a fifth seed. That is highway robbery. But you know what? Detroit and Minnesota are going to square off in the Motor City to decide it all, including the number one seed in the NFC North in the Motor City to decide it all, including the number one seed in the NFC North, which is also gonna decide the number one seed in the conference, including first round bye and ability to play all your playoff games at home until you reach the Super Bowl. This game is historic even before it kicks off, because there has never been two teams with this many wins on the field at the same time. I'll run down all of week 17,. Then we'll get into the week 18 scenarios and more on this week's episode of Headed North Podcast, and I'll do all of that right after I give my sponsors a chance to tell you about their stuff. This episode of Headed North Podcast is sponsored by OffRackShopcom of Headed North Podcast is sponsored by OffRackShopcom. Offrackshopcom is an online thrift retailer that specialize in men and women's clothing, shoes, accessories and more. So if you haven't already, head to our description. You can find a discount code for your next purchase at OffRackShopcom. All right, we got the two-minute drill coming up, so get your clock set.

Speaker 1: 1:42

I'm going to recap week 17. So the day after Christmas seems like a long time ago, and the Chicago Bears put on a real snoozer. This performance at home against the equally boring Seattle Seahawks was like 6-3. I would forgive you if you completely forgot about this game and everything that happened in it, because not much happened. There was less than 300 passing yards between the two teams and a total of 13 punts. Let's just hurry up and get to the postseason. That way we can all forget about this version of the Chicago Bears.

Speaker 1: 2:18

On Sunday, minnesota was able to outlast a final push from the Green Bay Packers in a game that started pretty slow for the Packers. Minnesota dominated most of the game with nearly 400 yards, passing from Sam Darnold to eight different receivers, doing most of the damage in the second and third quarter. And then the Lions closed out week 17 playing on Monday night against the already eliminated 49ers team in a game that meant nothing to the playoff picture but clearly meant a lot to the Lions, as they played with all of their starters and fought hard to beat a motivated 49ers team 40-34 behind two big interceptions from Kirby Joseph. So that is the wrap up for week 17. Now we're going to dive in to week 18 and all of the NFC North stories for this Sunday.

Speaker 1: 3:11

Let's first start with the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, and at first glance this doesn't really seem like there's anything to see here. The Packers are firmly in the playoffs and Chicago Bears are firmly not. But if you thought this game was meaningless, you would be very wrong. Let's run down the list of some of the things that are at stake for both teams. For Green Bay, first and foremost, it's LeFleur's winning streak against the Chicago Bears franchise. Lefleur, as we have noted on the show before, has never lost to the Chicago Bears. As the head coach for the Green Bay Packers, he is 11-0 against that franchise. No coach wants to see that streak end, especially when you're talking about in-division rivalries. He owns them right now and I don't think he'd want to see that fade away on the very last game of the season.

Speaker 1: 4:02

Green Bay can also still move up. They currently have the same record as the Washington Commanders, but Washington is the 6th seed and Green Bay is the 7th. If Green Bay beats Chicago and Washington falls to Dallas, then Green Bay and Washington would swap positions. That would mean that the Packers would go from playing the 2-seed Philadelphia Eagles in Philly to the 3 LA Rams in LA. But if they both win or they both lose, then they end up with the same record and they don't have a head-to-head matchup this year. So that means the difference for the two teams the Washington Commanders and the Green Bay Packers is going to be their divisional records, and Green Bay has lost four divisional matchups this year, while Washington has currently only lost two. So Green Bay needs a win and they also need Washington to lose to be able to move out of that spot from playing Philly. We can all agree that you would rather play the Rams at least I would rather play the Rams than I would a healthy Philadelphia team, because they have been pretty much beating up on people all season, with the exception of when they lost their quarterback to a concussion for Chicago.

