Do the Packers need to win out to have a chance at playoffs?
Not For Long (NFL). As Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers are finding out this season, the NFL can turn on you in a hurry.
After winning 13 regular season games for three years in a row, a best-case scenario for the Packers is to scratch out double-digit victories and sneak into the playoffs. That’s not what the front office had in mind when they mortgaged the future to keep as much of the team intact as possible.
Yet, here we are. At 4-6, the Packers have just enough playoff hopes to have some dangerous optimism. They completed a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback on Sunday to claw their way back into the playoff picture.
The Green Bay Packers might need to win the rest of the games on their schedule to make the playoffs.
The Washington Commanders currently sit 0.5 games ahead of Green Bay at 5.5 for the eighth spot in the NFC. However, they beat the Packers earlier this season and will hold any head-to-head tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.
The San Francisco 49ers are the seventh and final playoff spot owners. At 5-4, their arrow looks to be pointing straight up and they will be a very dangerous team to catch down the stretch. The addition of Christian McCaffery has added another element to their offense and they look ready to fire on all cylinders.
Perhaps, the most likely team to fall out of playoff contention is the 6-4 Seattle Seahawks. Nobody expected them to be leading the NFC West at this point in the season (or at any point). Geno Smith has led a resurgence, but can he keep it up for an entire season? Green Bay hopes not.
Regardless of what happens with other teams, the Packers need to focus on winning. They need to win at least six of their final seven games (if not all seven) to even think about sniffing the postseason. That will be a formidable challenge with games against the Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings remaining.
Next. 7 Packers who are underperforming at halfway point. dark
According to FiveThirtyEight, the Packers currently have a 12 percent chance to make the postseason. That’s a long shot to make anything happen, even for Aaron Rodgers. However, the first step is winning and winning them all.