Powerful NFC North has turned football world upside-down
The early game in London gave Bears fans a chance to lean back, relax and spend Sunday basking in success.
The Bears have won consecutive games by at least 19 points for the first time since Week 4 and 5 in 2006. That was a Super Bowl season, in case you forgot or weren't born yet.
As the other NFL games played out, a bizarre, unfair reality set in. After all the decades of disrespect and mediocrity, the NFC Central is now the toughest division in all of professional sports. The Bears face an unprecedented challenge in making the playoffs this year.
And sure, the official name is now the NFC North. But it will always be the NFC Central in the hearts of the four Midwestern cities that have been lumped together since 1967.
Tampa Bay was a pleasant addition from 1977-2001, especially when wearing those sunny orange and red uniforms, with Bucco Bruce beaming on the side of the helmet. Here's an interesting coincidence: The first season after the Buccaneers departed the Central to join the newly-formed NFC South, they won the Super Bowl.
Anyway, it was a triple-header of NFC North domination Sunday. After Bears-Jags UK, the Packers pounded Arizona and the Lions destroyed Dallas. Technically, Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson breaking his leg was possible good news for the Bears, but no one wants something like that to happen. Meanwhile, the Vikings had the week off and stayed undefeated.
There may not be a single day in NFL history when the NFC Central/North has been this dominant. One highlight was 1994, when all four NFC wild card teams came from the Central. But considering the Bears lost to the 49ers and Packers to the Cowboys in the next round by a combined 55 points, the accomplishment seems hollow.
Maybe the heyday was after the 2010 regular season, when the Bears hosted the Packers for the one and only all-North Division NFC title game. Green Bay even won the Super Bowl that year — sorry for the reminder — but that was the last appearance by an NFC Central squad, 13 years and counting.
There were many more years like 1978, when the Vikings and Packers tied for first place with 8-7-1 records. Even at 38, Fran Tarkenton could get the best of NFC Central competition.
From 1970-89, there were 30 wild-card slots in the NFC playoffs (skipping the strike year of 1982). Central Division teams claimed just five of them.
In the entire history of the division, the North/Central has landed 24.5% of the championship game slots. Not great, considering there were three divisions for most of that time.
Other divisions in the current alignment have fewer Super Bowl wins than the North's five, but all of those other divisions have expansion teams. The North has three original franchises, while the Vikings are in Year 64.
In other words, the current NFL standings are a once-in-a-half-century type of occurrence. And it's not like the competition will get any easier on the Bears. Green Bay's Jordan Love and Minnesota's Justin Jefferson are both 25. Detroit QB Jared Goff turned 30 on Monday, so he likely has some good years left.
The best way to approach this scenario is just accept that life is unfair. The Bears were finally gifted a quarterback with star potential, and Caleb Williams is facing tougher competition than Bob Avellini and Cade McNown ever imagined.
The NFC North is a combined 17-5. The second-best division is the AFC West at 13-9. At least whoever does make the playoffs should be well-prepared.