The Green Bay Packers have an opportunity to take control of the NFC North with a victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 14, but the Detroit Lions delivered an important reminder on Thursday Night Football.
Many wrote the Lions off in the NFC North race, and even the playoff picture, after the Packers beat them on Thanksgiving, but their emphatic 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys changes the calculus.
With that victory, the Lions improve to 8-5 and share the same win tally as the Packers. Of course, Green Bay has lost two fewer games and has one tie, but a loss to Chicago would close the gap and make things far more tense in the playoff picture.