Week 9 was Excellent for the Green Bay Packers in the Playoff Standings
By Paul Bretl
After a win on Thursday, the Green Bay Packers received some additional help on Sunday as several NFC foes all lost this weekend.
Well, Week 9 for the Green Bay Packers went about as good as it could have for them. Between their road win in San Francisco and what happened around the rest of the NFC, this weekend was about as good as it gets in terms of the playoff picture.
Green Bay Packers dominate in San Francisco
Yes, the Niners were a depleted team, but the Green Bay Packers did exactly what they should have done against an inferior opponent; they dominated. Ultimately we saw Green Bay win 34 to 17, and it wasn’t even that close, but some other positives included the return of Aaron Jones, the Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams’ connection continues to dominate, the pass rush was as good as it’s been all year, Marquez Valdes-Scantling found some success, and the defense forced two turnovers.
On top of that, the Packers have a much-needed mini-bye to help get healthy, and regardless of who was on the field, they did exercise some demons by winning in Santa Clara. Then the cherry on top was that the 49ers fell into an even deeper hole, as they now sit at 4-5 and in last place in the NFC West.
The Vikings win
That’s right; I have the Vikings winning as a positive. Now at 3-5, they are a little further away from landing a top draft pick and using it on one of the available quarterbacks. And perhaps a few more wins will give them the false hope that Kirk Cousins and Rick Spielman are the answers at quarterback and GM.
The Lions lose
This is an obvious one, but after a few wins as of late, Detroit is now 3-5, and any recent momentum has been halted.
Another loss shows that the Bears aren’t for real
Although Chicago has an excellent defense, that offense of theirs is horrendous. The Bears have now lost three games in a row, and at 5-4, they are a game and a half behind the Green Bay Packers. After a fast start, it’s clear that this Bears team isn’t for real, as the headline suggests.
Tampa Bay, Seattle, and Arizona all lose as well
The Green Bay Packers are competing with Tampa Bay and Seattle for the top seed in the NFC, and Arizona isn’t too far behind. The Bucs, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Packers, now have three losses, while Seattle falls into a tie with Green Bay at 6-2, and the Cardinals find themselves at 5-3.
Green Bay’s win over New Orleans is looking pretty impressive
The one team that Green Bay is competing closely with that won is New Orleans after they dismantled Tampa Bay to move to 6-2 on the season. However, back in Week 3, the Packers were the ones coming away with the convincing road win in the Mercedes-Benz Super Dome, which at this moment looks like a very impressive win.
At the halfway point in the season for Green Bay, here is how the current NFC playoff race shakes out, according to ESPN:
- New Orleans 6-2
- Seattle 6-2
- Green Bay 6-2
- Philadelphia 3-4-1
- Tampa Bay 6-3
- Arizona 5-3
- Los Angeles 5-3
So, in addition to a Packers win over an NFC opponent who has given them trouble as of late, we also saw two NFC North teams lose, we didn’t mind seeing Minnesota win, and three of the top seven teams in the NFC playoff race lost as well. Not a bad week, if you ask me.