Every game matters in the NFL Playoff race, and while it probably seems dramatic to already discuss postseason outlook after one week, we oftentimes look back on these early-season divisional games as the make-or-break outings that shift the tides of postseason seeding. That's what made the Green Bay Packers' fourth-quarter meltdown against the Minnesota Vikings so striking.
Elsewhere in the NFC North division, the Chicago Bears' offense put on a show with a 59-37 trouncing of the Carolina Panthers, in which their top two running backs combined for 224 yards on the ground and four touchdowns, not to mention quarterback Caleb Williams' 65 rushing yards and two rushing scores. Although their defense got shredded by Brice Young, the Bears proved that they're a far more formidable offense than anyone expected.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions scraped by with a 1-point overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints to begin their season, and while the defense looked similarly shaky to last year, the offense appeared to reemerge in full force with a combined four touchdowns by their greatest offensive weapons, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, who scored twice each.
Although the NFC North playoff race is months away from becoming a relevant conversation, this was probably the worst possible outcome for the Green Bay Packers in their pursuit of a playoff berth.
The Green Bay Packers' Week 1 meltdown just shaped the narrative of their season in a heated NFC North playoff race.
From here on out, the Packers are underdogs in the NFC North. Even if they go on a winning streak and take down a few division opponents in the process, our minds will always linger on that Week 1 loss in which Green Bay allowed their greatest weakness — an inability to close games — to get the best of them in a vital inner-division matchup.
Green Bay would need to win both of their next two games, and each of their NFC North foes to lose both of their next two games, to even get back into the conversation for the top seed in the division. That's a huge bar to clear, and frankly, an unlikely one at that. While the Packers have some winnable games over the next month (@ Jets, vs. Falcons, @ Buccaneers, vs. Bears), it's hard to imagine every other team in their division faltering over the next few weeks.
So now, it makes sense for the Packers to play like, and feel like, they're the underdogs here. Hopefully, this horrific Week 1 outcome and humiliating defeat, echoing their Playoff defeat to the Bears at the end of last season, will inspire the focus and willpower for them to overcome the odds and regain their position as one of, if not the single, best team in an extremely competitive NFC North division.
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