Playoffs? After Terrible Start, Here’s Where Packers Stand in NFC Playoff Race

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL when they were booed off the field in their loss to the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago. Their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t exactly create more confidence in their playoff viability.

So, what a difference one game can make. The Packers blasted the Chicago Bears on Sunday. For all of the stupid penalties and sloppy play, they have a 3-2 record. If the season were to end today – with 12 games remaining, the season, obviously, is a lot closer to the starting line than the finish line – the Packers would be in a familiar place.

The playoffs.

The Packers are in fifth place in the latest NFC playoff standings. That’s the No. 1 spot among the wild-card teams.

NFC Playoff Standings

Division leaders

1. Minnesota Vikings: 5-0

2. San Francisco 49ers: 5-0

3. New York Giants: 3-1-1

4. Carolina Panthers: 2-2

Wild cards

5. Green Bay Packers: 3-2

6. Detroit Lions: 3-2

7. Chicago Bears: 3-2

Outside looking in

8. Seattle Seahawks: 3-2

9. Los Angeles Rams: 2-3

10. Atlanta Falcons: 2-3

11. Philadelphia Eagles: 2-3

12. Dallas Cowboys: 2-3

13. Washington Commanders: 1-3-1

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 1-4

15. New Orleans Saints: 1-4

16. Arizona Cardinals: 1-4

It’s Early – Obviously

Again, there’s a lot of season to be played, so Green Bay’s win over Chicago is carrying most of the weight in the playoff standings. The Packers, Lions, Bears and Seahawks are in fifth through eighth place in the NFC, respectively, with 3-2 records.

Seattle has the worst conference record among those teams so is eighth. That leaves the NFC North teams jockeying for position. In the division-games tiebreaker, Green Bay, which is 1-1 against NFC North foes, has more wins than Detroit (0-0) and Chicago (0-2).

The point here is that the Packers, for everything they did wrong during the first quarter of the season, are right where they need to be. The key for this opening stretch of games has been to stay afloat until Micah Parsons returns on defense and Josh Jacobs (potentially) returns on offense.

So far, it’s mission accomplished. But one game can’t be just one game. It must be the starting point.

“Man, it’s stacking,” quarterback Jordan Love said after the game. “You’ve just got to keep stacking stuff. Great win today but it’s all about how we get back to the film room, continue to build on this performance, continue to build on the plays we did well, cleaning up some of the stuff we didn’t do as well, and just attacking it.

“It’s going to be a new opponent next week, a new defense, so we’ve got to keep building on this. It feels good when everybody’s clicking and making plays. It’s something that we’ve got to keep it rolling.”

They Have To Play Better

Of the eight teams with winning records, the Packers are the only team with a negative scoring differential.

Going in the order of the playoff standings, the Vikings are plus-45, the 49ers are plus-61, the Giants are plus-3, the Panthers are plus-12, the Packers are minus-8, the Lions are plus-16, the Bears are plus-23 and the Seahawks are plus-29.

Green Bay’s three wins have come against teams with a combined six wins, giving it a strength of victory of.400. That doesn’t seem too good, but the Vikings’ five wins have come against teams with eight victories and Detroit’s three wins have come against teams with four victories.

“There was a whole lot on display out there today,” receiver Christian Watson said after a dominant performance. “The defense came out to play. They put us in the best possible position, getting the ball back for us, what, five times? We can’t ask for much more from the defense. Obviously, we were able to put some points out there on offense, make plays when our numbers are called. That was big-time.

“I think that we all knew what we were capable of. We’ve got to just find a way to consistently be that, consistently be even better than that to obviously achieve the goals we want to achieve. That’s the team that we are.”

NFC North Strength of Schedule

Five games, obviously, is a small sample size. But it’s not so small that remaining strength of schedule is irrelevant.

According to Tankathon, the Packers’ final 12 opponents have a combined winning percentage of .492. That’s in a six-way tie for 18th.

The Vikings have the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL, with their remaining opponents having a .568 winning percentage. The Bears are seventh at .533 and the Lions are ninth at .525.

After a soft open to the schedule, the Packers scored a big win over Chicago in their first big test on Sunday. They will host the Dallas Cowboys (2-3) on Sunday night, play at the Lions (3-2) the following Sunday and then host the NFC South-leading Carolina Panthers (2-2) on Thursday night.

Then, it’s a trip to New England to face the Patriots (3-2) and a home game against the first-place Vikings (5-0) before the pseudo bye week preceding the Wednesday night game at the Los Angeles Rams (2-3).

“I think just keeping the main thing the main thing,” safety Xavier McKinney said after the game. “Obviously, every week we want to go in and be 1-0. I think that we did a great job throughout the whole week of keeping the main thing the main thing.

“Having that urgency, having that mindset of going in and not really worrying about really the opponent but worrying about what we’re doing internally and figuring out how we can go out there and execute the play as given to us. I think that’s what we did this week and it was able to show today.”

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