National Football League

Lions riding high; Vikings offense sputters; Justin Fields' status: NFC North notebook

Updated Nov. 21, 2022 11:29 p.m. ET

The kings of the NFC North were knocked down a peg in Week 11 after the Minnesota Vikings suffered an absolute beat down at home by a resurgent Dallas Cowboys team. It was a 40-3 drubbing where nothing at all went right for the purple and gold.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions, once in the basement of the division, now own the largest win streak in the entire conference after knocking off their third-straight opponent. They've now yielded the basement to the Chicago Bears, who are at 3-6 and might have reached a breaking point with their young, budding quarterback.

Here's more from what went on around the division in Week 11:

Lions Riding Longest Win Streak in NFC

It's a game of threes for the Detroit Lions.

The 4-6 Lions have the longest win streak in the NFC, including a convincing victory on Sunday in the Meadowlands against the New York Giants. And the threes don't stop there.

Even though the legitimacy of the Giants' success was still a question, they were favored over the Lions by three points according to Vegas odds. I don't think anyone expected what was to come — even after the first quarter. The score was 6-3 heading into the second, with New York holding a three-point lead thanks to a touchdown and blocked extra point. It looked like it was going to be one of those games, until Lions' running back Jamaal Williams busted things wide open.

Williams scored not one, not two, but three rushing touchdowns in just 10 minutes of game clock, and with 10 minutes to go in the third quarter, Detroit held a commanding 24-6 lead.

Jamaal Williams leads the Lions to a 31-18 victory

Jamaal Williams now leads the NFL in rushing TDs after his 64-yard, three-TD performance, helping the Detroit Lions beat the New York Giants 31-18.

Defensively, the Lions forced three takeaways, winning the turnover margin 3-0 as a result. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson recorded his second pick in three games after never catching an interception before in his career, even in college. Rookie safety Kerby Joseph had the team's other pick and now has three on the season. And according to the team, the last time Lions rookies have combined for at least five interceptions in a season was in 1986, with safety Devon Mitchell recording them all himself.

The Giants had won five of their last six games, and at 7-2 had one of the best records in the NFC entering Week 11. The Lions had just climbed out of the cellar of the NFC North behind two straight wins over division opponents after starting the season 1-6. Detroit will be hosting the Buffalo Bills for Thanksgiving this year, which could put an end to their string of success. But after that, they'll face the Jaguars, Vikings, Jets and Panthers.

And they've put Jameson Williams, their potential star rookie draft pick, into the three-week designated to return window. Williams returned to practice this week but could need the full 21 days to acclimate before he plays.

"I think it's just let's see where he's at because really the rehab that he's done now that even though this is technically not practice if you will, it's more walkthrough mode," head coach Dan Campbell said on Monday. "But the things that he'll do starting today out there live are much more football oriented. So, I think we — we'll just see where he can go and see how fast he can get there."

Vikings Jefferson Offers Criticism After Record-Setting Day

Though he only finished with three receptions for 33 yards (which was still a whopping 18% of the team's total yards on the day), Justin Jefferson continues to set records left and right. He now holds the Vikings' franchise record for most receiving yards through a player's first 10 games in a season with 1,093.

But it was a down day for the Vikings' franchise player in an even worse game. The Vikings scored a field goal on their first possession against the Cowboys. They didn't score again.

"It's tough with Kirk (Cousins) getting sacked before you're even getting out of the break," Jefferson said on Monday. "It's definitely being in a tough situation, but we've just got to move toward more quick game, getting the ball out quicker, putting the ball in space and letting people work, just things we need to adjust on just throughout the game.

"If things are not working out the way we planned, then we need to find a way to adjust and go toward something that will work better for us. We just can't continue to keep doing the same thing throughout the game even though it's not working. But we've got to be better as a whole team. It's good because we have a chance to do that in three days."

Dak Prescott, Cowboys embarrass Vikings with 40-3 win at Minnesota

Skip Bayless reacts to the Cowboys' 40-3 win against Kirk Cousins and the Vikings.

The Vikings play the Patriots on Thanksgiving at their place. It's a prime-time matchup and a chance for Minnesota to get back in the good graces of an already skeptical national audience, and perhaps more so, their own fans. It bears repeating that the success the 8-2 Vikings have already had was far from expected. They have an entirely new staff, on both sides of the ball, and therefore have implemented a new system with more than a few new players.

"I mean, of course I wish we had adjusted faster throughout the game," Jefferson continued. "Getting the ball out quicker, not letting Micah Parsons and the rest of that D-line get a chance to get back there to Kirk. So it's just things we need to learn from. This is a new team. This is a new coaching staff. We have new players on this team. We're all still learning each other. We're still all learning how to play with each other."

Bears Haven't Ruled Out Shutting Down Justin Fields

Bears quarterback Justin Fields was hurting toward the end of Chicago's loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The reason why was multiple. He was dealing with cramps throughout the fourth quarter. He had suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder sometime during the Bears' final drive. Not least of all, he was exhausted. He registered a season-high 18 rushes.

Fields is at a breaking point.

Falcons take down the Bears 27-24

The Atlanta Falcons defeat the Chicago Bears 27-24 with the help of QB Marcus Mariota's 131 passing yards, Cordarrelle Patterson's NINTH (all-time record) kick off return for a touchdown, Younghoe Koo's 55-yard field goal, and Jaylinn Hawkins' game winning interception.

Head coach Matt Eberflus met with the media on Monday following a game in which his QB was eventually carted off to get X-rays and be evaluated by a doctor. Eberflus initially said the results weren't available while speaking with reporters postgame. On Monday, citing competitive advantage reasons, he didn't elaborate much further on Fields' condition.

"Obviously, you guys know the injury report comes out Wednesday and right now it's day-to-day," Eberflus said. "We'll see where he is on Wednesday. So, we've got time, we'll see where it is and go from there."

But when pressed on if Fields' injury could be season-ending, Eberflus didn't elaborate yet didn't rule it out, either.

"We have not ruled that out at this point," Eberflus said. "We'll see where it is on Wednesday."

Fields took nine hits in Sunday's game — and that's just what showed up on the stat sheet. It's more given those 18 aforementioned rushes. Most of them were designed runs, as opposed to scrambles, as well. And while the Bears are infinitely more productive running this type of offense in which Fields shoulders most of the load, it's not sustainable. They need to develop him more as a passer, if not for his development, than for his safety.

Chicago likely knows the plan for Fields moving forward. Two days isn't likely to change a decision like that. They have the New York Jets on Sunday in New Jersey, where they'll play a team with its own question mark under center after head coach Robert Saleh told reporters Monday he wasn't committing to Zach Wilson as his starter.

It looks like both teams will be forcing the other into preparing for multiple scenarios.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.