There’s a new favorite in the NFC North after Detroit’s 31-29 win at Minnesota on Sunday gives them the current tiebreaker with the Vikings in the division, with both teams owning 5-1 records. With Green Bay’s win over Houston on Sunday, the NFC North continues to emerge as the best division in football through the first seven weeks of the season.
Quarterback play in the NFC North has been particularly good to start the season and could well have all four teams in the thick of the NFC playoff race through January. Let’s take a look at the quarterback play and where the division stands heading into Week 8:
DETROIT
Last week: Detroit 31, Minnesota 29
Following : against Tennessee (1-5)
Strategist: Jared Goff – 128 for 174 (73.6%), 1,610 yards, 10 TD, 4 INT, 111.5 rating
Fun fact: The Lions have more touchdowns (18) than Goff has thrown incompletions (16) in Detroit’s last four games. This is a crazy statistic. Detroit is the only team to do this since the NFL/AFL merger.
Twentyman: Goff leads the NFL in passer rating and is second in completion percentage. He’s playing arguably the best football of his career and is in complete control of Ben Johnson’s offense.
It’s no coincidence that Goff’s torrid play also coincides with the Lions winning four straight games and producing 30 or more points in three straight games. There’s still plenty of football to be played, but Goff should be in the early MVP conversation.
