Sports · American Football · 3 hrs ago
NFC North has a 36% chance of sending all four teams to playoffs
The Vikings, Bears, Lions and Packers are all in playoff contention after eight weeks of the NFL season.
The four teams make up the NFC North, which had a combined 22 wins and eight losses, the league’s best division record so far.
In Week 8, Green Bay beat Carolina, Detroit beat previously unbeaten Minnesota, and Chicago defeated reigning champion Seattle.
The NFC North has a 36% chance of sending all four teams to the playoffs, based on projections for each team.
That would be a first under the NFL’s current playoff and division setup, which has allowed four teams from one division to qualify since 2020.
The Packers are last in the division at 5-3, but their record is unusually strong for a last-place team at this point in a season.
All four teams still need to keep winning, and the projections could change as the season continues.
The NFC North has an estimated 36% chance of sending all four teams to the playoffs, according to SportsLine projections reported by CBS Sports.
After eight weeks, the division’s teams had a combined 22-8 record, the best in the NFL that season.
The Packers, in last place in the division, were 5-3, the best record for a last-place team in a division through eight weeks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Vikings, Bears and Lions each had at least an 83% projected chance of making the playoffs.
No division has sent four teams to the playoffs since the NFL’s 2002 realignment.
- Who
- The Vikings, Bears, Lions and Packers of the NFC North.
- What
- The division has a 36% projected chance of sending all four teams to the playoffs.
- When
- The report was published on November 3, 2026, after Week 8.
- Where
- The NFC North, in the NFL.
- Why
- The division’s teams had a combined 22-8 record through eight weeks, including a 17-3 record against non-division opponents.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Packers beat the Panthers, the Lions beat the previously unbeaten Vikings, and the Bears beat the reigning-champion Seahawks.
The NFC North had a combined 22-8 record and a 17-3 record against non-division opponents.
CBS Sports reported the division had a 36% chance of sending all four teams to the playoffs.
- Division record after eight weeks
- 22-8
- Record against non-division opponents
- 17-3
- Vikings playoff projection
- 88%
- Bears playoff projection
- 87%
- Lions playoff projection
- 83%
- Packers playoff projection
- 56%