NFC North has empathically restored its status as NFL’s gold standard

The “Black and Blue Division’’ is back. It’s the gold standard of the NFL at the moment. 

The NFC North, nicknamed that in its golden-era days of Vince Lombardi in Green Bay, Dick Butkus in Chicago, the Purple People Eaters in Minnesota and, later, Barry Sanders in Detroit, was celebrated as the most competitive, difficult division in the NFL. 

It has returned to glory this year, with all four teams in the division having posted an eye-opening combined 17-5 mark. All four have a winning record, something that none of the other seven divisions in the league can boast. 

The Vikings are 5-0, the Lions 4-1, the Bears and Packers 4-2. 

Just two other divisions among the other seven have a combined record of better than .500 — the AFC West (13-9) and the NFC East (12-11). The worst of the NFC North is good enough to be leading or tied atop five other divisions. 

It’s been a fascinating first six weeks in the NFC North, and it reaches its most compelling point to date Sunday when the Vikings and Lions battle in Minneapolis. 

“With how well everybody’s playing in our division, these division games are going to be really important,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said this week. 

“What a test we’re going to have this week,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “These guys are playing really good football.” 

All four teams are playing good football. The Vikings, coming off their bye week, are the only undefeated team in the NFC and one of only two in the league, along with the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs. The Packers host the 5-1 Texans on Sunday, and the Bears are in their bye week. 

The last time the Lions played at Minnesota was when they defeated them last season to clinch their first division title in 30 years. Detroit coming off their 47-9 annihilation of the Cowboys last week in Dallas. The Lions enter this game having won three straight against the Vikings and four of the past five. 

The primary key to the NFC North’s across-the-board return to dominance has been the return to competitiveness of the Lions, who have been down for decades. Before reaching the NFC Championship game last season, the Lions hadn’t recorded a playoff win since 1991. 

Detroit is led by rejuvenated quarterback Jared Goff, who’s found a new life after Los Angeles, and one of the top tandem of running backs in the league in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. 

“If you look around the league at all the running backs, I don’t know if you’ll find one who’s playing better,” Goff said of Montgomery, who just received a contract extension. “It’s fun to have him on our team. And Gibbs is right there, too.” 

Leading all of it is Campbell, who’s the darling among NFL coaches at the moment with his personality and unabashed display of emotion, not to mention his excellent staff of assistants. 

The Bears, too, have been mostly down for the past few years (one playoff win since 2010), mostly because they’ve failed at finding a franchise quarterback. Caleb Williams, the No. 1-overall pick in the 2024 draft, is delivering, completing 65.3 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and five interceptions and playing more like a veteran than a rookie. 

Unlike the Bears, the Packers continued their uncanny ways of finding the perfect succession plan at quarterback, with Jordan Love (12 TD passes in four starts this season) having succeeded Aaron Rodgers as seamlessly as Rodgers succeeded Brett Favre before him. 

The Vikings stumbled into their quarterback prowess, with journeyman Sam Darnold thrust into the starting role when first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy injured his knee in the summer. 

All Darnold (1,111 passing yards, 63.5 percent completions, 11 TDs, four interceptions) has done is place himself into the conversation as NFL MVP with the way he’s performed. Having receiver Justin Jefferson, who has 26 receptions for 450 yards and four TDs, doesn’t hurt. 

Jefferson, in eight career games against the Lions, has 62 catches for 1,073 yards. 

The Vikings, who have held opponents scoreless in 10 of 20 quarters, have a plus-63 scoring differential, the best in the NFL with the Lions next at plus-60. 

Black and Blue is back.