Once again, each of the inferior North teams has pulled off a win, while the Packers lose in large part because of insane officiating. Don't bother to bring up the whiny stuff about the Packers having a chance to win the game; we all know that, and it just makes it more annoying. They still could've won, but they should've won easily. And it isn't just a few plays either. It's the Lions' defensive strategy being all about holding with no calls, and then a super questionable PI being called on a Packers interception. It's about Jordan Love getting hit constantly and then two non-penalty rouging the passers extending drives. It's about Matthew Golden getting a 15-yard penalty for taunting one week and the entire Lions team launching into the dorkiest taunting dance routine you've ever seen and making the official NFL twitter account. Let's get into the games, I guess.
Lions
The last year or so of Chicago Bears fans losing their minds because they had their first good year in twenty really made me forget how annoying Lions fans are. Packers fans en masse are rightfully pissed about this travesty as a game, and the Lions fan response is, from almost every single one of them, "Yeah, but 11 years ago there was one penalty that I think is wrong before the Hail Mary throw." They don't mention that not only was there a finger in Rodgers' facemask, but it also turned his head. How would that ever not be called? Sure, you can go to slow-mo and zoom in 10x and question it, but give me a break. And even if it isn't a true facemask, call it is a make-up call. Go to the 11-minute mark in this video. In the play before the facemask, Jared Abbrederis is obviously interfered with. His jersey is pulled off his shoulder pad. Should've been called pass interference and wasn't. Packers would've been in clear field goal range and likely won the game. A make-up call 11 years ago doesn't dismiss the nonsense that happened on Sunday.
The Packers defense left a little to be desired in the game. The Lions offense is great, but they pretty much moved the ball at will all day. They had 415 yards, including 9.2 yards per attempt and 3.6 yards per carry. That low of a YPC is nice until you wake up sweating in the middle of the night remembering Jahmyr Gibbs running people over while four Lions offensive linemen attempt to hurt people diving onto the pile late for no reason at all.
Speaking of attempting to hurt people for no reason at all, Brian Branch returned and immediately attempted to concuss Tucker Kraft on a, surprisingly, uncalled dirty helmet-to-helmet attempt. Branch had an arm punt interception that is fruit of the poisonous tree since it came one play after an uncalled PI that would've moved the ball down the field and caused the play not to happen. Lions fans will surely hold onto that pick for years.
Jahmyr Gibbs had a lot of yards on a lot of touches, but the Sun God was the star for the Lions. He ate up the Packers zone defense all day and ended up with nine catches for 153 yards.
Green Bay Packers 2026 penalty numbers, specifically on all-important THIRD DOWN plays & in the FOURTH QTR of games The #Packers lead the #NFL in 4TH qtr penalty per game avg, recording historically high numbers in this category Compounding that, the @packers have off-the-charts numbers surrendering AUTOMATIC 1ST DOWNS via penalty on THIRD DOWN plays (& primarily in the 4th qtr) None of this is news to Green Bay players/coaches or fans Three games in particular this season (@Vikings @Lions & vs Cowboys) were beyond ridiculous w' officiating in the 4th qtr of those contests There are many numbers I can detail going back two decades but ill use 2021/2025 five-yr data as comparison to highlight the statistical improbablity of the 2026 stats Green Bay is surrendering 1.71 AUTOMATIC 1ST DOWNS per game on THIRD DOWN To put that in perspective, over the past 5 seasons the next highest avg in this category is the 2023 Titans (0.94 per game) & the 2021 #Bills at 0.89 per game GB is averaging almost DOUBLE per game of the next highest penalized team over past 5 seasons in this category In the FOURTH QTR, Green Bay is surrendering 1.29 AUTOMATIC 1ST DOWNS via penalty in 2026 The next closest to that the past five seasons is the 2024 Commanders at 0.90 per 4th qtr The bulk of Packers ROUGHING THE PASSER & UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS & ILLEGAL CONTACT penalties have occurred in the 4th qtr (see clip #GBvsMIN Week 1 w' Shawn Hochuli) For the record im not a Packers fan, just someone that studies data But I watch every game & the officiating in some GB contests this season has been diabolical late The general response is "just play better" so a bad call or calls have no impact on the final outcome That sounds great & im sure every team would love to be ahead 50-0 in the 4th so an atrocious UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS penalty has zero impact But the fact is most games come down to the final 10 mins & if you're on the wrong end of bad calls in the 4th qtr & particularly on 3rd down, its near impossible to overcome Its up to Matt LaFleur & Packers hierarchy to inform @NFLOfficiating & start calling out the one-sided numbers The positive would be these numbers can't continue indefinitely & GB does have 6 more games at Lambeau Field, where they historically have received better treatment #GoPackGo
— nflrefstats (@nflrefstats1) October 26, 2026
Bears
The Bears beat the Patriots 30-24 on Thursday night. After a week of criticism about his average depth of target, Caleb Williams attempted ten passes over ten yards and completed six of them. He was 14/15 on passes below seven yards and still has the lowest ADOT in the league by half a yard.
Luther Burden was the real MVP in this game for the Bears. He had 130 yards on 4 catches, much of it coming after the catch. All four catches came in the first half.
D'Andre Slow had a piddly 3.5 yards per carry on 22 attempts.
The Bears defense played better than you'd expect excepting a wild play at the end of the first half where Rhamondre Stevenson scored on a 48-yard screen pass as time expired, and the Bears seemingly forgot the game was happening and hardly tried to tackle him.
The much awaited Drake Maye/Caleb Williams pass chart comparison from tonight’s game. https://t.co/TuVPmmRzBy
— Trey² (@PeanutChillman) October 23, 2026
Vikings
The blitzing has gone to a level almost never before seen. The Vikings beat the Colts 16-10 in a game where the blitzed on 85% of dropbacks. Daniel Jones, who was the Colts' savior just last year when they were the best team in the league for a few weeks, went 13/22 for 108 yards and a pick.
The Vikings have the best defense in the league, and basically every smart DC, including Jonathan Gannon, is now running a lot of the same types of simulated pressures. I have to say that is a relief after almost every DC in the league wanted to use umbrella coverage and bend but don't break defense for a few years. Horrific. If the Packers end up moving on from LaFleur, I hope Flores is the hire.
The Vikings' offense isn't as inspiring: Kyler Murray had a 90 QB rating, Justin Jefferson had 44 yards, and Aaron Jones had 26 before leaving with an injury. The immovable object vs. unstoppable force match-up comes next week when the Vikings and Lions play. Have to wonder if they both blew their whole ref payoff budget in their respective Packers games.
The Vikings are the last undefeated team in 2026 Their offense ranks 29th in EPA/play 30th in success rate 24th in EPA/pass 26th in pass success rate 27th in EPA/rush 30th in rush success rate 30th in YAC 22nd in YPA 24th in % of stuffed runs
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) October 26, 2026
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.