NFC North Roundup: Bears Stay on Top, Packers Drop Vikes, Lions Escape ...Middle East

The Chicago Bears entered Week 12 at the top of the NFC North, and they’ll do the same in Week 13 thanks to a 31-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.

The Green Bay Packers kept pace with a dominating win over the Minnesota Vikings, pushing them further down in the standings, while the Detroit Lions survived a scare at home, beating the New York Giants in overtime thanks to a sensational performance by running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Here’s a look at the Sunday that was in the NFC North.

Packers smother Vikings as Green Bay’s Defense Overwhelms J.J. McCarthy in 23-6 Win

The Packers didn’t just beat the Vikings on Sunday — they squeezed the life out of Minnesota’s offense and put their young quarterback’s development under an uncomfortable microscope. Green Bay’s 23-6 win at Lambeau Field was another showcase of Jeff Hafley’s reinvented defense, anchored by Micah Parsons’ relentless havoc and a front that bullied Minnesota for four quarters.

McCarthy, making his sixth career start, looked in over his head from the opening series. The second-year passer finished with just 87 yards on 12 completions, threw two fourth-quarter picks, and absorbed five sacks — two of them from Parsons, who repeatedly vaporized the Vikings’ protection. Green Bay held Minnesota without a touchdown and limited them to three passing first downs, a jarring reminder of just how far the Vikings’ offense has fallen since September.

The defining sequence came late in the third quarter. Up 17-6 and with Minnesota pinned deep, Parsons first dusted Christian Darrisaw for a clean-edge sack, then on the very next snap walked Ryan Kelly straight back into McCarthy’s lap, setting up Devonte Wyatt’s sack at the 1-yard line. It was a snapshot of a defense that dictated every moment, and of a quarterback who had no answers.

Green Bay’s secondary finished the job with two interceptions — one by Isaiah McDuffie off a Rashan Gary pressure, and another by rookie safety Evan Williams on a late McCarthy overthrow.

For the Packers (7-3-1), it was the cruise-control win they needed before a short turnaround ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving showdown in Detroit. For the Vikings (4-7), the concerns are mounting. Justin Jefferson was held to just 41 yards, Kevin O’Connell’s conservative early script evaporated once Minnesota fell behind, and the McCarthy offense collapsed into third-and-forever purgatory.

Minnesota will try to stop its three-game slide next week against Seattle, while Green Bay heads toward Thanksgiving with momentum and a defense playing as well as any in football.

Lions Outlast Giants In OT Behind Jahmyr Gibbs’ Monster Performance

The Lions needed someone to save them Sunday, and Jahmyr Gibbs delivered — repeatedly, emphatically, and finally, definitively — on the first snap of overtime.

Detroit’s second-year star took a handoff 69 yards to the house, a lightning bolt through the New York defense that ended a chaotic 34-27 win and kept the Lions firmly planted in the NFC North race. Aidan Hutchinson closed it moments later with a fourth-down sack of Jameis Winston, but there was no mistaking whose day it was.

Gibbs was spectacular from start to finish, piling up 219 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 45 receiving yards, and another score through the air. He touched the ball 26 times and produced 264 scrimmage yards — the kind of all-purpose takeover that only the league’s most explosive backs are capable of. Detroit needed every bit of it in a game where almost everything else went wrong.

Because before Gibbs’ overtime dagger, the Lions spent most of Sunday trying to survive. Detroit’s star wideouts dropped passes. Jared Goff struggled under steady pressure. The defense gave up chunk gains, trick plays, and too many clean looks to a Giants offense missing its best players and starting quarterback.

Jameis Winston nearly outdueled Detroit by himself, throwing two touchdowns, adding a 33-yard score on a gadget play from Gunner Olszewski, and hitting several improbable shots that kept New York in control much of the afternoon.

Detroit moves to 7-4 after the comeback, staying in step in the NFC North on a day when both Chicago and Green Bay also won. And the timing couldn’t be bigger: the Lions now turn immediately to a massive Thanksgiving showdown at home against the Packers — a very different-feeling matchup after a win they nearly let slip away.

NFC North Standings Check

The Bears remain atop the NFC North with a meeting with the Eagles looming, while the Packers and Lions will square off on Thanksgiving.

Extra Points

It takes a village pic.twitter.com/0edpSAiu89

if nothing else, JJ McCarthy's pocket awareness makes every Vikings snap an adventure pic.twitter.com/LTcxqb8f3h

Micah Parsons first 11 games with the Packers: – 10 sacks– 20 QB hits– 60 pressures (leads NFL, per @NextGenStats) pic.twitter.com/1HLLoPn3Ie

Dan Campbell had high praise for Jahmyr Gibbs after the @Lions win ? pic.twitter.com/lXAJeyEkgP

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