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The Green Bay Packers are now in control of their own destiny as the NFC’s top playoff seed thanks to a few other decisive Week 14 matchups breaking in their favor on Sunday.
The Packers (10-3) did their part with a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions (5-8) on Sunday night, but the Minnesota Vikings (6-7) losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5) earlier in the afternoon also allowed Green Bay to clinch the NFC North title for a second straight season. While all three of their divisional rivals remain alive in the wild-card race, none can close the gap with the Packers now ahead by four games.
Surprisingly, the Packers were able to take control of the No. 1 seed in the conference as well as after the Philadelphia Eagles (4-8-1) knocked off the New Orleans Saints (10-3). Despite identical records, the Packers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after beating the Saints on the road in Week 3.
Here’s a breakdown of the NFC playoff picture after Week 14’s slate of games along with an updated look at which postseason scenarios remain for the Packers:
*Note: All data and percentages included here are courtesy of Playoff Status.
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Saints Slip, Washington Takes Lead
The Saints have lost their leverage on the conference’s lone first-round bye after an ugly loss to a struggling Eagles team. Now, they will need a Packers loss to move back up from the No. 2 spot — and that’s assuming they keep winning with a huge challenge coming up in Week 15 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Packers, meanwhile, can win out and secure their fate as the No. 1 seed, but even one loss over their final three games could put their standing in jeopardy with the Seattle Seahawks (9-4) and Los Angeles Rams (9-4) staying competitive at the top of the NFC. Technically, any one of those four teams can still finish top-seeded if the others around them experience a stretch of losing.
The No. 4 seed — or the NFC East’s representation, as it has lately become known — can still belong to whichever team rises to take it, but the Washington Football Team (6-7) is leading the way after downing the San Francisco 49ers (5-8) on Sunday. The Eagles’ win them in the running with the second-place New York Giants (5-8) and barely-hanging-on Dallas Cowboys (4-9).
As for the three wild-card spots, one of them would seem destined for whichever team loses the NFC West between Seahawks and Rams. The Buccaneers join them at least one game ahead of the rest of the pack and would easily find their way into the postseason by winning out. It is also not impossible for Tampa Bay to still overtake New Orleans in the NFC South; though, it would require at least two more Saints losses.
The Arizona Cardinals (7-6), Chicago Bears (6-7) and Vikings are the remaining contenders with the best shot at claiming the third and final wild-card spot.
What Playoff Scenarios Remain for Packers?
The Packers no longer need favors from other teams around the league to ensure they enter the playoffs as the NFC’s top team. Win out and Green Bay will not only have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs but also the coveted first-round bye that, due to new rule changes, is awarded only to each of the conference’s top teams.
At the same time, the Packers could have a lot go wrong over the next three weeks and still finish up in a pretty solid spot for the postseason. Their division-clinching win over the Lions on Sunday guarantees they will finish no lower than the No. 3 seed in the NFC even if they lose all three of their final games against Carolina, Tennessee and Chicago.
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