With Win & Some Help Green Bay Packers Can Clinch 1 Seed v. Vikings
By Paul Bretl
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Green Bay Packers still sit atop the NFC playoff picture. While being the one seed was always important, this year, it carries a little extra weight as the team who holds that position at season’s end is the only one to receive a first-round bye.
The Packers have already clinched the NFC North, but clinching the one seed is the next box on their to-do list that they’d like to check off. And they’ll have the opportunity to do so this Sunday with a win over Minnesota and some help.
At 12-3, the Green Bay Packers are the current one seed. Dallas at 11-4 is the two seed while Los Angeles is the three seed, also at 11-4, and Tampa Bay is the four seed, again, at 11-4.
Dallas holds the tie-breaker over the Rams and Bucs because they are 9-1 in conference play, while L.A. is 8-3 and Tampa is 7-4. Ultimately, that is why Green Bay needs the Cowboys to lose this week to Arizona; Dallas holds that same in-conference tie-breaker over the Packers, who are 8-2 against the rest of the NFC.
A Dallas loss coupled with a Green Bay win would put the Cowboys at 11-5 and the Packers at 13-3 with only one game left on the schedule–obviously making it impossible that the two teams could have the same record.
When it comes to the Rams, the Packers won the head-to-head matchup against them and also have a better conference record. For the Bucs, at 7-4 against the NFC, they are two games behind the 8-2 Packers in that category, and a Packer win over Minnesota would make it impossible for them to have the same in-conference record.
Although we may be doing some scoreboard watching on Sunday, as Matt LaFleur told reporters earlier this month, the Packers will only be focusing on what they can control as they prepare for a tough divisional matchup against the Vikings, who will stress this reeling Green Bay defense with Justin Jefferson and their run game.
"”I think if you start focusing on things outside of your control or outside of your football team, you’re not 100 percent focused on the challenges that lie ahead for your team,” said LaFleur. “We just gotta take care of our business and whatever happens in those other games, that’s the way it roles. We have many tough challenges in front of us, starting with Chicago, and just gotta make sure that we continually get better each week prior to whatever lies at the end of this thing.”"