In four divisions of the eight NFL divisions, nine wins would get you the No. 1 spot right now. In six divisions, 10 wins would put you as the leader. Yet the NFC North, nine wins only gets you third place and 10 wins puts you at No. 2.
The NFC North is the most competitive division in football right now, with the Detroit Lions sitting at 11-1, the Minnesota Vikings at 10-2 and the Green Bay Packers at 9-3. The Chicago Bears close out the division at 4-8. Their total record is an impressive 34-14.
The Lions, Vikings and Packers have made NFL history with their dominant play this year. They are the first division since the 2002 realignment to have three nine-win teams heading into Week 14. We have to go back to 1985 for the last time this happened when the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets were all 9-4 heading into Week 14.
If the season ended right now, the Lions would secure the division title, the No. 1 seed and the lone NFC bye in the playoffs. Since the top four seeds go to divisional winners, the Vikings would be the No. 5 seed and the Packers would be the No. 6 seed.
The other current divisional leaders, the Philadelphia Eagles (10-2), Seattle Seahawks (7-5) and Atlanta Falcons (6-6), have the same or worse record than the Vikings, while the Packers have a better record than two of the higher-seeded teams.
The Lions and Packers will face off on "Thursday Night Football" to kick off Week 14. The Vikings face the Falcons this week.
