I have never seen this before.
Two weeks ago, a first place team led their division by a half game, lost to the second place team and now the same two teams meet again and the team that won two weeks ago is again a half game back in the standings.
So many things have to come into play for this situation to occur. First, to have only a half game between the two teams a tie has to be involved … a rarity in the National Football league. Second, the first and second place teams need to be meeting twice in a three week period and the team that won two weeks ago to move into first place needs to lose their next game while the loser from two weeks ago needs to have won last week.
All those things happened with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers in their race for the NFC North Division title. To keep this even more interesting, the third place team, the Detroit Lions, have already beaten the first place team and are just two games back in the won/loss column.
In other words, the NFC North division is a dogfight between a trio of quality teams.
So, the Packers won two weeks ago to move into first place and are now back in second after their loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday while the Bears were vanquishing the overmatched Cleveland Browns. The Packers and Bears are part of today’s NFL doubleheader with a kickoff tonight at 5:20 p.m. Pacific Time. The first game of the day is an NFC East battle between the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles and the team they beat in last year’s NFC Championship Game, the Washington Commanders. That contest kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
The Eagles, who have struggled this year a lot more than during their Super Bowl season, come into play today leading their division with a 9 and 5 record. The Commanders are struggling even more this year following their surprise breakthrough campaign last season and are already eliminated from playoff contention with a 4 and 9 season mark.
The Eagles are favored by seven points; the public is behind them with more than three-quarters of the wagers on this game taking the defending champs. The Eagles had an easy romp win over the Las Vegas Raiders last week, 31-0, to snap a three-game losing streak suffered against the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers. This is the first meeting of the season between the Commanders and Eagles; they will also close out the regular season in Philadelphia in two weeks.
Taking the Eagles as a touchdown road favorite against a team they creamed in last year’s playoffs doesn’t seem smart. Taking the Commanders against anyone this year is also a dicey proposition. Their 4-10 straight-up record also computes to a 5-9 losing mark against the point spread.
While we have no play in the early game, the late game offers a solid point spread investment.
On the eve of the 2025 season, the Packers completed a blockbuster trade to acquire Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys. His arrival had Packers fans thinking he was the final piece to lift their team to a Super Bowl triumph.
Green Bay already had a potent offensive attack behind seven-year veteran quarterback Jordan Love. The addition of Parsons to a good but not great defense appeared to be the final cog to best assure a Super Bowl run.
With him, the Packers were not invincible. Still, they were good enough to move into first place over the Chicago Bears two weeks ago, and before Parsons suffered his season ending injury last Sunday in Denver the Packers were leading in that game.
When Parsons was injured last week in Denver, the Packers held a 23-21 lead. Without him, over the final 16 minutes of play, the Broncos scored 13 points and won the game 34-26.
Now what?
The savior that joined the team just before the regular season kicked off is now out for the season with a torn ACL
Where does this leave the Packers?
For at least this week, on full alert to compensate for Parsons’ loss and perfectly poised to hand the Bears their second loss in three weeks while regaining first place in the NFC North.
Qoxhi Picks: Green Bay Packers (+1) over Chicago Bears.