NFC North watch for Week 4: Everyone’s looking up at the Lions

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For the first time since 2017, the Detroit Lions are the sole owners of first place in the NFC North. At 3-1, the Lions snatched the top spot with a commanding 34-20 win in Green Bay over the Packers.

Here’s how the rest of the division fared in Week 4.

Chicago Bears

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Chicago remains winless after seizing defeat from the jaws of victory at the hands of the Denver Broncos. The matchup between arguably the two worst teams in the league lived up to the billing of a potential showdown for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Justin Fields had an outstanding day at quarterback. In fact, it was the most prolific for a Bears quarterback in the Super Bowl era. Fields made one critical error, a lost fumble on a play where neither of his offensive tackles blocked anything but air, and it cost the Bears dearly.

NFL teams are now 43-2 all-time when their quarterback threw for 300+ yards, 4+ TDs while completing 80+% of their passes.

The two losing QBs are Justin Fields and Matt Ryan — who was on today’s broadcast.

Fields is the first Bears QB all-time with those numbers in a game.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 1, 2023

Denver’s offense finished the game by going touchdown, touchdown, and field goal to come back from an abysmal first half and beat the Bears in Chicago. It was the Bears’ 14th loss in a row. They’ve won exactly one game in the last 365 days.

The Bears will try to snap the brutal string with a trip to Washington (2-2) on Thursday night in Week 5.

Minnesota Vikings

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The Vikings finally cracked the win column, beating the Panthers 21-13 in Carolina. It was not a game for enthusiasts of good offensive play, but Minnesota will take the win sans style points.

Neither team topped 300 yards of offense. In fact, there weren’t 300 total net passing yards in the game. Running back Alexander Mattison ran for 95 yards and Kirk Cousins threw for touchdowns on two of his 12 completions for the game to squeak past Bryce Young and the Panthers.

The win moves Minnesota out of the cellar at 1-3, dropping the Panthers to 0-4. The Lions host the winless Panthers next week. Minnesota plays host to the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday.