Week 14 marked the final weekend that included byes for NFL teams. Six teams were off for the weekend, though the entire NFC North was in action.
Detroit and Green Bay kicked off the weekend by playing a thriller on Thursday night, with the Lions improving to 12-1 by beating the Packers in Ford Field, 34-31. Detroit’s win streak extends to 11 games, while the Packers suffered just their second loss since September — both to the Lions. Green Bay is now 9-4.
The Lions host the 10-3 Buffalo Bills in Week 15 in what figures to be one of the marquee matchups of the entire season. Green Bay heads to Seattle for the Sunday night game against the Seahawks, now 8-5 and winners of five in a row.
The other two teams in the NFC North division were also in action. Their outcomes went as expected from afar, for better or worse.
Minnesota
The Vikings welcomed longtime QB Kirk Cousins back to Minnesota, with the Falcons coming to town. It was a close game until midway through the second half, when Cousins and the Falcons got sloppy and the Vikings capitalized.
A 14-13 game with five minutes to play in the third quarter quickly spiraled into a 42-21 Vikings win. Cousins’ replacement in Minnesota, Sam Darnold, threw five touchdown passes in the win. Darnold completed 16 of his 18 pass attempts after the half for 250 yards and three scores.
Minnesota remains one game back of the Lions at 11-2. The Vikings have won six games in a row and play the Bears in Week 15.
Chicago
The Bears debuted new interim head coach Thomas Brown in their first game since now-deposed head coach Matt Eberflus got fired for his epic mishandling of crunch time in Detroit’s win over his Bears.
Things did not get better for Chicago. The Bears were not competitive in any fashion in a 38-13 blowout loss in San Francisco. Chicago attained just one first down in the first half while falling behind 24-0. San Francisco had scored just 37 points in its previous three games–all losses–before lighting up Chicago’s defense for over 450 yards and five touchdowns.
The Bears are now 4-9 after a 4-2 start. They head to Minnesota in Week 15 before hosting Detroit in Week 16.
