Honestly, if you tried to script the way the North divisions ended this year, a Hollywood producer would probably kick you out of the office for being "unrealistic." We just witnessed a regular season where the NFC North saw every single team finish above .500—a feat so rare it’s only happened once before in the post-merger era—while the AFC North crown was decided by a literal goal-line stand in the final seconds of Week 18.
The dust has finally settled. The playoff brackets are mostly filled. If you’re looking at the NFL standings North division results right now, you aren't just looking at wins and losses; you’re looking at a complete changing of the guard.
For the first time since 2018, the Chicago Bears are kings of the NFC North. Meanwhile, in the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers clawed their way to a division title with a 10-7 record that feels much grittier than the number suggests. Let’s get into the weeds of how this actually happened and why the "North" is currently the most terrifying place to play professional football.
The NFC North: A Four-Way Bloodbath
Look, the Chicago Bears winning the division with an 11-6 record is the headline. But the real story is that the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings both finished 9-8 and still missed the division crown. It was that tight.
How Chicago Actually Flipped the Script
Caleb Williams isn't just a "prospect" anymore. He's a problem. Under rookie head coach Ben Johnson—who basically turned the Windy City into an offensive laboratory—Williams threw for 4,303 yards and 29 touchdowns. The Bears clinched the division in Week 17 when the Packers stumbled against Baltimore, but they earned it by sweeping the NFC East and holding their own in a division where nobody is "bad."
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The weirdest stat? The Bears won the North despite a 2-4 record inside the division. They are the first team since the 2010 Chiefs to pull off a division title while getting beat up by their immediate neighbors. They took care of business everywhere else, then leaned on a defense anchored by Montez Sweat to close the door.
The Packers, Vikings, and Lions: The 9-Win Logjam
Green Bay finished 9-7-1. That "1" is a tie that will haunt Matt LaFleur’s dreams for a while. They managed to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card, but as we saw in the Wild Card round, the magic ran out against those very same Bears at Soldier Field.
Minnesota and Detroit are the hard-luck stories of 2025.
- Detroit: Jared Goff put up monster numbers (4,564 yards!), and Amon-Ra St. Brown was a target vacuum with 117 catches. But a 2-4 divisional record killed them.
- Minnesota: J.J. McCarthy’s injury-shortened season forced a rotation of Carson Wentz and Sam Darnold. They finished strong with a five-game win streak, but it was too little, too late.
The AFC North: Survival of the Grittiest
If the NFC North was about high-flying offenses and young QBs, the AFC North was a back-alley brawl. The NFL standings North division for the AFC side show the Pittsburgh Steelers on top at 10-7.
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Think about that. In any other year, 10-7 might get you a Wild Card spot. In the 2025 AFC North, it got you a trophy and a home playoff game.
Pittsburgh’s Defensive Masterclass
The Steelers didn't win with style points. They won because T.J. Watt is still a human wrecking ball. They finished the season with a +10 point differential—the lowest for a division winner in years. They beat the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 in Week 18 to clinch. It was a game decided by inches, literally, as Lamar Jackson was stopped just short on a crucial late-game scramble.
The Baltimore Collapse
The Ravens entered the year as Super Bowl favorites. They finished 8-9. What happened?
- Injuries: The secondary was a revolving door by November.
- Coaching Turnover: Reports are already swirling about a massive overhaul in Baltimore.
- Efficiency: Lamar Jackson was still Lamar, but the "clutch" factor that usually defines the Ravens vanished in one-score games.
The Bengals and Browns: Looking Toward 2026
Cincinnati (6-11) and Cleveland (5-12) are currently in "soul-searching" mode. Joe Burrow stayed relatively healthy, but the interior offensive line was a sieve, ranking in the bottom third of the league in sack rate.
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As for the Browns, they’ve already moved on from Kevin Stefanski. The 2026 offseason is officially a "rebuild" year in Cleveland, even if they won't use that word publicly.
Why These Standings Matter for Your 2026 Bracket
If you're already looking at next year (and let's be real, NFL fans always are), the North divisions are the ultimate "strength of schedule" trap.
Because the NFC North finished with everyone above .500, the "last place" Lions will actually have a harder schedule than many division winners in the South. The parity is so high that there’s no such thing as a "get right" game in these eight teams.
Surprising Statistical Nuggets
- Passing Dominance: Three of the top five passing yardage leaders in the NFC came from the North (Goff, Williams, and Love).
- Rushing Resurgence: D’Andre Swift quietly put up 1,141 yards for Chicago, proving he was the missing piece for Caleb Williams' development.
- Tight End U: Colston Loveland (Bears) and Sam LaPorta (Lions) have officially made the North the epicenter of the modern "Big Slot" tight end movement.
What You Should Do Next
The NFL landscape moves fast. If you're trying to keep up with the NFL standings North division or prep for the 2026 draft cycle, here is your immediate checklist:
- Watch the Coaching Carousel: Keep a close eye on Baltimore and Cleveland. The AFC North is losing a lot of institutional knowledge with recent firings, and the new hires will define the next three years of the division.
- Monitor Free Agency: The Vikings have a major decision to make at QB. Do they commit to McCarthy fully, or bring in another high-priced veteran?
- Draft Strategy: Both the Bengals and Browns are desperate for offensive line help. If you're into mock drafts, start looking at the top-tier tackles available in the 2026 class; that's where the North will be won or lost in the trenches next September.
The North isn't just a division; it's a gauntlet. Whether it’s the Bears' "Ben Johnson" era or the Steelers' "Standard is the Standard" grit, these standings tell a story of a league that has finally found its competitive balance.
Keep an eye on the injury reports and cap space updates. The road to the 2027 Super Bowl almost certainly runs through a frozen field in either Chicago or Pittsburgh.