The Lions, Vikings, Packers have gone from dominant to duds outside of the NFC North

After the regular-season finale in Detroit, Lions coach Dan Campbell told Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, “See you in two weeks.”

Less than two weeks later, both teams said “see you” in the postseason.

The playoff collapse of the NFC North’s big three — the Lions, Vikings and Packers — stands in stark contrast to their regular-season dominance outside the confines of the black and blue division.

As a reader pointed out, and as we confirmed by checking the schedule and counting the games, the Lions, Vikings and Packers went a combined 29-4 against non-division teams in the regular season. They were 0-3 against non-NFC North teams in the playoffs.

Minnesota and Green Bay were each 10-1 against non-division opponents. The Lions were 9-2.

Last weekend, Green Bay lost to the Eagles and Minnesota lost to the Rams. On Saturday, the Lions fell to the commanders.

Their records were bolstered by a rotating schedule that saw them play each of the AFC South and NFC West teams, with the 17th game coming from one of the AFC East teams.

Next year won’t be nearly as easy. The NFC North teams play the AFC North and NFC East teams, and Game 17 is against the AFC West teams — the Lions face the Chiefs, the Vikings play the Chargers, the Packers play the Broncos, and the Bears draw the Raiders.

So their regular season record outside the division won’t be as good in 2025. Their postseason record against non-NFC North teams, however, can’t be any worse.