Through six weeks of the 2026 NFL season, it looks like the NFC North may be the best division in football. Only the NFC and AFC North have all four teams with winning records, and when compared to the rest of the NFC, there is no comparison. The NFC North has four teams above .500, while the other 12 teams in the NFC have a combined three teams with winning records.
But while the NFC North is certainly impressive right now, each team has a pretty significant flaw that could sink their chances at a championship.
Detroit Lions
Let’s start with the easiest one. The Detroit Lions have one of the most potent offenses in football (No. 2 in scoring), including a decent running game and a very efficient passing attack. Defensively, it’s not as promising, but there have been some decent performances in stopping the run. However…
Fatal flaw: Secondary
The Lions pass defense has been abysmal through five games, and it largely falls at the feet of the secondary. Detroit’s pass rush has actually been among the best in the NFL. They still lead the NFL in sacks despite not playing a sixth game, and their 90 pressures rank sixth. But the secondary has not been properly complementing their play, leading to several coverage busts or just one-on-one losses.
Through six weeks, the Lions rank 29th in EPA/pass, 29th in passer rating allowed, 22nd in yards per attempt allowed, and 30th in dropback success rate.
Green Bay Packers
Earlier in the year, it looked like the Green Bay Packers couldn’t do anything well. They ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in all four phases. However, they’ve started to find some success, particularly on defense, where they went from one of the worst in the NFL to holding two of the most potent offenses (Bears, Cowboys) to a combined 20 points.
Just look at these defensive splits:
Weeks 1-3
- 30.3 PPG allowed (t-29th)
- 0.092 EPA/play allowed (25th)
- 46.5% success rate allowed (23rd)
Week 4-6
- 11.3 PPG allowed (first)
- -0.150 EPA/play allowed (13th)
- 42.3% success rate allowed (13th)
I will say this, though, they remain a team that can be beat on the ground. Even in these last three games, they’ve allowed a 42.6% rushing success rate, which ranks 27th.
But that is not their fatal flaw. Their fatal flaw is…
Fatal flaw: OL, no run game
The Packers have had offensive line issues all season. In terms of pass protection, they have the eighth-highest pressure rate allowed (40.2%) and the shortest time-to-pressure (2.36) in the NFL. But Jordan Love has been able to avoid sacks.
The real struggles on the offensive line are felt in the run game.
The Packers rank 32nd in rushing yards per game (59.8), 32nd in rush yards per carry (2.9), 32nd in rush EPA (-0.299) and 31st in rushing success rate (32.5%).
The return of Josh Jacobs this week should certainly help, but it won’t fix the underlying offensive line issues. Green Bay ranks 31st in team run blocking PFF grade (47.3) and 20th in ESPN’s run block win rate (73%).
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are a terrifying team when it comes to their defense. They’re first in points per game allowed (12.8), third in yards per play (4.6), first in passer rating allowed (62.9), and fifth in rushing yards allowed (86.6). They also sport an unbelievable 67.0% blitz rate, which is 24% higher than any other team in the NFL.
But the Vikings are still very much figuring things out on offense. Quarterback Kyler Murray missing time early certainly has something to do with that, but even in the three games back, the Vikings haven’t scored more than 23 points in a game—even when largely assisted by the aforementioned defense.
Fatal flaw: No offensive identity
The Vikings don’t really do anything well on offense. Let’s split it by unit:
Pass offense:
- 23rd in dropback EPA
- 32nd in dropback success rate
Run defense
- 24th in rush EPA
- 27th in rush success rate
Overall the Vikings rank 30th in yards per drive and 24th points per drive despite starting with the fifth-best average field position.
Chicago Bears
Admittedly, Bears are the most well-rounded team when it comes to performances on each side of the ball. They rank 12th in points per game (25.0) and sixth in points per game allowed (19.8). When you consider that they didn’t have their starting quarterback for half of their games so far, it seems likely they’ll climb into the top-10 in both categories as long as Caleb Williams can remain healthy.
But there is one aspect of their game that has been low-key very inefficient, but effectively hidden through six games.
Fatal flaw: Run defense
On the surface, the Bears run defense looks fine. They’re allowing just 90.5 yards per game (seventh best). However, on a per-rush basis, the Bears have actually been quite terrible stopping the run. They’re ceding 4.5 yards per carry (24th) and ranked 30th in run defense DVOA going into Week 6 (numbers have not yet been updated through Sunday).
Week 6’s game against the Atlanta Falcons is a perfect example of how the Bears have been able to mask this problem. Chicago jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead, forcing the Falcons out of their game script. While Bijan Robinson still had an efficient day—rushing for 6.8 yards per carry and decent 44% success rate—he only carried the ball NINE TIMES.
The Bears are facing just 20.2 rushing attempts per game, which is the fewest in the NFL.
But under the hood, the Bears rank 25th in rush EPA allowed, 23rd in rushing success rate allowed, and 32nd in PFF’s run defense grade.
