# NFC North race Sports · Heat 3.7 / 10 · 4 shows · 40m airtime Through seven weeks of the 2026 season, the NFC North debate centers on Chicago and Minnesota. Chicago's plus-154 snap differential is the largest for any team through seven games since 1966, the Bears have multiple sacks in all seven games, and they lead the league in time of possession at about 36 minutes a game. Minnesota scores 22 points a game and allows 13, though four of their next five are against Detroit, Buffalo, Green Bay and San Francisco. Next Gen Stats gives Minnesota an 89% playoff chance, Detroit 73%, Chicago 67% and Green Bay 45%, and as of now all four teams hold playoff spots. Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/nfc_north_race_1724589825 ## Segments - [PTI](https://boilpoints.com/u/pti), 2026-10-12, 8:27 to 12:19: **Adds the Vikings' margins and closing stretch**. Turns to the NFC North after the Bears' 31-7 loss and Detroit's 45-point day, and puts Minnesota's 5-0 start on the record with its scoring margins and a closing stretch of Detroit, Buffalo, Green Bay and San Francisco. Wilbon calls the Vikings' hold tenuous and predicts a three-way tie. New angle: The Vikings score 22 points a game and allow 13, with four of their next five against Detroit, Buffalo, Green Bay and San Francisco. - [First Take](https://boilpoints.com/u/firsttake), 2026-10-23, 1:49 to 7:42: **Debates the division on a plus-154 snap edge**. Opens the division race as a debate: Orlovsky backs Chicago on a plus-154 snap differential through seven games, the most since 1966, while others take undefeated Minnesota. Frames the season finale in Minnesota and Chicago's trips to Seattle and Detroit as the deciders. New angle: The Bears' plus-154 snap differential through seven games is the largest for any team since 1966. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-23, 10:15 to 12:21: **Argues Chicago can win the NFC North**. Argues Chicago can win the NFC North, then works through the schedule: Seattle, Tampa Bay, a bye, New Orleans, and a trip to Minnesota where a loss means a sweep. Adds a sack-streak stat and a Williams-finish split. New angle: The Bears have multiple sacks in all seven games, tied for the second-longest season-opening streak in 50 years. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-23, 25:27 to 28:23: **Explains how Chicago's offense carries the defense**. Tom Waddle explains how Chicago's offense is carrying the defense: the Bears lead the league in time of possession at about 36 minutes a game, with Minnesota second at about 33 and a half, and have run 505 plays, the most through seven games since 2020. He credits Dennis Allen with overproducing on a thinner roster. New angle: The Bears lead the league in time of possession at about 36 minutes a game, with the Vikings second at about 33 and a half. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-26, 37:12 to 42:25: **Debunks the all-four-teams NFC North take**. Takes up a listener's overreaction that the NFC North will be the first division to send all four teams to the playoffs and knocks it down, pointing to Seattle and the 49ers in the West. The rest is a rehash of the Packers' flags and drops from the Detroit loss. New angle: The Packers have eight roughing the passer penalties through seven weeks; no other team has more than four. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-26, 20:24 to 21:52: **Walks the Vikings' schedule and takes the under**. Walks the Vikings' remaining schedule game by game and argues there are not eight losses on it, taking the under on a 9-8 prediction. Stays inside the NFC North debate already on the record, adding only the Bears' Week 7 win over New England. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-26, 13:36 to 15:44: **Makes his NFC North pick for Minnesota**. Spears makes his NFC North pick on air: Minnesota, on complementary football, while conceding the offense scores little. His heart is with Chicago because Caleb Williams is the division's best player at the most important position, with doubts about the Bears' defense and Goff without a run game. A pick, not a new fact. - [The Ryen Russillo Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/theryenrussilloshow), 2026-10-26, 40:16 to 48:05: **Ranks the NFC North with playoff odds**. Ranks the NFC North on air, with Nate Tice taking the Bears and Russillo going Bears, Vikings, Lions, Packers. Adds Next Gen Stats playoff odds for all four teams and a roughing-the-passer count that dwarfs the rest of the league. New angle: Next Gen Stats gives Minnesota an 89% playoff chance, Detroit 73%, Chicago 67% and Green Bay 45%. - [The Rich Eisen Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/thericheisenshow), 2026-10-29, 30:08 to 32:44: **Recaps the division picture and leans Bears**. Turns the Simmons trade into an NFC North question and gets Jeff Saturday to lean Bears, but the substance is a recap of the division picture already on the record: everyone above .500, Minnesota unbeaten, Detroit and Minnesota meeting this week, Parsons coming back for Green Bay. - [The Ryen Russillo Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/theryenrussilloshow), 2026-10-29, 7:54 to 10:40: **Re-ranks the North after the trade**. Ranks the NFC North after the Simmons trade: Woody has Chicago first on Caleb Williams' improved play and the new front, then Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay. Opinion and re-ranking, with the Vikings' undefeated record and Goff's clean sheet as backdrop. - [The Ryen Russillo Show](https://boilpoints.com/u/theryenrussilloshow), 2026-10-29, 18:41 to 21:31: **Maps the NFC seeding snapshot**. Runs the NFC bracket as it stands and lands on a seeding snapshot: all four NFC North teams in, Minnesota the one seed, Chicago five, Detroit six, Green Bay seven. Woody would leave the Rams out of the Rams-Falcons-Seahawks trio and takes the Giants over the Cowboys on coaching and identity. New angle: As of now all four NFC North teams are in the playoffs: Minnesota one, Chicago five, Detroit six, Green Bay seven.