Speaker 1: 5:16

Well, they got some things to fight for too. First is pride. Pride is on the line for the Chicago Bears. You want to beat LeFleur. He has beat your organization 11 times straight. You don't want that on your conscience. You don't want that to be. The legacy that is left when you finish this season is that you were another team that couldn't beat LeFleur and the Green Bay Packers. For Thomas Brown, he hasn't won a single game since taking over as an interim head coach. You only score three points in your last home game. You, you got pride. Pride is a real emotion and I can't believe that they want to close out this season on an 11 game losing streak, which is what will happen if they lose to green bay on sunday. But also there's considerations for draft positioning. Currently, chicago is in the eighth overall spot for the draft, which they could use to target some offensive line help. So, with a little more than pride to fight for, the Bears could start Tyson Bajent and then not risk the franchise quarterback getting hurt while potentially lining up a loss that helps their draft stock? I don't know. You know conspiracy theories, but I don't know that there's a whole lot that chicago needs to fight for, other than just pride. However this plays out, no one really gives chicago much of a shot in this game at least I don't, and if you do, well, why? And if you don't, I don't blame you.

Speaker 1: 6:43

Off to the second game of the weekend and the one that everyone is probably waiting for. I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time telling you about this game, because I'm sure you know it already. The king of the north will be decided on sunday night. On Sunday night when the Lions take on the Vikings. The number one seed in the NFC North and the NFC in general will be decided on Sunday night between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions. And home field advantage for the playoffs will be decided on Sunday night. There is no bigger game this weekend than this game. It could turn a one seed to a five seed. It can. It can dash the hopes of a 14-win organization in leading their conference, and it can put a team that is in the Lions, that is undefeated on the road this year, to an ultimate test of having to go on the road all the way to the Super Bowl. This could be a very interesting tail end of the season. Not could be. This will be a very interesting tail end of the season. Not could be. This will be a very interesting tail end of this season. Both teams need rest. Also, the Lions' bye week was week five and Minnesota's bye week was week six. Based on all the injuries, I got to believe that extra week is going to allow the Lions' defense to have the basic availability from some folks and if that's the case, the Lions need this win more. This game could also be the chip that Sam Darnold uses to keep the starting gig in Minnesota.

Speaker 1: 8:29

If you follow sports talk, you've probably heard that there's rumors going around that Minnesota might keep Sam Darnold and trade off JJ McCarthy. At this point, sam Darnold's only like 27 or 28 years old. He's got quite the the length of time if you look at quarterbacks and how long they're playing these days. He's got time and if he's playing this well, why would you separate him from the starting spot for your organization, even if you've got a healthy rookie behind him? You've got him on a rookie contract and yes, I know that rookie contract is a little bit hefty hefty because of where you took him. I would still sit him behind darnold and if you can't afford both of them, trade jj mccarthy, because sam darnold has been playing lights out. But if sam darnold can get this signature win at the end of the year against the Detroit Lions, it truly will prove his worth to both the Vikings and to any other team that might be out there looking for a quarterback moving forward.

Speaker 1: 9:27

This was the position everyone expected the Lions to be in after their run last year, in a position that no one thought the Vikings would be in, except for maybe, kevin O'Connell. So this is going to be the pinnacle of games for this final week in the NFL. For the Lions, this feels like one more step toward destiny. This game would define grit and resilience for that Lions team and I think it would lock up Coach of the Year for Dan Campbell if he knocks off Minnesota in his final week. This is prime time, the biggest stage and it's sure not to disappoint.

Speaker 1: 10:05

I can't wait for this week's games. And that's it for the show. I'm too excited to continue and, again, we're not doing Spread in the Field for the rest of the year, so I'm going to leave you guys with my prediction I think the lions win a really close game, and I don't think it's even gonna be close between green bay and chicago. It's just not. Hey, as always, I appreciate you coming on this journey with us checking out the show. Please leave me comments. I love to hear it. You might be able to find a link where you can send us a text message down in the description. Also, if you decide to come back next week, which I hope you do, make sure you've got your bags packed, because we are headed north. I'm detron peace. Are you still talking about football? Yeah, the battalion nfc. Nor the list of football.